Alexis Allen: Every great company starts the same way, with a dream. Not a pitch deck, not a spreadsheet, but a vision. And behind every entrepreneur is the same starting point. A belief that something better is possible and the willingness to take on the risk of trying to build it. Welcome to Dreaming Big. I'm Alexis Allen and I'm a relationship manager on the Texera Locker Group at UBS. I've spent the last decade working alongside founders across industries and stages. From ideas scribbled on napkins to companies scaling faster than anyone expected, I have seen what it really takes to turn vision into reality. What has always drawn me is not just the outcome. It is the optimism, the grit, and the ability to hold a vision long before anyone else believes in it. On Dreaming Big, I sit down with entrepreneurs to talk about where that dream started, the moments that shaped them, the pivots they did not plan, what they're building, who they're becoming, and the lives they're trying to live along the way. And so we go deep into identity, turning points, joy, and the seasons where that dream felt fragile but somehow survived. This isn't just a podcast about startups. It's about making something out of nothing, about protecting an idea long enough for it to become real, and about the courage to keep going day after day. And so whether you're building your first company, scaling your fifth, investing in a founder, or simply drawn to people who see the future before it exists, this is for you. This is Dreaming Big. And so let's dive in.
Alexis Allen: Today I'm beyond excited to introduce you to someone who is literally changing the game of women's basketball. I'm talking about Natalie White, who at just 26 years old is the founder and CEO of Moolah Kicks, which is the first and only performance basketball brand built exclusively by and for female ballers. Natalie is not affiliated with UBS Financial Services Inc. and her views are her own. Now let me tell you a little bit more about why her and her company matter. For decades, women basketball players have been wearing shoes designed for men's feet, which not only affects their performance, but actually increases their risk of serious injuries. In 2019, Natalie saw an ad featuring WNBA superstars holding up shoes named after players. And instead of being decided to do something about it. She bootstrapped her way through rejections, reached out to dream investors, landed a historic deal with Dick Sporting Goods, that created a first ever women's basketball section in their stores and now has her shoes in 630 locations nationwide. She's been named Forbes 30 under 30 and just last summer her brand exploded when the WNBA tried to ban her shoes resulting in massive company growth. She is an absolute powerhouse and I am so excited to jump into our conversation.
Alexis Allen: Natalie, welcome to Dreaming Big.
Natalie White: Thank you for having me Alexis, I'm excited to be here.
Alexis Allen: Of course. So I am just absolutely blown away by your background and your story and everything that you built. So I would love to just start from the beginning and let's go back to 2019. You're a senior at Boston College where we both went and you're on the women's club basketball team. You're managing the varsity team. So basketball is clearly your life. And then you see this ad. Walk me through that original moment and kind of what clicked for you and how you started to form this idea.
Natalie White: Yes, basketball had been my life and it still is my life and you just set the stage perfectly. was picking out sneakers for my senior year club season and I was on East Bay.com, which is a banner by Footlocker since Bendis continued. And I was on their site shopping for shoes and saw an ad that had four WNBA players had super. Diana Taurasi, Jewel Lloyd, and Brianna Stewart. At the time, the four top women's basketball players in the world, and each of them were holding out and promoting the sneakers that they were wearing on court. And so it said their name, their headshot, the shoe they were wearing, and the shoe name below. So it read Sue Bird, Kyrie Four, Diana Taurasi, LeBron 12, and so on. And I remember seeing that and being struck and thinking, my God, What is the message here? It's that you can be the very best in women's basketball and still be wearing and promoting sneakers named after NBA players. And when you dig into the issue, not only is there a social implication, but there's a performance one as well because the female foot form differs from the male foot form in five key areas. And so when we as female athletes are wearing children's, men's, and unisex sneakers, we're actually more at risk. for the knee, ankle, and leg injuries that are so common in women's basketball. And so I started Moolah Kicks to answer that one-two punch. We are the only performance specialist in this sport, and everything we do is to elevate, and celebrate women's basketball.
