Track star Allyson Felix debuts new shoe line, Saysh

Allyson Felix has created her own shoe line, which she hopes “represents hope, acceptance, and the power to create change.”

There are very few track and field athletes who have accomplished more than Allyson Felix. She has six track and field Olympic Gold Medals, the most of any female track athlete in history. She’s done all of this while having a daughter and balancing her family and professional career.

Her desire to start a family ended up costing her a huge endorsement.

Many might remember Felix’s feud with Nike over their maternity policy. The track star’s op-ed piece for The New York Times detailed her battle with the sports apparel giant while she was pregnant with her daughter. Felix was in negotiations with Nike during her pregnancy and explained how she felt pressured to return to peak condition in fear of losing her contract.

Negotiations didn’t go well, as they brought an offer to Felix that would pay her 70 percent less than her original contract. After negotiations came to a standstill, the track star and the sports apparel parted ways in 2019. Because of Felix and other women’s op-ed pieces for The New York Times, along with a congressional inquiry, Nike has implemented a new maternity policy for all sponsored athletes.

Two years after her split with Nike, Allyson Felix has launched her own sports apparel brand, which is “made by women, for women.”

Allyson Felix launches her own shoe brand called Saysh

Since Felix left Nike, she’s had other brands offer her endorsement deals. Gap’s Athleta brand took her on as an endorsement partner, but she still didn’t have a company for her track shoes and spikes. That is when the six-time gold medalist decided to create her own shoe line.

Called Saysh, the shoe “bridges the worlds of the professional and the casual – a sneaker to accompany us wherever, whenever,” Natalie Candrian, a stylist for the company, said on their website.

Felix posted a video to her Instagram account, explaining her motivation behind creating the shoes and how this company will help her create the change she wants to see.

“Here I am, ready to run for a brand that I founded, designed for — and designed by — women. All of my experience of becoming a mom, of raising a daughter, helped show me my true competitor — inequality,” Felix said in the video.

The first version of Felix’s shoe, called the Saysh One, is on sale for $150 on their website. The track star has worn a track spikes version of her shoe during qualifiers for the Olympics. This summer, she’s heading to her fifth Olympics, hoping to add on to her record 11 medals and six gold medals.

Even if she walks away from Tokyo without a medal, Allyson Felix’s entrepreneurial endeavor has her going into the games empowered and in style.