Create a Network of Success-Oriented Individuals | Allyson Felix

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0:30Hi, my name is Lewis Howes, and welcome to The Daily Motivation Show.

0:45You know, I don't know the full story, but essentially Nike wasn't in support in some ways because you become a new mom or they weren't.

0:51Allyson Felix:Yeah. What was the whole situation that happened there that led you to saying, I need to do something for women with my own vision of this brand that you have? Yeah. So in track and field for as long as I can remember, there has been this like culture of silence around pregnancy and starting families. It's been really difficult. In track and field. In track and field specifically. In America or over the world? I think all over, you know. in the sport for sure in America, that's who I was in contact with. So basically I was seeing my friends struggle through motherhood. I saw them either hide pregnancies if they needed new contracts.

1:32Allyson Felix:I saw their contracts get paused. There wasn't like this shiny example of like a mother who's like dominating and like doing all the things. It was more so like the struggle, not because they weren't capable, but because the support wasn't there. It wasn't in place. And so for me, when I felt like I wanted to start a family, I was really scared because I was like, I don't, I think that this could happen to me too. But I did feel like I had waited, you know, I had already gone to four Olympics. I felt like I had accomplished enough where I'm like, okay, maybe I'm safe. I'm like, I'm going to go forward with this.

2:05Allyson Felix:But my negotiations with Nike, who I, at that time I had been with almost a decade, even before I said that I was pregnant, the negotiations already were 70 % less than what I had been making previously. Interesting. So it wasn't a good deal already. Already. You know, whether it was I was too old or whatever the thing was, we were already at that place. Okay. So they were kind of like, hey, you know, we'll keep you around essentially with this. On to the next. But we're investing in a generation that's coming up now. Yeah. Essentially. So that just amplified my fear. I'm like, I've already seen what happens.

2:39Allyson Felix:And so I made the decision to do what a lot of women in my sport had done before I hid my pregnancy. Wow, really? Yeah, and it was crazy. For how long? And now how old are you at this time? So I'm 33 and I am still competing. Like I, at the beginning, I still try, I'm like, we're coming up the heels of like Serena and I'm like, I can do this. Like, wow. So I'm still, you know, racing a bit. I'm training. Eventually I get to the point where I can't continue to do that. and I still, I train in the dark. Because at this point, I don't, I don't have an offer on paper. So I have a verbal 70 % less, but there's nothing on paper.

3:18Allyson Felix:And so my fear is that they find out that I'm pregnant and then that just disappears. Yeah. So you're like two months pregnant, three months pregnant? I started, so I stopped competing about two months and then I'm still training. And you know, this is, this is ongoing. So this is going over a long period of time. So I'm four months, I'm five months. I'm still in the dark. I'm rarely leaving my house. I'm wearing baggy clothes, like all of this. For someone who's always wanted to be a mother, it was so hard because all these moments I had dreamed of, it's like I'm not experiencing any of that.

3:53Allyson Felix:The baby shower is like any of that. You're almost living in shame. Yeah. To have the thing that you're most excited about, which is starting a family. You're living in shame. You're hiding it. You're going out. You're sneaking around in the night. Yeah. It felt horrible. You know, it felt like it should have been this moment that was celebrated. And I felt like so much was taken from me. You know, so many, you never get to have your first child again. So it was really challenging. And in that time, I decided to really shift my ask away from the financial aspect of it. And what I asked for was maternal protections.

4:30Allyson Felix:And basically what that means in track and field is our contracts are performance based. And so the Olympics, the world championships, you go, you medal, it's a bonus. But you don't, it's a reduction. Now, if you have a baby during that time or if you just had a baby, there's nothing in place to protect you. So essentially what was happening in the sport is that women were just, their salary was being cut and cut and they were pushed out of the sport. And so I asked for time to be able to recover. You asked Nike or you asked USA Track and Field? I asked Nike because the sponsor is your, that's your main income.

5:06We don't get paid, you know, from our federation. So you asked them in the contract, there wasn't a new contract yet. So you're still finishing. Yeah.

5:13Allyson Felix:I'm asking for a terms in that contract and just that it be laid out maternal protection. Even the 70 % less, you were like, give me this protection. I could take the disrespect of that, but like, I felt like this is something that could change things. You know, this could change the culture. Right. So I focused on that. I asked for that. And they told me, yeah. Like, I'm like, this is great. This is what I'm asking for. Cool. That's nice. But when the contract came back, there was no legal terms that tied the time that they were willing to give me for other female athletes. They weren't ready to set that precedent.

5:49So they're willing to do it for you, but not for all female athletes.

5:52Allyson Felix:They said they wanted to take it on a case-by-case basis. Interesting. Okay. For me, that just, I couldn't, I couldn't accept that. Like, I felt like, you know, we need to change this for all women, for all female athletes. And I think also, because this went over such a long period of time, I ended up having my daughter and I had, I had a very traumatic birth experience. I gave birth to her two months early. And I think all of that, just like having a daughter and thinking about like her life and what she's going to go through. And that just made me feel like I can't, I can't like accept this.

6:28Allyson Felix:And so I made the decision to write a New York Times op-ed and to speak out about what was happening for me. And also other teammates of mine had done the same. And yeah, we pushed for change. And after that op-ed came out, it was about two weeks, a little over two weeks later that they ended up changing their policy. Nike did. Nike did. Yeah. So I had parted ways for the women that, you know, were there and came after. It's amazing. And today they offer 18 months of protection. So it was scary. I can imagine. Because it's your livelihood. It's your income. And it's Nike. Like, you know, this massive.

7:06Allyson Felix:You don't want to upset them. Yeah. And so for me, I didn't know what was on the other side of that. Like I, I was terrified. I knew I still wanted to compete. I wasn't sure what was next. So it was a really difficult time. I was, you know, obviously grateful. I wish it wasn't such a fight to get to that point, but grateful for, for that outcome.

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9:16One crunchy bite of our Hershey's cookies and cream bar, and I'm taken right back to college move-in day. I was a little overwhelmed by the newness of it all. Boxes were everywhere. I needed a break from unpacking. But just as I was able to take a breath and open my Hershey's cookies and cream bar, my new roommate Rachel walked in. I offered her a piece, but she said no. Then after a beat, she said, actually, those are my favorite ones. We left. The ice was broken, and we've been friends ever since. Hershey's. It's your happy place.