Alexis Allen: It's just, it's amazing because I imagine just how many women and men probably walked past that ad and maybe had a similar thought, although maybe some didn't even think twice about it. And for you to have walked away and saw it, not only was this, a bit about equality and representation, but it was also about safety. And so Great, you see this ad, you see that there is a problem that you would like to solve. What is kind of the first steps to solving it?
Natalie White: Starting a business when you're in college is crazy in my opinion because you don't know anything. And so you just do as much as you can. I mean, it's a great time to start it because you have nothing to lose. And it's also a very funky time because you have no way of knowing which way is up. So I used to just do absolutely everything imaginable, everything I could think of, and then hope that something stuck, you know, because you don't really know. There's no playbook to say this is step one, this is step two, this step three. Like you just kind of have to go and figure it out along the journey. And so the first step that I took was polling all of the girls and women's basketball players that I knew or could get a hold of about their shoes and their experience in their shoes to understand how much of an issue this was and what areas of fit and form we would need to tackle first to improve their comfort and performance on court. And so I used to stand outside of Conti Forum, our gym for those who don't know, and literally pull pen and paper and would ask players what they liked, what they didn't about their shoes, what colors they liked, what discomfort they had, what their favorite model was, and just got as much player research as I could. Ended up getting about 500 probably, in 500 responses. club programs and I just had everyone in the community sending this out and sharing information back and then also compiled a research with compiled a big pile of research between orthopedic surgeons, podiatrists, trainers and desktop research on the differences of the male and female foot form and then I took all of that information and I brought it to the top last manufacturer in the world called Jones and Vining. And we combined those two stacks of research in order to create the form for the interior of all of our sneakers, which is responsible for that female fit.
Alexis Allen: So you really took kind of initially a super data driven approach and then kind of moved into the practicality of, okay, where do I even go and build these? So now that I have all this information, I'm going to distill it, but I also need to produce and manufacture this. I would love for you to also walk me through a little bit of the branding and awareness because I personally love the name that you landed on, but tell me a little bit about how you came up with it and why it's so meaningful to you and to the brand.
Natalie White: Mula is slang for money and the slang aspect is a positive nod to the street culture of women's basketball. And the money aspect signifies the financial opportunity that the brand is creating because we are the only brand where every single dollar we earn goes directly back into women's basketball.
Alexis Allen: That is so fantastic. I love every element of that. So tell me a little bit about the manufacturing. Let's go back to that. Obviously, now you've got the concept, you're working on the name and the branding, you have the research, but you do have to find a place to manufacture this. And I feel like for many people who go after creating a physical product, that piece can be both a little bit daunting, but also incredibly important to find the right partner. it would be helpful for you to just walk through a little bit about what that process looked like for you and whether it was, you you had some great advice and first person you reached out to they said yes, or what that process was like for you.
Natalie White: It's no easy feat to land a manufacturer and in footwear the development cycle typically takes 12 to 18 months. So without being a big name, you're essentially asking a manufacturing partner to invest all of this, these time and resources into developing a net new model that they're not sure is going to go to production and if so, at what volume. Right, because there's a sample room, there's a development team, there's sample molds, all of this costs a large amount of money and a lot of the time the factory makes, they make all of their money from the actual production run and oftentimes you don't even pay for development costs because the production run will pay for, will cover the development costs. And so that's why getting into performance footwear into a manufacturer for performance footwear is so difficult. Typically, some of the MOQs would be a couple million pair a year. And when you're just getting started, the tooling itself, meaning the molds that are required to make the midsole and the outsoles, you need a steel mold for every half size. So you're talking upwards of half a million dollars in mold costs alone, not even the actual material labor.
