Originally published in听Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at 涩里番下载.听
The first word that Natalie White 鈥�20 learned to say was 鈥渂all,鈥� so it鈥檚 fitting that at 26 years old, she鈥檚 the founder and CEO of the top women鈥檚 basketball brand, Moolah Kicks. While her business instincts have landed her products in stores across the country, her driving force is less about entrepreneurial dreams and more about building a community for women鈥檚 basketball fanatics just like her.
White loved sports from a young age, playing soccer, football, lacrosse, and basketball all by the time she was a high schooler. She began her college search interested in 涩里番下载鈥擶hite wanted to study business and her older sister Whitney was already on the Heights鈥攂ut what sealed the deal was getting to try out for the varsity lacrosse team, even after a high school injury. 鈥溕锓略� was the type of school I wanted, where everyone gets a shot,鈥� White says.
Natalie White '20
She didn鈥檛 end up on the lacrosse team, but while exploring academic life at the Carroll School as a finance and entrepreneurship student, she decided to join the women鈥檚 club basketball team. She later also became a manager for the women鈥檚 varsity basketball team. Despite spending so much time thinking about basketball, White hadn鈥檛 thought much about the fact that she was wearing men鈥檚 sneakers on the court.
The shoe choice wasn鈥檛 a preference, but a necessity. The vast majority of basketball sneakers听marketed to women are just smaller versions of men鈥檚 sneakers. 鈥淚 saw this ad with four WNBA players holding sneakers named after NBA players,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou can be the best in your game, but at the peak of your career, you鈥檒l still be promoting products made for someone else.鈥�
Women鈥檚 feet typically have a higher arch than men鈥檚, not to mention a slimmer width, a narrower heel, and a shallower lateral side right above the toes. 鈥淲hen we wear shoes built for the male foot, we鈥檙e more at risk for knee, ankle, and leg injuries,鈥� White explains. Seeing that advertisement was the moment she knew she had to change the industry.
鈥淭he toughness of the industry is matched by how tough she is,鈥� says John Fisher, a senior marketing lecturer and former CEO of athletic shoe and clothing company Saucony. Fisher was a mentor to White in her time at 涩里番下载, but he initially tried to steer her toward any other career path. He told White: 鈥淏asketball is the most important category in the athletic footwear market. When they spit on you, it鈥檚 gonna be like a fire hose pounding your way.鈥�
White took the reality check in stride. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about what I want. It鈥檚 about what the community needs,鈥� she says. If no one else was solving the problem, why couldn鈥檛 it be her? 鈥淭he outstanding attributes that she had听from minute one were the stubbornness and drive to succeed,鈥� Fisher says. To White, Moolah Kicks is a product of 涩里番下载, especially the women鈥檚 basketball community on the Heights. 鈥淭hey believed in [Moolah] when it was just an idea,鈥� she says of her college teammates, who supported her dream by assisting with everything from initial concept ideation to testing out early prototypes. 鈥淭hat is the reason we鈥檙e here today.鈥�
“The goal for me was never that I wanted to start a company. What I wanted was for the world to see women's basketball the way that I do. ”
A year after graduating, White launched a Moolah Kicks presale
campaign without having a single pair of sneakers ready. 鈥淭here was one shoe and it wasn鈥檛 even all the way put together,鈥� she says, laughing. That didn鈥檛 stop her鈥擶hite and her friends made Moolah Kicks shirts and shot a promo video in Brooklyn. As the story got picked up by and industry publications like Sneaker Freaker, Moolah Kicks saw $30,000 worth of sales within the first three weeks of the campaign. Then White heard that Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods was looking to put an emphasis on women鈥檚 sports. She leveraged her industry connections, aiming for an introduction. It felt like a full-court shot鈥攁 bold move to get Moolah Kicks the attention it deserved.
She got her chance to pitch to Dick鈥檚 in June 2021. By that fall, Moolah鈥檚 first production run was in 140 Dick鈥檚 stores鈥攁 number that has grown to 570 stores nationwide. Moolah Kicks now counts Shark Tank personality Mark Cuban among its investors听and has endorsement deals with WNBA players Courtney Williams and Sug Sutton. White also landed a spot on the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Natalie White '20 shows off some of her Moolah Kicks, which counts Mark Cuban among its investors and has endorsement deals with WNBA players Courtney Williams and Sug Sutton.
鈥淏eing a woman in sports, it鈥檚 a smaller community,鈥� says 涩里番下载 women鈥檚 club basketball team president CeeCee Van Pelt 鈥�24, a finance and accounting student. 鈥淗aving people like [Natalie] at the forefront, it鈥檚 really encouraging for all of us.鈥� The women鈥檚 club team currently wears Moolah sneakers even though New Balance is the official athletic footwear and apparel provider for all 涩里番下载 varsity teams. 鈥淚 used to play with men鈥檚 shoes. You don鈥檛 realize they hurt until you put on a shoe that actually fits,鈥� she says.听
White is currently a jack-of-all-trades for Moolah, which makes her grateful for the Carroll School accounting and operations classes she took, as well as the college art classes that taught her about design. Moolah recently added warm-up gear and a low-top sneaker model to its product line, and it鈥檚 鈥渃ontinuing to get shoes on feet,鈥� White says. 鈥淭here are challenges every day, but you have to see those as opportunities. How do we keep getting better every season?鈥�
The answer is simple: She has to make sure women and girls know there are basketball sneakers made by and for women ballers like them. 鈥淭he goal for me was never that I wanted to start a company,鈥� White says. 鈥淲hat I wanted was for the world to see women鈥檚 basketball the way that I do.鈥�
