Saysh founder Allyson Felix on why women’s footwear needs more than product: Purpose and representation

Olympic champion Allyson Felix took the stage at the ISPO Summit in Amsterdam on Tuesday to argue that women’s footwear has to offer more than fit. In the Inspiration Talk “Running Her Own Race: Allyson Felix on Legacy, Leadership & Building Something Bigger”, the Saysh founder said building “systems for women” means pairing product with purpose and representation.

“I think my sweet spot is building systems for women,” Felix said. “When I don’t see something that’s there, or that’s possible, I step into the space. Whether it’s shoes not being made for women, or my latest venture, it’s pushing there and saying, ‘Okay, I think we can do this differently. I think we can do it better.’”

Not seeing something exist, she added, “is not a reason to say, ‘Okay, this is good enough.’ It’s more a reason to say, ‘I think we can step up and do something different.’”

From sponsor dispute to brand founder

Felix traced her move into entrepreneurship back to her first pregnancy, when she spoke out about facing a significant cut in compensation from her long-term sponsor at the time. “That was absolutely the moment I felt like I stepped into my own and found my voice, and it pushed me into the entrepreneurial adventures I went on to tackle,” she said.

After separating from that sponsor, she asked herself: “Is there something more here? Is there something I can build?” The answer was Saysh. “We’re solely focused on women. We are going to build shoes that fit the form of the female foot,” she said. “It’s absolutely hard, that part is for sure, but you can build something new, you can build something different.”

Purpose, she said, is what sets the business apart for her. “There’s something more to this than just product. The product is so important, but when I have purpose with it, that’s really meaningful for me.”

“Feeling like she was seen”

Asked about her proudest achievement as an entrepreneur, Felix recalled spotting Saysh shoes “in the wild” for the first time, on a woman at an airport. “She had this whole story about why she was wearing these shoes. They were the most comfortable shoes she had ever felt; she had never had a fit like this,” Felix said. “But more importantly, she told this story about feeling like she was seen, like she was represented.”

“It encouraged me that there’s this business venture, and we’re creating a product that we believe needs to be in the world, but there’s also this sense of purpose and impact and change that we’re able to effect,” she said.

Measuring success differently

Felix said moving from elite sport into business meant rethinking what success looks like. “Coming from a sport background, success was very clear-cut for me for so long. It was winning a gold medal, right? You win or you don’t; it’s black and white,” she said. “You can work so hard and put so much into something, and that does not mean you are going to be successful.”

Success now means impact, she said: “Is what I’m putting into the world making the world better? Is it adding something to it?”

She was candid about the difficulty of building a brand. “It’s so hard all the time. It feels like things are falling apart, and you wonder, ‘Okay, is this the path for me?’” she said. “But I always come back to my purpose. This thing started really small, but I’m pouring into it, and we’re growing. It’s challenging, but I believe that we need to exist.”

Brands, partnerships and women’s sport

Felix also had advice for the brands in the audience. She argued that sponsors often concentrate their activation on the Olympic year itself. “It’s really hard for a brand to come in and activate and do everything they need to do within a year,” she said. “For an athlete, that’s the most critical time, but your road to the Olympics starts far before that. If both can come together and focus more on a long-term partnership, I think there’s so much that can be done on both sides.”

She said brands are already becoming “more thoughtful” about how they create product, activate and partner. “Brands know consumers are thoughtful with how they spend their money, and they really want to meet them there,” she said.

On women’s sport, Felix warned against complacency. “To think this is the pinnacle would be a mistake,” she said. “Right now there’s so much focus on leagues and teams, and if we continue to put all of our dollars there, it just won’t be sustainable.” Instead, she called for investment across “the entire ecosystem”, including “media, the dollars we spend, merch, representing athletes and investing in their own stories”.

Back on the track

Felix also spoke about her return to training with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics in mind, in her hometown. She said the idea began when she started joining her husband’s track workouts and quickly began beating him. “As a woman who’s 40, the world kind of tells you to slow down, to do less,” she said. “But the more I sat with it, the more I realised: I have permission to do this.”

She described the comeback as “an experiment” in what is possible at her age. “The outcome is not necessarily the success; going after it really is,” she said.

Felix credited mentorship with helping her overcome imposter syndrome in business. She urged the audience to “open that door for somebody else who’s coming up”, adding that “it’s life-changing to have someone who’s done it before come alongside you”.

About ISPO

ISPO is an international trade fair for the sporting goods, outdoor and winter sports industries. The 2026 edition took place from November 3 to 5 at RAI Amsterdam, moving from Munich and shifting to early November to better align with global buying cycles. It is organised by Raccoon Media Group with partner Messe München, and the ISPO Leaders’ Summit took place on the first day of the event.