7 questions with Olympian Allyson Felix about entrepreneurship, pay equity and the future
Sarah Hauer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
8 min read
The most decorated U.S. track athlete in Olympic history was in Milwaukee Friday to talk about her journey as an olympian, her advocacy for working mothers and business.
Allyson Felix headlined Tempo's 16th annual Leadership Event Friday at the Wisconsin Center. The event focuses on empowering people in leadership. Tempo is the largest professional organization for women in Wisconsin with more than 800 members.
More than 1,100 people attended the event Friday — the largest audience for a Tempo event in its history.
Felix is an 11-time Olympic medalist. She took home gold and bronze medals at the Tokyo games this summer.
Off the track, Felix has advocated for fair pay for female athletes. She was one of the women who publicly called out Nike for its lack of protection for pregnant athletes and new moms in its sponsorship contracts. Earlier this year, Felix launched her own shoe company, Saysh.
Before the event, Felix answered questions from Tempo President and CEO Jennifer Dirks and reporters. Here are Felix's answers to some of those questions.
Allyson Felix — the most decorated track and field Olympian — is coming to Milwaukee for Tempo's 16th annual Leadership Event in November.
What have you learned about yourself and being able to center yourself with the pressures of being an Olympian?
I think a lot of times we see athletes as being invincible. You know and that nothing really affects them and I think sometimes as athletes we expect that of ourselves you know not to miss a beat. But there is a lot of pressure. There are a lot of expectations. And I think over the years I’ve learned that it’s OK not to be OK. it’s OK to have off days. I think oftentimes I’ll go to the track and I might feel like I’m thriving there, workouts are going well, I’m on pace. And then I go home and I feel like oh my gosh I’m failing. I’m not being who I want to be at home. Understanding that I’m going to have days like that. I’m not going to have it all together all the time. And that’s alright and figuring out what works for me to get back to where I need to be.
Did you always want to be an Olympian?
I absolutely did not. I have a different story than a lot of other Olympians. I started running track in high school. And so I literally (was starting at a) new school and my brother and my dad told me to go out for the track team to meet people, to find friends. And I did. And I just fell in love with the sport. I love the competition. I love lining up on the starting line and knowing once this race is over we’re going to know who is the fastest on that day. And it just became my thing. And I also found my closest girlfriends who are still my friends to this day and it was a sport for me. Everything was kind of a whirlwind. But I didn’t have those aspirations as a young child. I actually wanted to be a teacher and come from a family of educators. So I feel like this path kind of found me and it gave me a life that I never could have imagined but it wasn’t what I set out to do.
Where did the entrepreneurship vision for your shoe line come from?
I’m super proud of Saysh -- a lifestyle brand for women that I launched with my brother not too long ago. And it really came about authentically because I had gone through so much adversity with Nike and parting ways with them and then got to a place where I didn’t have shoes to wear for the Olympics. So I was talking with my brother and he was like what if we do this ourselves. And I was like that seems really big. That seems like a lot to take on. How do you even do that? The more I sat with it, I was pretty exhausted in asking for change. I had been up on that fight for quite a while and here was an opportunity to not have to ask anymore but to be that change and to create what I had been searching for. It’s been an incredible journey, with a lot of learnings along the way. But I have always had that desire to be able to do something for myself and also just have something be meaningful. I think my experience showed me that there’s so much value in that and being proud of what you create and stand behind it. It’s an amazing journey that we’re on.
What have you learned about business by launching your shoe?
I think the biggest thing in launching Saysh has been the team. Putting together the right team. We launched during a pandemic. And it’s really challenging and dealing with factories and shutdowns and COVID and all of that so learning that you’re going to have hiccups and there’s going to be adversity but having the right people to be able to adapt and pivot and come up with solutions to that is going to be key. Just being really thoughtful in how we craft the team. And I think it was it almost felt really easy because everybody connected with the message. We’re really mission-driven and so having people who want to do this and are proud to stand behind the work. I think it made it a bit easier but we’re really excited. I feel like we have a lot of momentum right now. We just got selected for Oprah’s favorite things and we’re thrilled about that and opened up a pop-up shop and have a lot of community events happening and so a lot on the horizon. It is a lot of work as well. And a lot to come also.
What advice do you have for people who want to take that leap into entrepreneurship?
I would say that even though it might scare you, it’s okay to move forward. I know for me, I was very fearful. You have to be vulnerable to put yourself out there, especially something that’s so personal to you. I think when I was coming forward to share my story, I was terrified. But I think on the other side of that fear is freedom. And I think a lot of times we have to just take that little step.
Even if it’s putting a plan together and starting to put together the little pieces and maybe it’s something that’s not going to come about for three more years or five more years but if you start to slowly get out there and put the pieces together I think you’re taking steps in the right direction. So I think my advice is even if it is uncomfortable and scares you a little bit it’s great to be outside of your comfort zone. And to go for something. if you truly believe in it you have to honor that.
What do you hope to see next in the fight for pay equity in women’s sports?
I think it’s been a long journey but I think it’s a really special time for women in sports right now. I think we feel that. We see what’s happening in women’s soccer and how they have been moving forward and I think we’ve seen it in the WNBA how they have been pushing and I think we feel from each other and we’re inspired by each other. And all in our own respective sports we’re trying to continue that conversation and bringing it to the forefront, bringing it to mainstream media and continuing to have it. Obviously, there is still a ways to go but I do feel like we have momentum going in the right direction and we have to keep chipping away.
What's the world that you want to help create for your daughter?
It’s a place of real equality. And as I think about these different topics and issues that I’m pushing, that’s the motivation because I don’t want her to have the same fights that we’ve been having for far too long and so I would love for her to grow up having no limits and really understanding that. Because I think it’s one thing to preach that but it’s another to feel that and to know that you can go after whatever you want is a whole other thing. I think that’s why I’m working so hard and so many other women are doing that as well so that all of our children can grow up in a world like that.
