Speaker 1: In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
Speaker 1: iHeart Women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
Speaker 1: and Entertainment.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another.
Speaker 1: Episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: And I want to call this news segment Fan Out Friday,
Speaker 1: because every Friday we are bringing you the most exclusive
Speaker 1: interviews with some of the biggest movers and shakers in
Speaker 1: women's sports and women's basketball industry. So, as you guys know,
Speaker 1: obviously I am a huge women's sports fans, but if
Speaker 1: you ever try to catch a game at a local bar,
Speaker 1: you know how rare it is to find women's sports
Speaker 1: playing on the television screens. I know, for the most
Speaker 1: part in New York City, whatever I'm at a local
Speaker 1: sports bar, I have to like stop a waiter and
Speaker 1: ask them and request to put on WNBA games. So
Speaker 1: I'm super about this week's guest because she is creating
Speaker 1: a space that is truly welcoming for the women's sports community.
Speaker 2: In her community and beyond.
Speaker 1: And so in twenty twenty two, Jenny Wnn created the
Speaker 1: Sports Bar, and I'm super excited to have Jenny on
Speaker 1: the show because I've gotten to know her over the
Speaker 1: last few years, A super huge fan of everything that
Speaker 1: she's doing to change the game.
Speaker 2: Jenny, Welcome to the show. Hey Christina, thank you so
Speaker 2: much for having me on.
Speaker 1: I know this has been like a long time coming,
Speaker 1: I feel like in terms of getting you on the
Speaker 1: show and get an interview done. But welcome to In
Speaker 1: case you missed it, we are super excited to have
Speaker 1: you on this week. And so before we dive into
Speaker 1: your story and talk about all things women's basketball and
Speaker 1: women's sports, we like to ask every guest who comes
Speaker 1: on the show to share what a win for them
Speaker 1: was in the past week, and we call it the
Speaker 1: win of the week.
Speaker 2: So, what was one of your wins this week?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, what was one of my wins this week? Well,
Speaker 3: there's a personal one. I was able to score some
Speaker 3: free tickets to the Thorns game for my mom and dad.
Speaker 3: It was Father's Day, so yesterday it was for Father's
Speaker 3: Day and it happened to be the Pride match at
Speaker 3: the Thorns too, so I knew it was going to
Speaker 3: like kind of sell out Portland's you know, showing out
Speaker 3: and it's about seventy seven degrees yesterday, so I knew
Speaker 3: all of Portland was going to be there, and I like,
Speaker 3: kind of last minute, I got got in touch with
Speaker 3: my dad and I was just like, hey, I would
Speaker 3: love to take you to this afternoon game. And we
Speaker 3: were able to They were able to squeeze us in
Speaker 3: there and the Thorns pulled off a W. So it
Speaker 3: was just like a win win situation. So on the
Speaker 3: personal note, you know, handed one off to Dad for
Speaker 3: being so awesome and got to celebrate with him and
Speaker 3: some fans and the Thorns got a W so that
Speaker 3: that felt like really good. As I know, I know
Speaker 3: it felt really and that was like just yesterday, so
Speaker 3: it's really fresh in my mind.
Speaker 2: And then, you know, when it comes.
Speaker 3: To the sports bra, I just feel like there's so
Speaker 3: many things going on all at once. I think one
Speaker 3: really big one from last week was we did our
Speaker 3: very first weeklies we're calling them weeklies with our new franchisees.
Speaker 3: So we did our very first weekly calls where we
Speaker 3: set aside one hour at least one hour every week
Speaker 3: with each of our franchisees to kind of discuss where
Speaker 3: they are in the process, what questions they have, what
Speaker 3: help they need, and we're kind of setting up some
Speaker 3: visits to go out to the cities and take a
Speaker 3: look at some places. So that was a huge first
Speaker 3: step for us after our announcement. Is kind of like
Speaker 3: at looking at sites, So kind of setting up those
Speaker 3: first calls with franchisees and making sure that they're on
Speaker 3: track and that we're being supportive. That that felt like
Speaker 3: really really good and a really great first step after
Speaker 3: the announcement.
Speaker 2: Jinny, I love that for you.
Speaker 1: Not only did you get free tickets to the Storm game,
Speaker 1: you were able to get to the Thorns game as well,
Speaker 1: got the win, you got to spend time with your dad.
Speaker 1: But you're building an empire, and so I love that
Speaker 1: for you so much. So we're gonna dive right into it.
Speaker 1: What first sparked your love for women's sports, and especially
Speaker 1: women's basketball, because this is a women's basketball show.
