June 20, 2025 • 34 mins
Jenny Nguyen, the founder of The Sports Bra, joins Khristina to share her journey from basketball fan to chef to business owner. She opens up about what inspired her to create a space that celebrates women’s sports and why building community and inclusion has been the heart of it all.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart Women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to another.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
And I want to call this news segment Fan Out Friday,
because every Friday we are bringing you the most exclusive
interviews with some of the biggest movers and shakers in
women's sports and women's basketball industry. So, as you guys know,
(00:35):
obviously I am a huge women's sports fans, but if
you ever try to catch a game at a local bar,
you know how rare it is to find women's sports
playing on the television screens. I know, for the most
part in New York City, whatever I'm at a local
sports bar, I have to like stop a waiter and
(00:55):
ask them and request to put on WNBA games. So
I'm super about this week's guest because she is creating
a space that is truly welcoming for the women's sports community.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
In her community and beyond.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And so in twenty twenty two, Jenny Wnn created the
Sports Bar, and I'm super excited to have Jenny on
the show because I've gotten to know her over the
last few years, A super huge fan of everything that
she's doing to change the game.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jenny, Welcome to the show. Hey Christina, thank you so
much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I know this has been like a long time coming,
I feel like in terms of getting you on the
show and get an interview done. But welcome to In
case you missed it, we are super excited to have
you on this week. And so before we dive into
your story and talk about all things women's basketball and
women's sports, we like to ask every guest who comes
(01:56):
on the show to share what a win for them
was in the past week, and we call it the
win of the week.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So, what was one of your wins this week?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Oh my gosh, what was one of my wins this week? Well,
there's a personal one. I was able to score some
free tickets to the Thorns game for my mom and dad.
It was Father's Day, so yesterday it was for Father's
Day and it happened to be the Pride match at
the Thorns too, so I knew it was going to
like kind of sell out Portland's you know, showing out
and it's about seventy seven degrees yesterday, so I knew
(02:25):
all of Portland was going to be there, and I like,
kind of last minute, I got got in touch with
my dad and I was just like, hey, I would
love to take you to this afternoon game. And we
were able to They were able to squeeze us in
there and the Thorns pulled off a W. So it
was just like a win win situation. So on the
personal note, you know, handed one off to Dad for
(02:45):
being so awesome and got to celebrate with him and
some fans and the Thorns got a W so that
that felt like really good. As I know, I know
it felt really and that was like just yesterday, so
it's really fresh in my mind.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And then, you know, when it comes.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To the sports bra, I just feel like there's so
many things going on all at once. I think one
really big one from last week was we did our
very first weeklies we're calling them weeklies with our new franchisees.
So we did our very first weekly calls where we
set aside one hour at least one hour every week
with each of our franchisees to kind of discuss where
(03:26):
they are in the process, what questions they have, what
help they need, and we're kind of setting up some
visits to go out to the cities and take a
look at some places. So that was a huge first
step for us after our announcement. Is kind of like
at looking at sites, So kind of setting up those
first calls with franchisees and making sure that they're on
(03:47):
track and that we're being supportive. That that felt like
really really good and a really great first step after
the announcement.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Jinny, I love that for you.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Not only did you get free tickets to the Storm game,
you were able to get to the Thorns game as well,
got the win, you got to spend time with your dad.
But you're building an empire, and so I love that
for you so much. So we're gonna dive right into it.
What first sparked your love for women's sports, and especially
women's basketball, because this is a women's basketball show.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
But what sparked your interest in women's sports?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, oh, my gosh, we'll heard that, and you know,
I mean, I think you know this, Christina, but I
my first love was basketball. I picked up a basketball
around the age of five or six, started learning how
to dribble really young. My dad was a huge soccer fan,
so he tried to push me into soccer, and I
was just like not having it. So I played basketball
from super young age and it was really the only
(04:40):
sport that I really gravitated towards, and as I got older,
I just you know, was a super fan. Grew up
born and raised here in Portland, so grew up in
the Blazers era, you know, right after they want a championship.
