{"id":450668,"date":"2022-05-20T18:53:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T15:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-moolahs-natalie-white-created-first-womens-basketball-sneaker\/"},"modified":"2022-05-20T18:53:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T15:53:18","slug":"how-moolahs-natalie-white-created-first-womens-basketball-sneaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-moolahs-natalie-white-created-first-womens-basketball-sneaker\/","title":{"rendered":"#How Moolah&#8217;s Natalie White created first women&#8217;s basketball sneaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284c878b1cd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a284c878b1cd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-moolahs-natalie-white-created-first-womens-basketball-sneaker\/#%E2%80%9CHow_Moolahs_Natalie_White_created_first_womens_basketball_sneaker%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How Moolah&#8217;s Natalie White created first women&#8217;s basketball sneaker&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_Moolahs_Natalie_White_created_first_womens_basketball_sneaker%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How Moolah&#8217;s Natalie White created first women&#8217;s basketball sneaker&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>A 24-year-old entrepreneur has launched a line of basketball sneakers that\u2019s designed exclusively for women \u2014 and it all started with an ad for Nike shoes. <\/p>\n<p>Natalie White, then a senior at Boston College in 2019, saw an ad from the sneaker site Eastbay featuring four of the top WNBA players promoting various models \u2014 with some named after male NBA players. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was basically Sue Bird, and under her name it said \u2018Kyrie 6,&#8217;\u201d White told The Post, referring to Kyrie Irving\u2019s signature Nike Kyrie 6 sneaker. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought, \u2018How wrong is this?\u2019 Basketball is one of the most widely played sports by women in the US and instead of having their own sneakers, they are promoting a men\u2019s shoe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But what started out as righteous indignation quickly morphed into a clever business idea.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-feat-image.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Natalie White, founder of Moolah Kicks\" class=\"wp-image-22332586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-feat-image.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-feat-image.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-feat-image.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Natalie White, founder of Moolah Kicks, holds one of the newest models The Phantom 1. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the Manhattan native researched the industry, she realized that not only did WNBA ballers not have signature shoes, they didn\u2019t even have proper women\u2019s basketball shoes. Instead, basketball kicks from top brands are made to fit the male foot and marketed as unisex. <\/p>\n<p>That makes basketball a curious outlier: Every other major sports category \u2014 running trainers and soccer cleats included \u2014 has designs that are crafted specifically for the female foot.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-08.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"A wall of shoes in the office.\" class=\"wp-image-22332601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>White\u2019s Moolah kicks is carried exclusively by Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods in 140 plus stores.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI said \u2018Oh my god, this is a huge performance issue. It ends up hurting your ankle, knee and body systems,\u201d White told The Post. <\/p>\n<p>Still at BC, she started interviewing physical therapists, athletic trainers and podiatrists who confirmed her suspicions. \u201cIn the medical field it\u2019s widely known, girls are playing in sneakers that don\u2019t truly fit them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, two years later, White is the bona fide CEO of a shoe company. Her brand Moolah Kicks is carried exclusively by Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods in 140-plus stores. On Friday, Moolah Kicks is releasing its second drop which comes in four color ways. The fledgling firm has cut name, image and likeness \u2014 or \u201cNIL\u201d \u2014 deals with about 40 female college hoop stars and is sponsoring top AAU teams for summer tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have ball players reaching out to say they want to be a Moolah athlete,\u201d White said. \u201cTo have them on shelves and get that feedback, it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But first came the so-called \u201clast\u201d \u2014 that is, the proprietary foot mold that would be the Moolah base. Armed with her medical and market research, she reached out Brockton, Mass.-based Jones &amp; Vining, which makes lasts for many top footwear brands. It took 22 calls before she landed a meeting in spring of 2020.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-03.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Natalie White\" class=\"wp-image-22332683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>White realized that not only did WNBA ballers not have signature shoes, they didn\u2019t even have women\u2019s basketball shoes.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pushy. You keep working until you get the result you want,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n<p>Jones &amp; Vining CEO Jim Salzano said he was \u201cintrigued\u201d by White\u2019s intensity \u2014 and admitted that her discovery about women\u2019s basketball shoe designs was <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> to him, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was shocked,\u201d Salzano told The Post. \u201cI said, \u2018There aren\u2019t any women\u2019s basketball sneakers out there?\u2019 I had no idea until Natalie came in here. Nobody had been paying attention to this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They fabricated a last that supports the biomechanical needs of the female basketball player: The heel is more narrow, the arch is lifted and the toe area is more shallow. \u201cIn layman\u2019s terms, men\u2019s feet are more brick-like and women\u2019s have more shape,\u201d said White, who now counts Salzano as an advisor.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, COVID shut down college campuses and businesses alike. Sent home by BC, White began working on Moolah nonstop and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lying to numerous accelerators. But she was turned down by all of them. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn\u2019t understand what I was doing,\u201d White said. \u201cFrom there, I bootstrapped the whole operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-01.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Natalie White\" class=\"wp-image-22332685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-01.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-01.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-01.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>White\u2019s company has deals with about 40 female college hoop stars and are sponsoring top AAU teams for their summer tournaments.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By May 2021, she had created samples and launched a pre-order campaign that netted some <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> attention and traction. She was then able to get into one of the top factories for performance footwear in the world and connected with Dick\u2019s, which at the time was running a campaign about its commitment to girls sports. <\/p>\n<p>White signed on for an exclusive partnership with the retailer and raised a seven-figure investment from various VC firms. Within 12 months, Moolah Kicks was in stores.<\/p>\n<p>Moolah also has taken a unique approach to NIL deals. It has signed Division 1 athletes \u2014 including Penn State\u2019s Anna Camden, LSU\u2019s Alex Morris and Alabama\u2019s Myra Gordon \u2014 who aren\u2019t able to wear Moolah Kicks on the court because of their schools contract with other brands. <\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, they are Moolah Kicks ambassadors and promote the shoes on social media. Moolah Kicks\u2019 Division 3 athletes are wearing the sneakers on court. <\/p>\n<p>After just one season, White said she is getting positive feedback about fit, with customers also reporting reduced joint and back pain. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want more players and female hoopers in sneakers that fit their feet and allow them to perform at their highest level,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/20\/how-moolahs-natalie-white-created-first-womens-basketball-sneaker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How Moolah&#8217;s Natalie White created first women&#8217;s basketball sneaker&#8221; A 24-year-old entrepreneur has launched a line of basketball sneakers that\u2019s designed exclusively for women \u2014 and it all started with an ad for Nike shoes. Natalie White, then a senior at Boston College in 2019, saw an ad from the sneaker site Eastbay featuring four&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":450669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/moolah-kicks-comp-1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129453,72405,71988,100598,72636,44162,41847],"class_list":["post-450668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-20-22","tag-basketball","tag-footwear","tag-ncaa-womens-basketball","tag-sneakers","tag-wnba","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}