Speaker 2: But what sparked your interest in women's sports?
Speaker 3: I mean, oh, my gosh, we'll heard that, and you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, I think you know this, Christina, but I
Speaker 3: my first love was basketball. I picked up a basketball
Speaker 3: around the age of five or six, started learning how
Speaker 3: to dribble really young. My dad was a huge soccer fan,
Speaker 3: so he tried to push me into soccer, and I
Speaker 3: was just like not having it. So I played basketball
Speaker 3: from super young age and it was really the only
Speaker 3: sport that I really gravitated towards, and as I got older,
Speaker 3: I just you know, was a super fan. Grew up
Speaker 3: born and raised here in Portland, so grew up in
Speaker 3: the Blazers era, you know, right after they want a championship.
Speaker 3: I was born and born into like this incredible fandom
Speaker 3: of you know, basketball and kind of the highs and
Speaker 3: lows of be a Trailblazers fan for those who know no.
Speaker 3: But then there was this undercurrent that became a roar
Speaker 3: recently of women's sports fandom. From a super young age,
Speaker 3: my dad was taking me to University of Portland college
Speaker 3: soccer games and this was when you know, we had
Speaker 3: Tiffany Milbrett and Shannon McMillan playing. And then he took
Speaker 3: me to the games where the Rapino sisters were playing
Speaker 3: with Sinclair. And then we had an ABL team, the
Speaker 3: Portland Power, and then we had a w NBA team,
Speaker 3: the Portland Fire, and we got season tickets to those games.
Speaker 3: And then the Thorns came around and just like kind
Speaker 3: of defined women's sports fandom for soccer. What seems to
Speaker 3: me they defined it like internationally, like we had just
Speaker 3: an all out crowd. And so I kind of grew up,
Speaker 3: you know, loving basketball. That was my sport and kind
Speaker 3: of what I was really gravitated towards. But then kind
Speaker 3: of grew up in Portland where there was this really
Speaker 3: strong current of women's sports fandom, and so that kind
Speaker 3: of just kind of crescendoed into you know, me thinking
Speaker 3: about creating a space for women's sports fandom in the
Speaker 3: shape and form of a sports bar.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, I love that.
Speaker 1: And you talked about growing up being an athlete and
Speaker 1: how that shaped your fandom, but also the sports culture
Speaker 1: in Portland and how that also helped shape you and
Speaker 1: your journey. How do you think that all of those
Speaker 1: elements came together when you came up with the concept
Speaker 1: for the sports bar?
Speaker 2: I mean, for the sports bra.
Speaker 3: It was crazy because as I got older, you know,
Speaker 3: I started to go out with my friends, and all
Speaker 3: of my friends were I made through basketball, and so
Speaker 3: we would go out and whether it was a birthday
Speaker 3: party or a pre party or post party, you know,
Speaker 3: whatever it was, we were trying to watch women's basketball
Speaker 3: mostly and it was always the challenge. And so we'd
Speaker 3: go to these sports bars to try to eat and
Speaker 3: drink and public to hang out with friends and catch
Speaker 3: a game, and it was just really challenging. And so
Speaker 3: for years that was kind of the status quo, that
Speaker 3: was kind of the norm. And then, you know, the
Speaker 3: only career I've ever had, so I played basketball, blew
Speaker 3: out my knee when I was nineteen. So right before
Speaker 3: my freshman basketball game, my first freshman basketball game, I
Speaker 3: had kind of a what was a devastating to me,
Speaker 3: a devastating injury, Like it was a blow to my ego.
Speaker 3: My identity was wrapped up in basketball. So I felt
Speaker 3: like I had like lost my identity when I got injured.
Speaker 3: And so right after that, I felt I kind of
Speaker 3: fell into cooking, and so I started cooking in college,
Speaker 3: fell in love with cooking, and then went into the
Speaker 3: culinary field. So for a little over fifteen years, I
Speaker 3: was cooking in kitchens and became a chef. And so
Speaker 3: during that time, you know, I'm playing pickup basketball. In college,
Speaker 3: I played innermural. I never went back to actually, like
Speaker 3: the coach tried to get me to red shirt, and
Speaker 3: I was just I think like mentally, I just wasn't there.
Speaker 2: After my injury, I just couldn't, you know.
Speaker 3: I rehabbed, but I just wasn't as strong of a
Speaker 3: player mentally, and so I played innermural, played pickup ball,
Speaker 3: and then cooked. So when it came to realizing that
Speaker 3: the sports bra might be something that we could put
Speaker 3: together in Portland, because of, you know, my love of basketball,
Speaker 3: I had, you know, this culinary background where I'd managed
Speaker 3: and run like kitchens, which really didn't it didn't prepare
Speaker 3: me to be a business owner, let's just say that.
