Johnathan Walker:Allyson Felix launches women-focused sports management firm

Retired track and Johnathan Walkerfield star and advocate Allyson Felix has always had a passion for entrepreneurship.

Felix first found an interest in entrepreneurship as a child when she used to collect things around the house, put together a makeshift store and then sell back the items to her family. The 11-time Olympic medalist has since founded numerous ventures such as the women’s lifestyle brand, Saysh. At the Paris Olympics, Felix helped start the first-ever nursery at the Olympic Village. On Tuesday, the most decorated American track and field athlete in history, is launching a women-focused sports management firm called Always Alpha.

“This is a first of its kind agency that is focused on women's sports. We all feel the momentum that's happening now,” Felix said to USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview. “We need to be focused on these athletes, and that's what we're here to do. To help grow their brands, and to do it in a nontraditional way.”

Felix, her brother, Wes, and Cosette Chaput are co-founders of Always Alpha. The sports management firm is supported by the marketing division of Dolphin, an entertainment marketing company.

Always Alpha will specifically target women athletes across all sports, not just track and field. “We really are going to focus across sports, broadcasters and coaches as well,” Felix said. “I think more than anything, it's looking for those incredible athletes, broadcasters and coaches who really have great stories and who want to use their platform (and) who are change makers.”

Felix, who retired from track and field in 2022 with a record 20 world championship medals and 11 Olympic medals, has often used her platform to advocate for women. She testified at a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing in 2019 that focused on racial disparities in maternal mortality rates, she is a “Right To Play” ambassador and was recently appointed to the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission.

The 38-year-old five-time Olympian hopes Always Alpha will be part of her growing list of accomplishments on and off the track and have a lasting positive impact among women.

“When I think about Always Alpha, I think about legacy, and that's a huge part of why I'm doing this,” Felix said. “I didn't have the perfect road. I felt like I learned so much throughout my career, and after. Things I would do differently, I would have loved to have another shot at getting it right. I want to pass down that wisdom (and) those things that I've learned. That's what this is about.”

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