YouSaid · the spoken record

Allison Felix

lines on the record: 80
first: 2024-01-11
most recent: 2024-01-11
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Work really hard. Allison has to win on the track. I have to go find the sponsors and then make sure that there's a cohesive story. And if we do that, then, you know, everything else comes into focus and it all takes care of itself.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it was really focused on endorsements and partnerships. I think that like everything that we had seen was this constant reminder that the individual athlete, it's not really about that. It's about the big brand that you can help sell their product. And the goal is have the best brands. And if you have the best brands. then you'll have the best brand too. And so I remember us really focusing on the blue chip sponsors. You know, make sure you have visa, Procter& Gamble, Nike, Gatorade. Like these are the ones that if you partner with those companies, they have a similar type of storytelling. And that's what allows you to become Mia Ham, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan. It's the sponsors that do it. You know, and so it was this idea that like our job is.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Meantime, from a business perspective, what other things were you guys thinking about to kind of build out the business? Were you already thinking about, hey, maybe we can do a line of apparel or maybe we can work with a beverage company? Were either of you thinking about starting something yourselves or was it mainly focusing on endorsements and partnerships?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Scoreboard and seeing my name come up there. And it was just like. I think the relief was bigger than the joy, if that makes sense. It was just. And I think I also had just built it up. Like I thought once I got this gold medal, everything was going to change. Like I just, this is what I've been like aiming for. And then I remember coming home and being like, oh my gosh, I feel exactly the same. Like, what happened here? And I think the lesson in that was just really like instead of just this one goal that I've been aiming for, like the beauty has been along the way. Like that was the magic. And I had to just like look back and say the next time I have like a defeat or a failure, like I'm going to embrace it. I'm going to. Like, go again at another opportunity. Like, I'm just going to have a different mindset.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It felt like such a long time coming. And when Wes and I started to work together, it was like this sense of relief because it was just like, okay, I can fully trust this person. I can put my head down and do what I need to do. And so I remember going into the London Olympics. And obviously now the pressure is even more because it's like I've tried this twice before. I don't want to wait four more years to have another opportunity. And I just had this sense of calm. I remember like getting to the starting line and I looked back at, I log every workout. I write everything down. I remember like just going back over it. And I was like, I'm ready. Like if this is for me, it is going to happen because there's nothing else I could have done in preparation. And I remember just giving my all and then finally, you know, looking up to the.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Wow. Okay, so here you are. The two of you are building a business around Allison and her incredible talent. And I guess shortly after launching your own agency and becoming Allison's agent, Wes, you secured a new sponsorship deal for Allison. So leaving Adidas, signing with Nike, and then two years later in 2012, Allison, you get to the London Olympics, you finally win the gold in the 200 meters, which that must have been an incredible moment for you.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, what did that mean? I mean, because being an agent, right, like there's a certain kind of approach you have to take. And so how did you learn, what did you learn from her about how to do deals and how to represent Allison the best way you could?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I was like, well, who helps Serena do what Serena does and looked it up and found Jill's name and got her phone number and called the office and got to her assistant and tried to set a meeting and couldn't get a meeting, couldn't get a meeting, couldn't get a meeting. And finally, I was like, I'm just going to try on Facebook. And I had no idea if she would be on Facebook. And sure enough, she was sent her a message. She wrote me right back. She said, what are you doing? Why didn't you call my office instead of meeting like a normal person? And I was like, I've been trying to get to your office. It's not working. And she was like, all right, come in tomorrow. So I came in tomorrow and she's like, so what are we talking about? And I just pitched her what I thought Allison could be. And she said, I really like you. And I really like this idea. And I think Allison's incredible. Let's do it.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, completely. I thought there is a whole lot that I don't know. But I also knew that kind of this dream or vision that I had from my little sister was bigger than just what I had seen in track and field. And I thought, okay, if we could build any sort of business around a female athlete, who would I want her to be? And I was like, well, Serena.