Speaker 3: Like that, it was just like one tiny aspect of
Speaker 3: every everything else, Like I really needed a ton of
Speaker 3: help to get the business going. But those those two things,
Speaker 3: combined with how Portland felt like it had always kind
Speaker 3: of embraced women's sports, along with my love of sports
Speaker 3: and my culinary background, it just kind of felt like
Speaker 3: the perfect storm. And Portland being the town that I
Speaker 3: was born and raised in and grew up in, it
Speaker 3: just felt like, you know, to me, it almost felt
Speaker 3: like if the sports Bra as a concept didn't work
Speaker 3: in Portland, I wasn't sure if it would work anywhere
Speaker 3: because it felt to me like Portland was the place
Speaker 3: to kind of be the starting ground, you know, And
Speaker 3: I was like, Okay, let's just try it. And if
Speaker 3: it doesn't work in Portland, I'm not sure it would
Speaker 3: work anywhere else. So it's kind of my mentality about it.
Speaker 3: But also, you know, it's my hometown, so I love
Speaker 3: this city.
Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing how all the dots on your journey
Speaker 1: ended up connecting? And you're like, wait, I was freaking
Speaker 1: out for no reason, like I had to get derails
Speaker 1: here with an injury because later on in life, I
Speaker 1: was going to create something that was going to be
Speaker 1: a movement, like when you look back in hindsight and
Speaker 1: you connect all the little dots of your journey. You've
Speaker 1: said this before, you said, it's a traditional sports bar.
Speaker 1: All we have to do is change the channel. Why
Speaker 1: do you think that mission resonates with so many people
Speaker 1: around the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean what's interesting is when I opened the
Speaker 3: sports bra, I thought I was I thought it was
Speaker 3: just changing the channel, But ultimately it's flipping the status quo.
Speaker 3: So it's the time. To me, it's the tiny changes
Speaker 3: that make all the difference. And so when I conceptually
Speaker 3: thought of the sports bar, I was like, Okay, all
Speaker 3: we're going to do is change the channel. But when
Speaker 3: we had the opportunity to create the space, we went
Speaker 3: about every aspect of it with intentionality. And so with
Speaker 3: that intentionality was the opportunity to change the narrative, flip
Speaker 3: the status quo, put everything on its head. You know,
Speaker 3: whatever we didn't like about the traditional sports bar we were,
Speaker 3: we had the opportunity to give it a new life,
Speaker 3: give it a new story. So when it came down
Speaker 3: to you know who, you know, we had twenty one taps,
Speaker 3: what kind of beer are we going to put on tap?
Speaker 3: And I was just like, oh, I wonder how many
Speaker 3: women are making beer. Turns out there's hundreds and hundreds
Speaker 3: of women in Portland making beer. So everything on a
Speaker 3: tap list is either owned, operated, or made with a
Speaker 3: woman in the brew house. And then so and so
Speaker 3: just these tiny little ways that we could like chain
Speaker 3: to the narrative in that space. We were like, let's
Speaker 3: do it with intentionality and see what kinds of things
Speaker 3: we can create. So it really started with changing the channel,
Speaker 3: but it had a ripple effect. And I think that
Speaker 3: what people why it resonates with people is because for
Speaker 3: so long it felt as if sports bars, your traditional
Speaker 3: sports bars were made for like fifty percent of the population,
Speaker 3: and it really wasn't made for everybody. And so the
Speaker 3: opportunity to have inclusive spaces, to have representation on TV
Speaker 3: and on the walls, you know, to be surrounded by
Speaker 3: women's sports memorabilia versus men's sports memorability, there's a different
Speaker 3: vibe to it. Women's sports flags, to have autographs of
Speaker 3: women athletes from local athletes to international athletes, to come
Speaker 3: in and just be surrounded by like a dedicated space
Speaker 3: for them, that feels special. So I think that I
Speaker 3: think there's a lot of things that resonate with folks
Speaker 3: from athletes to non athletes, sports fans to nonsports fans.
