It’s no secret that gender and racial diversity in representation have shifted over the last few years. Sadly, whether you’re on the court or behind the scenes, you may still face discrepancies in pay and opportunity in comparison to male counterparts, either of a different race or the same race. So much so that over 85% of Black women operate independently through their own sports firms after noting a lack of upward mobility in the workplace, as revealed in a 2025 study by Diverse Representation and Wasserman.
While Black women across the country blaze their own trails in news, marketing, and player management, there’s still a need for support, resource sharing, and sponsorship—which is where Sportsimist comes into play.
What started as a fun apparel movement has morphed into a heartfelt community of women led by Saria Parker. Parker launched Sportsimist to provide cute clothes for women in sports, helping them feel supported throughout their journeys. Short quotes quickly formed memorable merchandise that supporters grew to love. Whether it was a mug with an affirming quote for a quick cup of coffee or the infamous “it’s a beautiful day to be a woman in sports” denim jacket, women across the country were able to show their strength in numbers through clothing that highlighted their journey.
“I wanted to do it for myself, but also for women who may be experiencing the same thing, so I started looking at things online, and I found a women in sports community, but there wasn’t any merchandise for it, which is how we got started, ” Parker explained as she dove deeper into her mindset behind launching the organization.
Parker began her career in sports at Fanatics, where she started as a human resources assistant and later transitioned to the company’s merchandising team. Soon after diving into her career in sports, she noticed a drastic lack of diverse representation in the office, especially with few to no Black women. Since then, she’s been afforded the opportunity to work with major sports brands such as NASCAR and the NBA. Alongside her professional growth, Sportsimist has grown as well.
“Something started to happen a few years ago where I was just getting super vulnerable,” she said. “I was running the Instagram page posting different ‘dear women in sports’ quotes and started to really see so many other women going through what I was and it turned into a community where we would get together online and chat about things going on, and then I recognized that there aren’t any really conferences happening that are showcasing these things that we’re talking about in this community. […] Sportsimist isn’t corporate at all. One of our panels last year was navigating your space as a Black woman in sports, and they were super vulnerable, super raw. It’s not really recorded, so they were able to say what they wanted freely about current or previous organizations.”
With the growth the organization has experienced over the last few years, Parker has expanded it from a digital community into an annual conference featuring panel discussions, networking opportunities, and professional learning from sports industry experts. The Sportsimist Summit is a one-day event that aims to connect women working in sports across their roles through intentional programming and meaningful conversations. Outside of career mapping and navigating the underlying attacks many Black women face in corporate environments, attendees can expect to hear more about compensation and salary negotiation tactics as the industry continues to shift.
More than anything, Parker encourages those looking to build their own community or pursue a similar path to just start and let go of trying to make everything perfect. “Just start. You know, you can’t skip the ugly parts. I feel like we try to get everything perfect and have these launches and photoshoots for no reason, and all the things. I’ve had so many times in my business where I’ve launched a product incorrectly, or something has happened with shipping, or I forget to record a Zoom conversation, and it’s made me a successful business owner today, but without that, I wouldn’t know what to look for now.”
Now in its third year, the Sportsimist Summit is redefining what community looks like in a field that remains heavily male-dominated. Parker’s hope is that the conference will continue to foster necessary conversations that are often considered taboo or not brought up in the industry.
Previous speakers have included professionals from organizations such as Wasserman, NFL, NBA, and GQ Sports, to name a few. This list continues to grow as Parker seeks out new speakers for this year’s conference. The event is scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, in September.