speaker-2 you
Natalie White: and everything else that goes into the shoes. Wow. when you're first, when you're starting to look at factories, a lot of them are looking at you and are saying, well, I don't believe that you guys even have the ability to do a production run, right? Cause they're kind of sizing you up to make sure that you're going to be worth it for them in the long run to do this heavy development. And that process, it's only just tell you Alexis, it was no easy feat. I mean, we probably pitched about, and I say it was me just at the time, but pitched about, we as a company, probably 35 factories. Everyone said no because we didn't have a purchase order in hand. And finally we got into a factory in Dongguan, China. It wasn't certainly where, a facility where you would want to be, but we're really grateful that we're able to get in for the sampling. They knew we're very open with them. we weren't positive about what type of production volume we'd be able to do, you know, because we couldn't commit at that time to any type of volume. didn't have the capital to do so. So we were able to start sampling in a manufacturer out of Dongguan and they did our very first samples. We then would wear test those samples with some members of Boston College team. And we'd have them wear one on one foot, one mule on one foot, their existing shoe on the other foot. And they'd give feedback on what we should change, what we should keep. Then we'd go back with the manufacturer, work some of that stuff out. And eventually by May of 2021, we're ready to launch a pre-sale campaign. And long story short, after the pre-sale campaign, we landed one of the largest opening orders in history with Dick's Sporting Goods into 140 stores. And Once we had that in hand, we had the opportunity to work with a big manufacturer named Hwa Sung Vina out of Dong Nai, Vietnam, one of the top manufacturers for performance footwear in the world. They make 60 million pair for Adidas. They make for Hoka. They made for Allbirds at the time. And we were able to get into that manufacturer to have our first run go out in 2021. So that's a little bit behind the scenes about manufacturing, our production and development partners are absolutely everything to us in this business, to anyone who's in a product-based business. And we work closely with them. We're talking with them every week. We have full-time team members over in Vietnam, and I'm over there every six months.
Alexis Allen: Okay, I wanna talk about the Dick's Sporting Goods Contract. That is kind of the dream partnership. for many to get into, especially in the world of shoes and sneakers. So tell me about what that did for your company and for your brand and also how that really upleveled you probably as a leader in that moment.
Natalie White: Absolutely, can't say enough good things about the opportunity that we've had with Dick's Sporting Goods. They are big believers in women's sport and outfitting athletes across the country to allow players to play their best. They are all about premium performance product. You're seeing it with their new house of sports stores. They've been bullish on women's sport and women's basketball. since as long as I've been following them and knowing that company, I mean, they absolutely love it. And when I first pitched Dick's Sporting Goods, that's exactly what they've said, is that they've been wanting women's basketball product for years, and we're so excited that it was here through Moolah Kicks. And so we got really warm and welcoming feedback from them. They're fantastic partners to work with. We're now in 650 stores. just can't say enough good things about them and the stores and the service that they can offer to the women's basketball community and really the way that they've been able to grow their assortment to make Dix a destination for women's basketball because before 2021, before we were in there, there was no place that you could go to a specific women's basketball section and we really created that in partnership with them.
Alexis Allen: That is pretty revolutionary because when you think about the impact that just being in that many stores for so many different both young girls and middle school girls and high school and college to be able to walk in and see something that is actually reflective of them versus trying to fit into a different model is just pretty extraordinary.
Natalie White: And I think it's also... normal now. And it's really amazing. I think when you're younger or when when I was younger and you go into a store and you're playing girls basketball and you go in and you see that you have to go to the boys section or the men's section, you're wondering why. And then over time you get used to it. And you start saying, I'm going to wear LeBron's and KD's and Kobe's. And now I think girls aren't They never have that feeling where they can just big go in their very first season and are greeted with a section that's made for them. And they've never, a lot of the players have never had to, who have been playing the last five years, have never had to been forced to shop in a section that's not theirs. And I think it does a lot in furthering our game and the way that we think about our own game and championing and promoting it.
speaker-2 you
Alexis Allen: that is really cool that you have helped normalize something that basically less than a generation ago wasn't. So, you know, congratulations. You know, when I, when I think about a little bit of the consumer landscape, obviously to be able to produce something at this size, you need a decent amount of financing in the early days and maybe even in the later days. And you have had some amazing investors. I would love to just hear about for you what, the kind of funding fundraising experience was like.
