On a press tour for her 2025 documentary, “She Runs the World,” Allyson Felix made an appearance alongside her brother at the University Student Union to answer questions from CSUN students and athletes on Wednesday evening. She spoke about Saysh, her women’s footwear company, maternal protections in the sports industry and community.
“She Runs the World” is a biographical sports documentary featuring Felix’s early childhood and athletic career in track and field. While attending the University of Southern California, Felix decided to go pro instead of competing collegiately like most athletes.
The Olympic gold medalist decided to partner with Nike for sponsorship in 2010. She was under the impression that Nike’s values were aligned with her own, but that did not turn out to be the case.
“Don’t play it safe. Don’t just do the things that are comfortable, that you’ve always done – push yourself,” Felix said.
After becoming pregnant with her first child in 2018, a scared but determined Felix had to hide her pregnancy to avoid losing a long-term partnership with the shoe company. During this time, Felix spent months in isolation training while negotiating a 70% pay cut on her contract with no written contractual guarantees for maternal protections.
After addressing the gender injustice in her contract, Felix realized there were no maternal protections for women athletes. In the sports world, where women typically had to choose between motherhood and their career, pregnancies were treated like injuries.
“I was hoping to be a part of a solution to a problem we have been dealing with for far too long,” Felix said.
Taking a stand for maternal protections in brand deal contracts for all women athletes is the trailblazer for Felix’s journey in women’s advocacy and entrepreneurship.
Felix and her brother-manager, Wes Felix, influenced Nike to update their policies and made their own athletic shoe company that catered to women’s feet. Felix accomplished this while simultaneously battling pre-eclampsia and coping with her daughter being in the NICU for a month.
Self-made athletes shared advice to Black students who wish to venture into becoming entrepreneurs. While acknowledging the discrepancies in owning a business and being a Black American, Wes spoke about dealing with investors and raising money to get Saysh started.
“We had some of our business partners lead the fundraising who didn’t look like us, and to see how much easier it was for them to get money was mind blowing,” said Wes.
Wes noticed the ease his business partners had in gathering investors and donations with a simple email or text message. Meanwhile, the Felix siblings put in double the effort – investors were practically throwing money at them.
“You need to be delusional and uncompromising,” Wes said.
Both Felix’s encourage students to not be afraid to start, to find their uniqueness in their business ventures and to be open to what life throws at them. The duo told students to invest in their community through ownership, stating that the Black community has everything needed for success.
