It’s a new era in women’s sports!
Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete in history, boasting an impressive 20 World Championships and 11 Olympic gold medals, including seven gold. Her career is a testament to her resilience and determination, shattering records while becoming a shining symbol of female empowerment. Still, Felix’s journey has not been without its fair share of challenges, and through it all, she’s continued to be an advocate for women athletes. Now, Felix has announced the launch of “Always Alpha,” a new management firm dedicated to women’s sports, Variety reports.
Felix teamed up with her brother and longtime business partner Wes Felix, as well as sports executive Cosette Chaput, to create the first-of-its-kind women’s sports management firm. For Felix, the move was about creating the support she always wanted to have.
“Young athletes often ask me how I’ve diversified and consistently grown my business across marketing, media, entrepreneurship, venture, entertainment and impact. Wes and I did it ourselves piece by piece, out of necessity – because there wasn’t another option for transforming our vision into reality. With Always Alpha, we’re taking everything we learned and creating the modern management firm I used to dream of existing to help the next generation of talent do the same and build the future they, in turn, dream of too,” said Felix.
The new venture is backed by Dolphin, a leading entertainment marketing firm. The goal is to empower athletes while creating a more equitable sports landscape that eliminates cookie-cutter talent management for women athletes.
“We created Always Alpha to revolutionize women’s sports by moving beyond outdated, one-size-fits-all models designed with male athletes in mind. These traditional frameworks, tied to contracts and templated endorsements, fail to recognize the unique strengths and potential of female athletes, coaches and broadcasters,” Chaput explained.
This isn’t Felix’s first time shaking up the industry, either. After a very public “no” to Nike, Felix launched “Saysh,” an athletic footwear brand made for women. Then, earlier this year, she announced a partnership with Pampers, launching the first-ever nursery for athlete moms at the Paris Olympics. And she’s just getting started. Despite her retirement from competitive sports after an illustrious two-decade career, Felix is nowhere near done. She plans to continue contributing to the world of women’s sports, with Always Alpha being the next step in her growing empire.
“There used to be a lot of fear-driven narratives that once you were done competing, you were done. That couldn’t be further from the truth, but it can be a scary road, and I have made a lot of mistakes that could have been avoided. So I see Always Alpha as a chance to use the lessons I’ve learned alongside a dynamic team to help guide the next generation in creating the right next chapter for them, whether it be motherhood, entrepreneurship, impact work, investing, broadcasting, and multimedia…or something entirely new,” said Felix.
The world of sports management will never be the same!
Cover photo: Allyson Felix Launches New Management Firm Dedicated to Women’s Sports/Photo credit: Kanya Iwana/Glamour