Natalie White: It's hard. There's no way to cut it. mean, fundraising is really challenging. I think that's been probably our biggest challenge to date. And we're so in the business operating it that it has been challenging for us to pull away and spend time raising capital when we're so focused on the day to day. And it's growing so fast around us.
speaker-2 You
Natalie White: because raising capital is like a whole nother job in of itself. And so we have some great folks on the cap table. We have Mark Cuban, we have Dick's Forting Goods, we have Boston College Venture Group called SSC Ventures, we have Sarah Lucas out of California. We have a consortium of about 10 other smaller check investors. And we've been really, really, you know, appreciative and grateful that we have them on the cap table. And I think for this next phase of women's basketball, we also have a lot to grow because you're right, like we're running a big commercial footwear business. We're in a ton of doors, 650 that we have to support. And you're seeing capital kind of at least on LinkedIn, looks like capital's flying all around in women's sports. And so, you know, we're ready to step up to the plate and show a little bit more of our business so that hopefully we can. earn some more capital to continue to grow this thing.
Alexis Allen: Awesome. I mean, you already have a pretty stacked cap table, but there's definitely a real, a real opportunity for you to continue to grow and you're doing it. You know, next to your cap table, you've also built a super impressive roster of athlete ambassadors and WNBA players and, you know, NIL athletes. And so one, you know, being a player and probably a fan of the sport, tell me a little bit about, you know, how that type of response. has been, especially in such a short amount of time.
speaker-2 you
Natalie White: Having the athletes is the easy part, I'd say, because if you have the product, every player wants to be the best version of themselves on the court. And the second players put on our product, they feel the difference. So that part has come very naturally. And then second, we know a lot of the players. So it's been easy. You have to have the product, and you have to be able to get it to them, right? But we have the first, and then the second, we know them. So it's been easy to send them shoes. have them try it, and then the rest speaks for itself. Everybody we found in women's basketball does really want to be a part of building something stronger for the next generation. And once this brand elevates the entire industry, because we are the performance specialist. This is like Speedo or Bauer or any sports specialist that is making the best equipment to serve that specific audience. We're not also making baseball and softball and tennis, you know, we're laser focused on serving the women's basketball community. And when we do that, not only can we deliver the best, but we can make sure there's always going to be equipment in future years. And players, that's something that they want to get behind. That's what it means to be buying for female ballers. And wow, it's making It's improving their game and making it more comfortable right out of the box. I mean, that's something every player is going to want to be a part of.
speaker-2 you
Alexis Allen: 100%. Now, when you think about the players, I'm so curious to ask you about kind of what happened in summer of 2025 with the WNBA because you really had a very viral moment that was written up, that was talked about. And so I would love to just hear from your perspective what that was like and how that has also just amplified and continued both the need for your company and expansion of your brand.
Natalie White: Yeah, we had a great feature piece in the New York Times. I'm really grateful that they covered it. A little bit of a controversy with WNBA. They banned our logo on court and so they were fining our WNBA All-Star Courtney Williams for wearing Moolah kicks. For context, we've been in the league since 2023. And these fines just started this year. So. The take is that was, you we ended up making it a positive for us. You know, we like to say every hand's a winner, every hand's a loser. And so it was hard not to have our logo on the WNBA floor, of course, but to those founders listening, to those next-gen investors that are listening to this podcast, I think the challenge here was to say, okay, they're making you tape over your logo. They're finding your best player. How can you turn that into a positive? And so that's what we did. We went to the press and We tried to get as many people talking about it as possible because what a great time to introduce our story and our why to all of the women's basketball community who says, oh my God, here's this company doing literally everything they can for women's making the only shoes fit specifically for us. And they have to cover their logo. It just doesn't make sense. you know, ultimately we want to come to a Positive relationship with the W, we want to be on all the feet of as many players as we can be. We're big fans of the WNBA. We understand why we couldn't show our logo. We're not an approved partner of the league. So everything makes sense, but of course as a business, we're still going to try to amplify our voice and our mission every opportunity we can.
Alexis Allen: It's those moments that are really interesting for companies where they're put on a map to some people that they weren't necessarily aware of. so I remember, I obviously have been following your story for a while, but I remember seeing that and just thinking like, wow, this is kind of even just outside of the world of sports. is a really interesting business that's making some amazing moves. it's incredible what you've done in basically five years. I mean, you've gone from zero stores to over 600. You're backed by some of the world's best investors. Your name Forbes 30 under 30, and you're creating a real change in a massive sport. I mean, where do you see Moolaq kicks in five years from now?
Natalie White: Hopefully making just as many moves as we did in the last five. And I think just by getting more shoes on feet, can do that. By having more girls try the shoes and have the Moolah logo become something that they are shaping, a culture that they're creating and a brand that they're proud to own. It will change the way that young female athletes are thinking about themselves and their future and the level of performance and ultimately all we want to do is have a positive impact. And we're really grateful and lucky that we're in the position we're in because through this company, can have increased profits also mean more of a positive impact. And that is a really unique place to be where we've been fighting for so long to show that women's basketball isn't charity. So us making money actually is great for the sport. and impact and purpose, profit go hand in hand here. And so I'd say continuing to grow the business as loud and as large as we can will continue to have a positive impact that hopefully parallels what we've been able to do in the last five years.
Alexis Allen: That is just, it's really extraordinary. again, you're not just building a business, you're also building this massive community. for everyone who is listening and they have kind of this big dream and maybe they've identified the problem like you had in college, maybe they've been told no a bunch of times, maybe they're scared to take the leap. Well, I think you have this very kind of casual and organic approach, you're clearly incredibly disciplined and have an internal intensity. You know, what is the advice that you give to a lot of aspiring founders?
Natalie White: It depends on who they are. Everyone has their own style. Everyone has their own wants and what makes them them. And I'd say if everyone's just so individual, you have to be yourself and you have to do it with your style. Because if you really, you're never gonna be somebody else. And you can learn things from others, but so much of building a company, it's gonna end up having a little bit of your touch on it. you know, especially in those early days. So the advice I would give is to always be ready and to hustle. And then a reminder that there's no free lunch because I think there's a lot of
speaker-2 you
Natalie White: talk about when people, I'm scared to take a leap, this, that, know, whatever it is, it's important to remind people. mean, I was an old landlord who told me there was no free lunch actually back in BC. And that line has just stuck with me because what it really means is there's a trade off to everything you do. And so while yes, it looks amazing, right, to say all of those things. We've Forbes 30 under 30, this, that, the other, you know, we can list it all. Is it worth it for me? Absolutely. know, would I do this again? Absolutely. If I knew what it would take five years ago, if somebody said, is what it's gonna, you know, here's the trade off, would I still take it? I don't know. Probably not. Because there's no, what it costs to get, to do all this stuff has been so intense and so crazy that it's just an important reminder that like, you are going to be working. It's like, you don't have days off, you don't have weeks off, you have hard times, you're always going to be the one to deal with it. Like, I think there's no free lunch. And I think that's an important reminder for people who are thinking to get into it, that it will be worth it if it's what you want, but that everything does come at a cost.
Alexis Allen: That's ⁓ such an ownership mentality, but I can imagine that you probably have also drawn a lot from being an athlete for your whole life. You bring that kind of same level of fierceness and intensity to your business. I always think that athletes make some of the best entrepreneurs.
Natalie White: You know, I think it's funny, like you can, I'm so goofy on the court. And I think at the end of the day, like when I play sports, I'm so intense and I'm so goofy, Alexis. So that's probably what you're picking up, right? You're feeling, it's so funny. You have this intense-ness, but this casual-ness. Like, that's just, that's just how I am. And I've always been like loving, I'm a defender. I hustle and I like am talking on the court. I'm laughing, I'm joking. And I'm going all out, 100%. And that's the same way that we run the business and everyone here at Moolah Kicks, it's like, we work 100%. We're putting our all into this, but we're going to have a lot of fun while we're doing it.