I was born and born into like this incredible fandom
of you know, basketball and kind of the highs and
lows of be a Trailblazers fan for those who know no.
(05:03):
But then there was this undercurrent that became a roar
recently of women's sports fandom. From a super young age,
my dad was taking me to University of Portland college
soccer games and this was when you know, we had
Tiffany Milbrett and Shannon McMillan playing. And then he took
me to the games where the Rapino sisters were playing
(05:25):
with Sinclair. And then we had an ABL team, the
Portland Power, and then we had a w NBA team,
the Portland Fire, and we got season tickets to those games.
And then the Thorns came around and just like kind
of defined women's sports fandom for soccer. What seems to
me they defined it like internationally, like we had just
an all out crowd. And so I kind of grew up,
(05:46):
you know, loving basketball. That was my sport and kind
of what I was really gravitated towards. But then kind
of grew up in Portland where there was this really
strong current of women's sports fandom, and so that kind
of just kind of crescendoed into you know, me thinking
about creating a space for women's sports fandom in the
shape and form of a sports bar.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No, I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And you talked about growing up being an athlete and
how that shaped your fandom, but also the sports culture
in Portland and how that also helped shape you and
your journey. How do you think that all of those
elements came together when you came up with the concept
for the sports bar?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I mean, for the sports bra.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
It was crazy because as I got older, you know,
I started to go out with my friends, and all
of my friends were I made through basketball, and so
we would go out and whether it was a birthday
party or a pre party or post party, you know,
whatever it was, we were trying to watch women's basketball
mostly and it was always the challenge. And so we'd
go to these sports bars to try to eat and
(06:48):
drink and public to hang out with friends and catch
a game, and it was just really challenging. And so
for years that was kind of the status quo, that
was kind of the norm. And then, you know, the
only career I've ever had, so I played basketball, blew
out my knee when I was nineteen. So right before
my freshman basketball game, my first freshman basketball game, I
(07:10):
had kind of a what was a devastating to me,
a devastating injury, Like it was a blow to my ego.
My identity was wrapped up in basketball. So I felt
like I had like lost my identity when I got injured.
And so right after that, I felt I kind of
fell into cooking, and so I started cooking in college,
(07:31):
fell in love with cooking, and then went into the
culinary field. So for a little over fifteen years, I
was cooking in kitchens and became a chef. And so
during that time, you know, I'm playing pickup basketball. In college,
I played innermural. I never went back to actually, like
the coach tried to get me to red shirt, and
I was just I think like mentally, I just wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
After my injury, I just couldn't, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
I rehabbed, but I just wasn't as strong of a
player mentally, and so I played innermural, played pickup ball,
and then cooked. So when it came to realizing that
the sports bra might be something that we could put
together in Portland, because of, you know, my love of basketball,
I had, you know, this culinary background where I'd managed
(08:18):
and run like kitchens, which really didn't it didn't prepare
me to be a business owner, let's just say that.
Like that, it was just like one tiny aspect of
every everything else, Like I really needed a ton of
help to get the business going. But those those two things,
combined with how Portland felt like it had always kind
(08:39):
of embraced women's sports, along with my love of sports
and my culinary background, it just kind of felt like
the perfect storm. And Portland being the town that I
was born and raised in and grew up in, it
just felt like, you know, to me, it almost felt
like if the sports Bra as a concept didn't work
in Portland, I wasn't sure if it would work anywhere
(09:00):
because it felt to me like Portland was the place
to kind of be the starting ground, you know, And
I was like, Okay, let's just try it. And if
it doesn't work in Portland, I'm not sure it would
work anywhere else. So it's kind of my mentality about it.
But also, you know, it's my hometown, so I love
this city.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Isn't it amazing how all the dots on your journey
ended up connecting? And you're like, wait, I was freaking
out for no reason, like I had to get derails
here with an injury because later on in life, I
was going to create something that was going to be
a movement, like when you look back in hindsight and
you connect all the little dots of your journey. You've
said this before, you said, it's a traditional sports bar.