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So you basically become your sister's agent at this point. And one of the cool things that you did, I think it's so important for anyone who's going into any field to think about doing exactly what you did was you reached out to Serena Williams agent, Jill Smoller. You didn't know you had no connection to, I guess you got to her over Facebook and you said, hey, can I hang out with you for a little bit of time just to learn from you?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Trying to be professional at 25 years old and send it over to her and said, you know, basically, dear Miss Allison Felix, I think we can partner up and I think we can change the world a little bit. And yeah, she was sweet enough to say, yeah, I think we can.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Know deals for athletes. And what if we work together? Like, what would that be like? And we started this conversation of just exploring it, you know, and what would that even mean? What would it look like? And I remember that, you know, Allison had like her contract with Adidas and it was this really great deal, really, really incredible opportunity for her, a really big deal in the sport. But I looked at what she was making off the track. I was looking at, you know, those sponsorships that she had outside of Adidas. And we kind of looked at each other and I was like, I think I can do that. I can go scrape up that much money. I was like, in worst case, you know, then it doesn't work and you go back to a more traditional agent in the sport, but what if it does work and we get to do it together? So I remember I wrote her a letter and this was after our conversation and we should look for this one day because it was probably so ridiculously full.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I knew that I was really interested in business. And so I called one of my friends and I was like, hey, I think I'm going to start like a fake business. Like I just want to practice, like to just see, what are the steps? How do I build it? Like, what do we do? And he was like, yeah, that doesn't sound like a good idea. Like, why don't you just actually start something? And I was like, yeah, I have no idea how to do that. And he was like, well, I think you could figure it out. And so I had this idea that was a online women's fitness email newsletter. And I learned how to code and, you know, like took this idea and built this website and built out an email newsletter subscription service. But along the way, you know, I also was talking with Allison and was just like, yeah, I don't know. I'm like kind of, I'm getting into this thing, like building this thing. But I've always wanted to.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You would go to the Beijing Olympics and compete again. And once again, you won silver in the 200 meters. The team won gold in the relay. In the meantime, Wes, you kind of knew that your career as a runner was over. And so what did you decide to do?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I was studying education. I was a normal student, but I was also a professional athlete at the same time. And I was having a really tough time. Like my freshman year because the way that track and field works is the majority of your competitions are overseas. And so here I am like, you know, in Switzerland racing and trying to explain to my professor why I need to take like a final on the road. And they're like, but you're not on the track team, you know? So it was that first year was really, really bumpy.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Meantime, Allison, you became a student at USC, and I guess you were on the track team. You were a competing at the international level, but you were a student at USC studying education.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Probably a good six months of just in and out of the hospital constantly taking tests, liver biopsies, but ultimately we got to a point where the doctor just said, you know, we know that there's something wrong with your liver. We know that there is at least a minimum a virus attacking your liver. We think that you need to stop competing. And so stopped competing. And yeah, and I think in a lot of ways it was like it was really hard, but it was probably the best gift I could have gotten.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, totally. I had a liver virus. I just was in practice and just felt really tired, couldn't hit times, you know. And my coach was kind of like, what's going on? And I was like, I'm not sure. And he's like, are you getting your rest? Are you doing all the things? And I'm like, I'm doing all the things. Like, nothing's changed. And went to the doctor. And so we start the test. And they run through and see like, yep, your liver, enzyme levels, liver function levels are like off the charts something here is wrong”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You did after you graduated. You did become a professional athlete for a few years and ran for Nike. I mean, it sounds like you were trying, there was a goal, possibly to at least compete for the Olympic trials. But I guess there was a detour that you took as a result of an illness, right?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, definitely. I never thought about it as a career. I knew I wanted to work in sports and entertainment, wanted to do deals and didn't have this like full master plan of what that would look like. But at the time, it was just, let me run fast and work hard. And it was what was paying for college. And, you know, and also like I was running well winning felt good. And my dad said, you know, if there's an opportunity to continue running, why would you not take that? You know, like school's going to be there. Your mind's going to be there. But this opportunity to run professionally, to go and sign a sponsorship deal, that's only there for a little bit.