Speaker 3: And then we do it through the menu too, So
Speaker 3: we have like all our vegan, gluten free, dairy free,
Speaker 3: and then all of our meat lovers. You know, we
Speaker 3: have like the full spectrum of things for folks to
Speaker 3: dine on and to drink. We have a bunch of
Speaker 3: na So we're finding, like, you know, zero proof drinks
Speaker 3: are getting more and more popular these days, which is awesome,
Speaker 3: so we've been adding more and more. So it's just
Speaker 3: like the ability to see people and have them feel
Speaker 3: seen in the space. And what's crazy is like again,
Speaker 3: it started out with just changing what I felt like
Speaker 3: was just changing the channel. But when it got to it,
Speaker 3: we we could approach everything with intentionality, and I think
Speaker 3: that that makes a huge difference in helping people feel seen,
Speaker 3: feel represented, and feel like they belong, which creates just
Speaker 3: a great experiences for everybody, not just in fandom, but
Speaker 3: just in enjoyment.
Speaker 1: And I think beyond that, I mean what you've been
Speaker 1: able to do in terms of the brand the sports Bra,
Speaker 1: being able to activate at tent pole women's sports events
Speaker 1: and you know, market your business and different appetents, but
Speaker 1: also give other women an opportunity as well.
Speaker 2: I APPOLOGI you for that.
Speaker 1: We obviously know that women's sports is at an all
Speaker 1: time high right now, not just women's basketball, women's soccer, tennis,
Speaker 1: across the board, women's sports is just blowing up, and
Speaker 1: it's like we've been here this whole time. People are
Speaker 1: just starting to take notice. But when you first opened
Speaker 1: up the sports Bra in twenty twenty two, what was
Speaker 1: the overall reactions that you received from the public, And
Speaker 1: then any point when things started to turn with you
Speaker 1: and go on the up and up. Or was there
Speaker 1: ever a point where you had to eventually turn people
Speaker 1: away from the sports braw on Portland because it would
Speaker 1: get too crowded.
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I mean I want to say that from the moment
Speaker 3: it became public knowledge that the sports bra was happening,
Speaker 3: there was an overwhelming outpouring of support. It was like
Speaker 3: the floodgates had opened. People came out of every like internationally,
Speaker 3: even people were dming us, writing letters, sending stuff in
Speaker 3: the mail. It was just an incredible outpouring of support.
Speaker 3: And again I had no idea. I thought, you know,
Speaker 3: maybe in Portland, maybe for this community, maybe for folks
Speaker 3: like me and my friends, giving us a space.
Speaker 2: I had no idea.
Speaker 3: It was such a universal not even a desire, but
Speaker 3: almost like a need, you know, to create these spaces.
Speaker 3: So the outpouring of support was very palpable from day one,
Speaker 3: from the moment from the moment people found out it
Speaker 3: was happening, and the space in Portland, like, I'm pretty
Speaker 3: risk averse, and I had no idea what was going
Speaker 3: to be like because when I did research, it turns
Speaker 3: out there's never been a women's sports bar, So I
Speaker 3: had no idea if it was going to work. And
Speaker 3: so I I basically picked a place that, you know,
Speaker 3: if the whole thing failed, I could I could manage
Speaker 3: to get myself out of out of trouble. And so
Speaker 3: the bar is a forty seat bar, it's fifty people
Speaker 3: standing room onely uh like low key. It basically we
Speaker 3: basically double that capacity on game days. Don't tell a
Speaker 3: fire or Marshall, but yes, but like you know, when
Speaker 3: there's a championship game or if there's like a huge
Speaker 3: playoff game where we fill up in five minutes and
Speaker 3: then it's and then it's done, you know, it's so
Speaker 3: so it's very clear that spaces like this have been needed,
Speaker 3: and it was just a matter of kind of thinking
Speaker 3: outside the box. And you know, I remember when I
Speaker 3: sat my parents down and I told them my idea
Speaker 3: for the sports bra And by the time I got
Speaker 3: to telling my parents, I kind of had made up
Speaker 3: my mind, like there was no like changing my mind.
Speaker 3: I was like, this is what I'm doing. I'm just
Speaker 3: letting you know. And the very first thing my dad
Speaker 3: said was like, so you're saying this a space like
Speaker 3: this has never existed before, And I said, yeah, from
Speaker 3: all I can tell no one has ever done this,
Speaker 3: And the very first thing he said was maybe there's
Speaker 3: a reason why. And when he said that, it kind
Speaker 3: of triggered this thing in me.
Speaker 2: It was just which was just.
Speaker 3: Like, if that were our mentality about everything, you know,
Speaker 3: we'd still be in caves, like not even thinking about
Speaker 3: rubbing two sticks together because fire would have been invented already, right,
Speaker 3: So in my mind, I was just like, you know
Speaker 3: what if this is how we invent things, this is
Speaker 3: how we progress when we when we need a space
Speaker 3: and it doesn't exist, we create it, right, and like
Speaker 3: it just needed somebody to do it. And if it
Speaker 3: doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but I'd always
Speaker 3: wonder if it would and so and that was kind
Speaker 3: of the you know, one of the triggering points for
Speaker 3: me where I was just like, let's let's try this.
