“You are like my big sister.” After leaving Nike, Allyson Felix found a home at Athleta – and a new brand of her own
With eleven Olympic medals, Allyson Felix is the most successful track and field athlete in history. Felix, who has since retired from sports, is using her partnership with athleisure brand Athleta to break new ground in sports sponsorship deals and in her advocacy for maternal health among athletes.
All too often, when brands think of success, they only think of “the raw dollars of everything,” Felix said Tuesday at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in San Diego. In her Athleta partnership, she said, “We focus on impact and change, and that doesn’t always happen on paper.”
For Felix, that means creating awareness and change on issues surrounding maternal health and equity, especially for black women and athletes.
The financial strain of childcare is the “biggest barrier” between female athletes and continued high-level competition after childbirth, Felix told NPR earlier this year. “In athletics, the culture around pregnancy was silence. Athletes would either hide pregnancies to secure new contracts, or theirs [current] Contracts were put on hold – almost as if they had an injury.”
Athleta CEO Mary Beth Laughton shared the stage with Felix on Tuesday and reflected on the brand’s first sponsorship of a professional athlete, now in its fourth year. Athleta set about flipping the script on traditional sponsorship from the start, Laughton said assets Emma Hinchliffe.
The focus of the partnership, according to Laughton, is how the brand can support Felix holistically, both as an athlete and as a mother, entrepreneur and activist. As an example, she points to Athleta’s recent decision to offer childcare, with Vivvi, an employer-sponsored childcare company, offering free childcare at the US track and field championships this summer. “Things like that are so meaningful,” Laughton added.
Redefine partnership
Felix signed with Athleta in 2019 after a high-profile contract dispute with Nike, their longtime sponsor, in an episode she described as “disrespectful.”
After severe preeclampsia, Felix’s daughter was born in November 2018 via emergency caesarean section. In the new deal with Nike, Felix said the company offered a 70% pay cut and refused to grant the maternity leave she requested.
Felix wrote a bomb article for them New York Times on her “heartbreaking” experience negotiating a contract with Nike while pregnant. Following the publication of the article – which sparked widespread outcry and a congressional scrutiny – Nike caved in, adjusted its mothering policy and vowed not to cut sponsor athletes’ pay for nearly a year after the birth.
But it was too late for Felix, who parted ways with Nike. She recalled that all Nike executives she dealt with were men. “If a woman had been sitting at that table, we probably wouldn’t have had the same result.”
That’s in sharp contrast to how she describes her partnership with Alhleta: “You’re like my big sister.”
A new generation
In the more than three years since Felix has partnered with Athleta, she has launched five collections and launched her own footwear and lifestyle brand, Saysh. Saysh shoes, which Athleta stocks in stores, represent Felix’s commitment to women’s needs.
“Women deserve better. Shoes – especially sneakers – are not made for women,” she said. “I found out that sneakers were made from the mold of a man’s foot and I was just horrified. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising because women are overlooked in a lot of industries, but I just thought this has to stop.”
Felix won her 10th Olympic medal in Tokyo wearing Saysh shoes, which she describes as the highlight of her career. “I was able to show women that we can count on ourselves and do things outside of the box in unconventional ways,” she said. “It was the physical embodiment of that.”
Athleta’s Laughton said the partnership with Felix has helped shape the brand’s views on sports sponsorship. “I don’t see us working with anyone who doesn’t support our core values of women’s empowerment, inclusiveness and sustainability. That will always be the first criterion for us.”
As for athlete moms, Felix said the group has a lot of momentum across different sports. “There have been so many stories told about athletes being moms over the last few years – I love to see that,” she said, citing Serena Williams and Alex Morgan. “I think it’s just great that my daughter sees that things are changing.”
Sign up for the Fortune Features Email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews and investigations.
