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Before The Sports Bra became the first sports bar 100% dedicated to women’s sports, it was a fantasy place I dreamt up with my friends. Today, we televise all types of women’s sports, sponsor Little League teams, and host fundraisers for community organizations. Customers visit from all over the country, and we’re in the middle of franchise plans. But in the beginning, I had no idea how to start a business.
I literally searched “how to start a business” online and learned I needed a business plan, including funding, to get it off the ground. I’d been unemployed, and just six months prior, I’d gotten my very first credit card, so I also didn’t have a credit history.
At first, I tried the traditional route of applying for Small Business Administration and bank loans, and I got denied by every single one. They all told me a variation of the same thing, which I called “The Big Three.” I heard, one; “We’re in a pandemic,” two; “You’ve never owned a business before,” and three; “This is a concept that’s literally never been done before.” It was pretty risky, sure. But what’s fascinating is that with every denial, lenders also called me on the phone to say, “Listen, we really think this is a great idea. We really hope that it comes to fruition.” And that kept me going.
To raise the money I needed, online advice suggested that I build a pitch deck to present to friends and family. I find it hilarious to look back on just because of how basic it was, but there were a few approaches I took that helped get the business to where it is today.
Start with your WHY
I knew my ‘why,’ and my friends and I felt it deeply. But as I spoke to people about the concept for The Sports Bra, I learned quickly that many people weren’t even aware that there was a void for women’s sports.
In 2018, a big group of friends and I rolled into a neighborhood sports bar to watch what we thought was the biggest game of the year: the women’s NCAA Championship game, Notre Dame vs. Mississippi State. I won’t get into the whole rollercoaster of the game, but it was amazing — it started as a blowout, then a huge run by Notre Dame to clinch the comeback. We were jumping up and down, shouting, celebrating. In the parking lot saying our goodbyes, I remember I hugged my friend and I was just like, “That literally was the best basketball game I have ever seen.” And she said, “Yeah, can you imagine if we’d watched it with the sound on?”
So I had had this and countless other experiences feeling like a second-class citizen, and I knew deep down that the only way my friends and I were ever going to watch a women’s sports game in its full glory was if we had our own place. But investors didn’t know these things; they didn’t feel them.
I made sure my pitch got the stark stats across. Like the fact that over 60% of girls will drop out of sports by age 17, and 46% drop out because they don’t see a future for themselves in the sport. And that at the time, only 4% of all sports on TV was focused on women, even though 84% of sports viewers are interested in women’s sports. I showed that the top reasons people don’t watch women’s sports isn’t lack of interest, but lack of coverage, lack of knowledge, lack of marketing, and the difficulty finding the games on TV.
I explained that The Sports Bra would challenge and change all the above. Our goal is to promote, empower, and support girls and women in sports and the community. There are ways that women’s sports have been underrepresented, underfunded, and overlooked for far too long. To grow, we must continue to find innovative, disruptive, and authentic ways to expand our reach and create change.
I painted a picture of “the norm” — a traditional sports bar — and the challenges associated with those spaces. Then, I asked the audience to imagine a world where that norm was disrupted by a small but significant change, the changing of the channel on what is expected. The Sports Bra would be a place where inclusion, fandom, and community converge.
Lead with passion
Following the advice I read online, I made plans with friends and family to share my pitch. I was incredibly nervous, even though I was just pitching my friends and family! The very first person I pitched to was my Auntie Kimzie. She had worked for major tech companies for decades, and I felt like she had seen it all. I still remember sitting at her kitchen island with my tablet (the only technology that I used to start The Sports Bra). I had practiced by myself a few times that week in preparation, but I’ve always been terrible at rehearsing things. I found it pretentious, somehow. I feel like if I can speak freely and from my heart – that is how I communicate best. So practicing never sat well with me, and I’d shrug and sigh and get about halfway before just getting frustrated with the process. But with my first pitch with Kimzie, I realized that I didn’t need to “pitch” anything. I put my heart and soul into thinking about The Bra, and what it meant, and how it could impact the community. Those things were important to me, so I actually found it easy to convey. I led with passion. Once I got started, the rest followed.
By the end of the pitch, Kimzie said, “I have seen hundreds and hundreds of pitches. And even though this was on a tablet, and clearly you had limited resources to work with, this is by far the best pitch I’ve ever heard.” She told me I was passionate, clear in my reasoning, and clear in my ask. After that feedback, I started to feel more confident.
What’s most interesting is that no two pitches are ever the same. The data and the deck are identical. But speaking to the person, listening, reading their body language, and adjusting your tone, your pace, and your delivery to them as individuals and as people, not as just an investor, felt key. Good communication should never feel transactional. Real, authentic human connection might be one of my superpowers.
In a matter of months, I was able to raise about $35,000 from various friends and family investments. That, along with a crowdfunding campaign that exceeded any of my wildest dreams (it reached $105,000, which was more than twice the goal), made clear that the community supported this concept and that there was, indeed, a need for this kind of space. On April 1, 2022, The Sports Bra opened.
Believe your dream
The Sports Bra is small — just 40 seats and four TVs — but our mission is big. Everything in the bar and restaurant connects to women, from the beer on tap to the games on TV. The concept quickly made headlines, and people traveled from around the world to visit. In those early days, I thought I was building a space for people like me and the greater LGBTQ+ community, where women’s sports fans could come and share in community fandom. But, in reality, The Bra has become a community space for all folks.
When I think back to that original pitch deck I wrote, I laugh because back then I was dreaming small. If I could go back and change anything, I would upgrade the visuals and include photographs, movement, and bolder imagery to make the whole thing shine. Still, the story the pitch told was impactful and engaging. Overall, it fit the scrappy startup mindset that was my reality then. But, most importantly, it got the job done.
And, hey, it’s still working. In 2024, when we were celebrating our second anniversary, we signed on a new investor: Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, founder of the 776 Foundation, and the husband of one of my sports idols, Serena Williams. While I was trying to balance managing a bar and designing patches for Little League jerseys, Alexis’s interest was validating, especially at a time when things were blowing up beyond what I’d imagined. Imposter syndrome was setting in. He said, “When you’re ready, I’m ready.” Those words made me realize that The Sports Bra is bigger than its own four walls. It’s part of a movement that’s elevating women’s sports.
We decided the best way to fuel that momentum is by franchising The Sports Bra. That way, each location can be an authentic extension of the community it’s a part of. This connection to the community makes The Sports Bra special.
Pitch what you know
My advice to entrepreneurs who are writing their own pitch deck is simple: be authentic and let your passion for your project shine through. People hear that. Investors see that.
Personally, I’ve been obsessed with basketball nearly my whole life. As a kid, I used to spin a basketball on my finger at the mall and sleep with a basketball next to me in bed. I would sometimes joke that if you looked inside my chest, you might just find a basketball that had replaced my heart and was pumping my blood. My second love was cooking. Combining my two passions with an overarching goal to promote, empower, and support girls and women who had long been overlooked and underserved, I thought I was filling a void for myself and my friends. But I’d actually stumbled on a need that people were feeling across Portland and all over the world. Find your why, and you, too, may find you’re helping to advance a movement.