Speaker 3: But since then it's just been incredibly like welcome. Like
Speaker 3: there's always haters, Like whenever you disturb systems of power
Speaker 3: or systemic systems, the folks in power are the folks
Speaker 3: who believe they're in power, they get upset, and so yes,
Speaker 3: there were haters. We you know, I personally went through
Speaker 3: some stuff the store itself had some vandalism, like there,
Speaker 3: you know, things things that happened, but kind of it
Speaker 3: kind of goes to show that you're on the right
Speaker 3: track when there are some folks upset because you're kind
Speaker 3: of rocking the.
Speaker 2: Boat, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So so that was just part of the beginning, and
Speaker 3: then as time went on, it just became more and
Speaker 3: more parent that spaces like the Bra needed to exist,
Speaker 3: and right right from like probably a month in, I
Speaker 3: started to get emails from other women from across the
Speaker 3: country and even other cities around the world, asking how
Speaker 3: I did it? Would they would they would? I recommend
Speaker 3: them to do it themselves. And you know, so much
Speaker 3: of the folks out there right now opening spaces like
Speaker 3: the sports Bra or their own version of a women's
Speaker 3: sports bar, to create spaces for community and fandom, all
Speaker 3: of that is so beautiful and so collaborative and so supportive.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you know about this, but there's a slack
Speaker 3: channel that all of us are on, and I want
Speaker 3: to say, like every week, a couple more folks get added,
Speaker 3: whether they're thinking about starting their own, whether they're thinking
Speaker 3: about franchising with the sports Bra, whether they're you know,
Speaker 3: hosting watch parties or you know, just trying to make
Speaker 3: all of all of our lives better by helping create
Speaker 3: more fandom, create systems, whatever it takes, and so you know,
Speaker 3: it's just you when you involve women, it's just so
Speaker 3: collaborative and so beautiful. And I'm just so I feel
Speaker 3: so grateful to be a part of this movement. And
Speaker 3: it really has become a movement. And what started out
Speaker 3: is just like my little dream of having us fought
Speaker 3: in Portland, and I was just like, if this can
Speaker 3: last a couple of years, I'll be happy. You know,
Speaker 3: let's give let's give some fans a space to have
Speaker 3: fun and celebrate in community.
Speaker 2: And that's that.
Speaker 3: But then it became something else and it unlocked just
Speaker 3: so much potential and I just say, I'm so grateful.
Speaker 3: I'm so grateful for it every day.
Speaker 2: I love that whatever takes mentality.
Speaker 1: And I like to call people like us Jinny Good
Speaker 1: disruptors because I sort of did the same thing when
Speaker 1: it came to the digital space and how women's basketball
Speaker 1: was covered in the digital space, and seven years later
Speaker 1: we see more and more coverage in the digital space
Speaker 1: kind of how like I used to do it when
Speaker 1: I first started covering the WNBA good disruptors, Okay, and
Speaker 1: Kat Williams said it best. You need to lead a
Speaker 1: little bit of a hater haters. If you're not, if
Speaker 1: you don't have any haters, you're not doing something right.
Speaker 1: But it is a good balance to have. And he
Speaker 1: talked about the Sports bra being welcoming to so many
Speaker 1: people in a place that is necessary. You've been able
Speaker 1: to welcome non binary, queer and trans individuals. Is there
Speaker 1: a story from a sports fan or a patron who
Speaker 1: is now, oh now has a place to watch on
Speaker 1: the sports that they love that kind of keeps you
Speaker 1: going and lets you know it reminds you like, this
Speaker 1: is my why, This is why I started the Sports
Speaker 1: broad This is why I created this space.
Speaker 3: Girl, I ain't gonna cry this morning. I'm not crying
Speaker 3: this morning. On our interview, there are so many stories,
Speaker 3: like legitimately, there are so many stories from so we're
Speaker 3: an all ages bar until ten pm. So we try
Speaker 3: to bring families, kids, everybody in and try to normalize
Speaker 3: women's sports on TV and create fans out of everybody. Right,
Speaker 3: So there are moments where I catch a little kid
Speaker 3: watching women's sports on TV and their eyes are just huge,
Speaker 3: glazed over, their mouth is open. They're witnessing somebody playing
Speaker 3: the sport that they love and that they can relate to.
Speaker 3: They see themselves in them. And when I think about
Speaker 3: that moment, I think about, you know, I can't help
Speaker 3: but think about my younger self and if I had
Speaker 3: been in a space at the age of five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, fifteen,
Speaker 3: seventeen twenty one, if I if I'd been in a
Speaker 3: space that had women's sports like that, what kind of
Speaker 3: an impact it would have made on my life? And
Speaker 3: I see that in kids at the BRA, and so like,
Speaker 3: whenever I see a little kid kind of like just
Speaker 3: all in, you know, fandom for women's sports and being
Speaker 3: surrounded by adults cheering for the same people that that
Speaker 3: is that that is part of my why. And then
Speaker 3: when it comes to you know, the community, the LGBTQI
Speaker 3: plus community, it's incredible that, you know, I have a
Speaker 3: lot of intersectionality based on my lived experience and when
Speaker 3: I opened the Sports Bra, I really did it based
Speaker 3: on my women's sports fandom, and it hadn't occurred to
Speaker 3: me that I'm also a first generation Vietnamese American queer woman.
Speaker 3: And so when I opened the space, I was just like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm going to create a space that I feel really
Speaker 3: good in. And it turns out that there's a lot
Speaker 3: of intersectionality there. And when I did that, you know,
Speaker 3: I have friends that are also very intersectional, and so
Speaker 3: just again being intentional about certain things help so much.
Speaker 3: And a lot of it is such a learning process too.
Speaker 3: You know, we open the doors and people were like, hey, Jenny,
Speaker 3: have you thought about doing this because it would really
Speaker 3: help us feel more seen. And I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: you know, of course I had. I hadn't even considered that.
Speaker 3: So it's like all of these things are learning also.
Speaker 3: And that's another huge part that I always want to
Speaker 3: like emphasize on folks with small businesses or even massive
Speaker 3: multi billion dollar companies, that you need to continue to listen.
Speaker 3: You need to continue to listen to your employees, your team,
Speaker 3: your customers. They're going to bring in viewpoints of what
Speaker 3: you're what you don't know, like I you know that
Speaker 3: I don't have a lived experience with and hearing that
Speaker 3: helps create a better world and a better environment for everything.
Speaker 3: And so when I think about, like when you said
Speaker 3: when you asked that question, there was one story that
Speaker 3: kind of stood out in my mind, and there was
Speaker 3: a woman, sorry, there was a person who had fled
Speaker 3: a Central American country and she this person had been
Speaker 3: living in their home.
Speaker 2: For fear of.
Speaker 3: Retaliation of leaving the house because they had been under
Speaker 3: kind of some severe death threats and things like that
Speaker 3: from living in a Central American country. So they had
Speaker 3: moved to the United States seeking asylum, and they hadn't
Speaker 3: left the house in months, and one of their very
Speaker 3: very close relatives convinced them to come to the sport
Speaker 3: and it was the first time that they had left
Speaker 3: the house and been in a public space in general
Speaker 3: in years. And I met this person, and you know,
Speaker 3: we didn't speak the same language, but there was very
Speaker 3: much this exchange of sincere gratitude, and I just thought about, how,
Speaker 3: you know, this space again, I had created it for fandom,
Speaker 3: for women's sports fandom, and how it had become almost
Speaker 3: like a sanctuary for more than that. And you know,
Speaker 3: there are moments that are bittersweet because I'm grateful that
Speaker 3: at the Sports Bra, my team and I have been
Speaker 3: able to create what feels like a very safe space
Speaker 3: for a lot of folks. But then there's this bitter
Speaker 3: part that there aren't spaces like this more often or everywhere,
Speaker 3: and so you know, that's kind of an extreme case,
Speaker 3: but it really does kind of amplify the idea that
Speaker 3: the sports bra has this certain something about it that
Speaker 3: is really special, and that's that's done with intentionality. It's
Speaker 3: not by accident, you know. And I think that I
Speaker 3: want to impress on people that as business owners or
Speaker 3: managers or even employees, you can you can help create
Speaker 3: these spaces for folks who absolutely need it and deserve it.
Speaker 3: And we try to like promote this welcoming atmosphere for everybody.
Speaker 3: And we always say like everyone welcome, except for like
Speaker 3: the haters, you know, no bigots.
Speaker 2: How about that? Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3: It's just like yeah, you know, we get phone calls
Speaker 3: and it's just like our kids allowed, Are men allowed?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: Are these that and the others?
Speaker 3: And it's like, yeah, everybody, everybody, as.
Speaker 2: Long as you come in with love.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, women's sports fandom, come on in.
Speaker 2: Well, I can't wait to finally visit.
Speaker 1: I know, I told you back in October movie We're
Speaker 1: at the WNBA Finals Game two.
Speaker 4: I was like, I have to get there. And I've
Speaker 4: been telling you saying it for years and I really
Speaker 4: mean it. I really have to get there. If I
Speaker 4: have to make it solo trip to Portman just to visit.
Speaker 4: I want to visit the og Sports Bra. But what
Speaker 4: should I order when I visit?
Speaker 1: Because you talked about being a chef in the menu,
Speaker 1: being intentional, what's your favorite thing on the menu?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, girl, I got so many favorites.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: So we brought on a new chef a couple months ago,
Speaker 3: several months ago now, and the menu had stayed relatively
Speaker 3: unchanged since I wrote it in twenty twenty two. And
Speaker 3: you know, as a proud chef, I'm just like menus
Speaker 3: the way it is, it's going to stay forever. And
Speaker 3: this new young gunner, I mean, she's extremely talented. She
Speaker 3: came in with so much passion, so much experience, and
Speaker 3: she just was just like, Jenny, I really think that
Speaker 3: we can up level the menu. And I was just like, Okay,
Speaker 3: let's take a look. And she basically pitched me a
Speaker 3: whole thing. She had a presentation, everything, and then we
Speaker 3: did an R and D. I tasted everything and I
Speaker 3: was blown away. So a bunch of the stuff on
Speaker 3: the menu is kind of the same, but up leveled
Speaker 3: a little bit. And then there she added some brand
Speaker 3: new menu items. So right now I happen to be
Speaker 3: like super excited about the menu. But there's some og
Speaker 3: ones that are from the first day until now are
Speaker 3: the same that she didn't touch because they're perfect. One
Speaker 3: the very first one I got to mention is the
Speaker 3: first thing on the menu, which is my mom's baby
Speaker 3: back ribs, which is based It's based off of a
Speaker 3: classic Vietnamese dish that I grew up eating, and it's
Speaker 3: literally word for word like mom's recipe. The only difference
Speaker 3: is we changed it from pork shoulder like braised pork
Speaker 3: shoulder to baby back ribs, so it could be like
Speaker 3: finger food.
Speaker 2: But it's delicious.
Speaker 3: It's sticky, salty, sweet, is so good, and that's kind
Speaker 3: of a signature dish, you know, the babyback Mom's baby
Speaker 3: beck ribs. And then my a couple of my personal
Speaker 3: favorites right now is the smash Burger classic smash Burger,
Speaker 3: American cheese griddled onions. Chef added a little burger sauce
Speaker 3: to it to make a little extra special, uh and
Speaker 3: it's kind of classic, you know, it's it's nothing too frilly.
Speaker 3: I'm kind of a simple person, so I like a
Speaker 3: simple burger, and it kind of highlights the beef, which
Speaker 3: is from a female rancher out in eastern Oregon. Uh So,
Speaker 3: Corey Carmen is one hundred percent grass fed beef. Not
Speaker 3: very many female ranchers out there, so you know, we
Speaker 3: had to give a shout out. So all of our
Speaker 3: beef is coming from Carmen Ranch. And then the other
Speaker 3: thing that Roxy added, which is actually a holdover from
Speaker 3: one of our old chef's specials, is a dry rub
Speaker 3: fried chicken wing.
Speaker 2: I love me some chicken wings, Danny. It's real good.
Speaker 2: It's real good.
Speaker 3: We used to we started out with the Vietnamese version
Speaker 3: only on the menu, and now we have three versions
Speaker 3: that are all outstanding. So we have Vietnamese version, which
Speaker 3: is named after my aunt Tina, and then we have
Speaker 3: a buffalo wing, which is of in house fermented chili's
Speaker 3: so made from scratch buffalo sauce. And then the dry rub,
Speaker 3: which I'm really a big fan of because it's just
Speaker 3: spicy enough. I'm kind of sensitive palette, so it's just
Speaker 3: spicy enough. Dipped in ranch or blue cheese, and then
Speaker 3: I'm good to go.
Speaker 2: It's it's real good.
Speaker 1: It's like I'm getting so hungry just thinking amazing food.
Speaker 1: So the baby back ribs, the dry rubbed wings, and
Speaker 1: the smash burger, I'm gonna order all that when I visit.
Speaker 2: There's also a lot of.
Speaker 1: Excitement around the Sports Brah this past few weeks because
Speaker 1: you all made a huge announcement with Alexis Ohanian. So
Speaker 1: what was the announcement and what should we be excited
Speaker 1: for the future for the Sports BRA.