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, as a result of that, you would not, you couldn't get a scholarship and compete at the collegiate level. But obviously you wanted to compete in the Olympics, which you did. You won a silver medal in 2004. And then the sort of parallel world, Wes, you've got the successful career at USE, PEC-10Champ in the 100 meter. I mean, but also it sounds like, Wes, you were also really focused on just college and getting a degree knowing that probably this was not going to be your career.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, Athens 2004. And so it was like if I'm going to try to make that team, I'm really going to need to focus in on one event peaking at the right time and giving myself the best shot. And so ultimately that was kind of the decision maker.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Definitely. It was something that in the US, to my understanding, no one had done before. And so, you know, people had all their thoughts on it. I remember watching one of Wes's track meets. It was like the USCUCLA dual meet. And it was on TV. And so I'm watching in the broadcast. And somehow like my name comes up and they start talking about this decision. And if I go pro, it's the worst decision in the history of high school athletes. So it was just a lot of people had different thoughts on it. But for our family, it really came down to a timing thing. You know, Wes was at USC and I understood like to be a collegiate athlete, like NCAAs came first. You do all of the events. It's about points and all of those things. And at this time, the Olympics were going to be the next year”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Ellison, you decided your senior year of high school to go pro, which I guess was kind of controversial at the time because you were offered obviously every school wanted you on their team, including USC where Wes went. But you decided that you would sign a deal with Adidas and become a professional athlete and still eventually go to college and do your degree. But that was kind of like a, as I say, it was kind of a controversial decision at the time, right?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Did yeah, yeah. I went to SC on a track scholarship and Allison and I always kind of joke that like it went from when we were younger people would come up to her and be like, oh, you're Wes's sister, right? And, you know, and then real quick, it like switched and it was like, you're Allison's brother. So it was something Allison and I really were able to share together this love for the sport, this, you know, this kind of passion to try to excel in it. She just, you know, a whole lot better.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Athletic shoes designed for women's feet? Well, the answer actually is no, and you'll hear why in a moment. Allison and Wes both started Track and Field as teenagers, and it wasn't long before their talent and effort led them to much bigger competitions. Wes, you were really the first track star in your family, from what I understand, Alison, you didn't really start running track until you got to high school. And Wes, you went to USC on track scholarship, right?”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Designs shoes specifically for women's feet. So stick around, you're going to want to hear this one for sure, and on with the show. Hello and welcome to how I built this lab. I'm Guy Ros. Alice and Felix is more of the greatest athletes of all time. In fact, she is the most decorated American track and field athlete in history. And yet, when she ran in the Tokyo Olympics, she did so without a shoe sponsor, and it happened because her previous sponsor, Nike, offered Allison a contract that she felt was a lowball. And so Allison decided to do something totally unconventional. She made her own shoe, and she became the first Olympic athlete to run in a shoe that was her own brand. The idea came from Alison's brother and business partner, Wes Felix, and now they turn that single idea into a shoe brand called Seich. It's a lifestyle and running shoe brand that is designed specifically for women's feet. And you might be wondering, wait, aren't all women”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And when you're ready to launch, you offer code built to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Loans issued by Celtic Bank and serviced by Stripe. All loans subject to credit approval. Hey, it's Guy here. So our team is taking some well-deserved time off during the holidays. We'll be back in the new year with a bunch of brand new episodes of how I built this and how I built this lab. And let me just say we have some great guests lined up for the coming months. I cannot wait for you to hear them. But in the meantime, we thought we'd bring you this episode that we first published back in March. It's a conversation with Wes and Alice and Felix. You might recognize Allison's name because she is the most decorated American track and field athlete athlete of all time male or female. Alison's success as an athlete is incredible enough, but she and her brother also have an amazing story of how they built a shoe company called Sech.”
2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
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2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
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2024-01-11 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Designing shoes for women's feet with Wes and Allyson Felix of Saysh (2023) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT