It’s pretty cool to hear the words period, menstruation, and even fear of leak through in an athletic environment, let alone on a film set. And my first two subjects are breaking records and taboos. Lisa Gibson is the Senior Product Manager at Nike Apparel (and a waterpolo Olympian!) who was part of the team to develop Nike’s first period short technology. And the legend Tatyana McFadden, a 20-time Paralympic medalist, has been on the ground floor with Nike, developing and testing their new products. This is the story of two incredible people behind creating Nike’s first period product.

Nike has always been known for their commitment to the pro athlete. But holistic wellness is more than sport, and senior level female-led leadership is shaping the path for a new, more inclusive brand. Liz Weldon, the VP of Global Brand Management, also happens to be an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and is leading the development of a wellness program across Nike’s programming and products. While the VP of Nike Apparel Design, Tania Flynn, is designing to fit and flatter for all bodies in motion.

We meet the incredible Dr Emily Farina. She is one of the principal researchers responsible for “Breaking 2” - the Nike project to break the 2-hour marathon barrier. But her most recent scientific research helped propel a different type of innovation - how to help us gals that just want to not give up. Nike put up the investment to study those of us that aren’t the elite athletes, but us regular athletes that just want to try and move their body as much as they can. As Dr Farina puts it best - “to help running not suck as much.” Or walk, or jog, or whatever it is that you can do today.

Ever since she was little, Dr Elysia Davis was surrounded by sports. And she was good. By high school, she was a serious athlete. But then the unimaginable happened during a game of basketball. In one moment, she tore her ACL, her MCL, and her meniscus.
She was crushed to think her career as an athlete was over. But a wise coach stepped in and told her, “You can still be an athlete, just in a different way than you thought.” And a new love for biomechanics was born. She looked at the headlines and realized she wasn’t alone. Girls are 8x more likely suffer an ACL injury than boys, and female professional soccer players are more prone to knee injuries than men.
Dr Davis has dedicated her career to studying the joint and how to help people keep these important and sensitive body parts healthy. And most recently as a Nike Principal Researcher, she has been studying the anatomy and movement of female soccer players. This research lead to the development of the Luna Boot, Nike’s most researched women’s-led football boot design in its history.