Speaker 3: I guess I didn't hint at it early on. I
Speaker 3: kind of just like blurted it out. But a couple
Speaker 3: of weeks ago, we announced that we're franchising to four
Speaker 3: new cities. And the announcement really is kind of the
Speaker 3: first step, like right after we announced it, basically means
Speaker 3: we found people in those cities that we that want
Speaker 3: to open the sports brought in their communities, which we're
Speaker 3: so so excited about. And those four cities are Las Vegas,
Speaker 3: Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Boston. Yes, that's so we're really
Speaker 3: really excited about that. And so first step is the announcement.
Speaker 3: Now we're onto like finding a site and you know,
Speaker 3: we've got to secure funds for them, and then we
Speaker 3: got to do the build out. So a lot of
Speaker 3: folks have been asking, you know, when is it opening,
Speaker 3: where is it at, and it's like, we don't know
Speaker 3: any of that stuff, but we're really excited and we
Speaker 3: just couldn't wait to tell the cities so that they
Speaker 3: can also get behind these new franchisees and you know,
Speaker 3: are our goal is to make sure that our franchisees
Speaker 3: people know that they're the owners and operators of these
Speaker 3: small there's basically small businesses. You know, it's not us
Speaker 3: opening them. We're helping to support an opening. But these
Speaker 3: are community spaces, just like the sports Brown Portland is
Speaker 3: a community space. And that's that's the reason why we
Speaker 3: decided to go with franchising versus opening our own stores,
Speaker 3: is because we really wanted people who live, breathe, and
Speaker 3: you know, support the women's sports fandom and communities in
Speaker 3: those cities to be the ones owning these spaces.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love that having a community hand in building
Speaker 1: their community but also building women's sports around Last question
Speaker 1: for you before you get out of here. You talked
Speaker 1: about your franchisees and just community building. But what advice
Speaker 1: would you tell someone who wants to open a SPORTSPRA franchise.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, Well, technically I can't really say too
Speaker 3: much because there's a lot of franchise laws. But the
Speaker 3: first step would be check out our website. On our website,
Speaker 3: there's tons of information. So go to the sports BRA
Speaker 3: I think, gosh, I can't remember the sports brascial dot Yeah,
Speaker 3: the sportsproofficial dot com will get you to where you
Speaker 3: need to go. There's there's tons of information on there,
Speaker 3: and there's a phone number that you can reach out
Speaker 3: to us. And connecting with us is the first step.
Speaker 3: And you know, we announced we were franchising in April
Speaker 3: of last year. Then we opened a website for franchising
Speaker 3: in October of last year, and it took us until
Speaker 3: from October until, you know, a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 3: to really vet people and really get to know people
Speaker 3: and understand where they're coming from. And honestly, the franchise
Speaker 3: world is pretty massive and the franchise business is incredibly
Speaker 3: complex and a huge undertaking. But as the Sports BRA,
Speaker 3: we're kind of doing things a little bit unconventional, so
Speaker 3: We've gotten a lot of advice and we're taking as
Speaker 3: much as advice as we can, but we're also like,
Speaker 3: you know what, this is the sports Bra. We're going
Speaker 3: to have to do things our own way on some
Speaker 3: of these things because it's we are kind of paving
Speaker 3: a new path for you know, there's not it's been
Speaker 3: a long time since in the food and beverage market
Speaker 3: that there's been a new kind of market and we're
Speaker 3: kind of defining that now, and so it's a little
Speaker 3: bit unconventional, but we're we're here for it. We're excited,
Speaker 3: a little scared, a little nervous, but all of those
Speaker 3: things are probably really good for us as we grow.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I would say reach out to us, let's
Speaker 3: get the conversation started, and we're just we're just really
Speaker 3: really excited to open more of these for more folks.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm super excited for you, Jenny. I just want
Speaker 1: to thank you again for joining us this week on
Speaker 1: In Case you missed It with Christina Williams on the
Speaker 1: Iheartwomen's Sports Network. Super excited for the sports Bra franchises
Speaker 1: across Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, and Boston. Make sure
Speaker 1: you guys, follow Jenny and her journey all across social
Speaker 1: media and we'll talk to you next time. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, Jenny, I appreciate you so much. Thank you Christina.
Speaker 1: All Right, you guys, that's gonna do it for this
Speaker 1: week's episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker 1: and we'll see you back here next week. In Case
Speaker 1: You Missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's
Speaker 1: sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2: You can find us on
Speaker 1: The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.