Alexis Allen: Totally. And I pick up on the fact that it seems like you're having fun. It's hard work, but you're enjoying it. And I think that especially in what I hope and expect are even the early days, because I think that this will be just even bigger and so much bigger in the future. have to enjoy it because it's about the journey. mean, Natalie, I... I want to end with some really quick rapid fire questions because you've been so generous with your time and your thoughts. for you, what has been the best advice you've received?
Natalie White: Always be ready. And that's it. Always be ready and cream always rises to the top. Those are the two things I always remember. There's nothing else I think that compares to always being ready. That's where confidence comes from. That's where showing your capability comes from. And then that is what gives you motivation to work really hard. And then knowing cream always rises to the top, right? One shining moment, all the same stuff.
speaker-2 Okay.
Natalie White: eventually you will get your shot. So if you're always ready and you know that an opportunity is coming, it gives you both preparation and hope and that's really what you need to succeed not just in starting a business but in most things that you do.
Alexis Allen: couldn't agree more. What's the first thing that you do every morning?
Natalie White: I make two eggs over easy. I'm so routine. Alexis is very funny. Like I am very consistent. You know, I'm wearing the same thing almost every day. I make the same thing for breakfast every day. And I have the very, the same morning routine. Like I get up, I make my bed, I wash my face. I make two eggs over easy, have a coffee. Still have it in the to go cup right here. You know, and I head over to the office.
Alexis Allen: You and I are similar like that. love him wearing routine. You know, for you, what does living a rich life look like?
Natalie White: One with a lot of love, where I feel like I can feel the difference that I'm making in the communities that I care about.
Alexis Allen: Well, you're certainly living a rich life then.
Natalie White: so, we're chippin' away.
Alexis Allen: What are you dreaming about next?
Natalie White: I'm dreaming about the community we serve championing our movement. I think there's a switch that flips when you hit, there's an inflection point that you can reach when you share your message so often and then it gets taken over by the consumer and they are the ones that are really fueling the movement. I think we're,
speaker-2 Thanks.
Natalie White: we can feel how close we are to that point. And that's what I'm looking the most forward to is the days where all of a sudden, you know, the entire team is wearing a shoe because girls are explaining the importance to their friends, to the seventh grade team, to the elementary school kids who are starting to get into basketball and to start to have our girls basketball community champion this movement. They can do it. You know, this is like, this is a being that we're creating for them. And so when they start carrying the torch, that's what I'm looking forward to the most.
Alexis Allen: What a beautiful note to end on. You know, I know that there's probably a lot more that we could talk about, but for those who are looking to follow your journey and Mulah's journey, where can they go and see the continued growth?
Natalie White: Yes, please plug us Alexis. Everyone please follow us at Moolah Kicks on TikTok and Instagram and online MoolahKicks.com in store at Dick's Sporting Goods
Alexis Allen: Amazing. Thank you so much for such a great conversation. I have enjoyed every bit of it.
Natalie White: Thank you for having me Alexis, this was fantastic.
Alexis Allen: That was Natalie White, founder and CEO of Moolah Kicks. If you want to check out their shoes, you can find them at Dick's Sporting Goods nationwide or at And trust me, whether you're a baller yourself or you know a young girl who loves the game, these shoes are game changers, literally. As always, if you love this episode, subscribe to Dreaming Big wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review. Share it with someone who needs to hear Natalie's story today. And remember, Your dream is valid, your vision matters, and the world needs what you can only see. So keep building it and keep dreaming big. I'm Alexis Allen and I'll see you next time.
Alexis Allen: This podcast is presented for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice or the basis for making any investment decisions. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any specific product or service. UBS does not provide legal or tax advice and we would recommend listeners to obtain appropriate independent professional advice. Some of the views and opinions expressed may not be those of UBS Group AG or its affiliates. UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC registered investment advisor and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC registered broker dealer. These services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways, and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that you understand the ways in which we conduct business and that you carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide about the products or services we offer. more information, please review Client Relationship Summary provided at ubs.com forward slash relationship summary. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS Group AG and is a member of FINRA and SIPC.