(09:43):
All we have to do is change the channel. Why
do you think that mission resonates with so many people
around the world.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, I mean what's interesting is when I opened the
sports bra, I thought I was I thought it was
just changing the channel, But ultimately it's flipping the status quo.
So it's the time. To me, it's the tiny changes
that make all the difference. And so when I conceptually
thought of the sports bar, I was like, Okay, all
(10:11):
we're going to do is change the channel. But when
we had the opportunity to create the space, we went
about every aspect of it with intentionality. And so with
that intentionality was the opportunity to change the narrative, flip
the status quo, put everything on its head. You know,
whatever we didn't like about the traditional sports bar we were,
(10:32):
we had the opportunity to give it a new life,
give it a new story. So when it came down
to you know who, you know, we had twenty one taps,
what kind of beer are we going to put on tap?
And I was just like, oh, I wonder how many
women are making beer. Turns out there's hundreds and hundreds
of women in Portland making beer. So everything on a
tap list is either owned, operated, or made with a
(10:54):
woman in the brew house. And then so and so
just these tiny little ways that we could like chain
to the narrative in that space. We were like, let's
do it with intentionality and see what kinds of things
we can create. So it really started with changing the channel,
but it had a ripple effect. And I think that
what people why it resonates with people is because for
(11:19):
so long it felt as if sports bars, your traditional
sports bars were made for like fifty percent of the population,
and it really wasn't made for everybody. And so the
opportunity to have inclusive spaces, to have representation on TV
(11:41):
and on the walls, you know, to be surrounded by
women's sports memorabilia versus men's sports memorability, there's a different
vibe to it. Women's sports flags, to have autographs of
women athletes from local athletes to international athletes, to come
in and just be surrounded by like a dedicated space
(12:02):
for them, that feels special. So I think that I
think there's a lot of things that resonate with folks
from athletes to non athletes, sports fans to nonsports fans.
And then we do it through the menu too, So
we have like all our vegan, gluten free, dairy free,
and then all of our meat lovers. You know, we
have like the full spectrum of things for folks to
(12:22):
dine on and to drink. We have a bunch of
na So we're finding, like, you know, zero proof drinks
are getting more and more popular these days, which is awesome,
so we've been adding more and more. So it's just
like the ability to see people and have them feel
seen in the space. And what's crazy is like again,
(12:44):
it started out with just changing what I felt like
was just changing the channel. But when it got to it,
we we could approach everything with intentionality, and I think
that that makes a huge difference in helping people feel seen,
feel represented, and feel like they belong, which creates just
a great experiences for everybody, not just in fandom, but
just in enjoyment.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think beyond that, I mean what you've been
able to do in terms of the brand the sports Bra,
being able to activate at tent pole women's sports events
and you know, market your business and different appetents, but
also give other women an opportunity as well.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I APPOLOGI you for that.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
We obviously know that women's sports is at an all
time high right now, not just women's basketball, women's soccer, tennis,
across the board, women's sports is just blowing up, and
it's like we've been here this whole time. People are
just starting to take notice. But when you first opened
up the sports Bra in twenty twenty two, what was
the overall reactions that you received from the public, And
(13:59):
then any point when things started to turn with you
and go on the up and up. Or was there
ever a point where you had to eventually turn people
away from the sports braw on Portland because it would
get too crowded.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I mean I want to say that from the moment
it became public knowledge that the sports bra was happening,
there was an overwhelming outpouring of support. It was like
the floodgates had opened. People came out of every like internationally,
even people were dming us, writing letters, sending stuff in
the mail. It was just an incredible outpouring of support.
(14:33):
And again I had no idea. I thought, you know,
maybe in Portland, maybe for this community, maybe for folks
like me and my friends, giving us a space.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It was such a universal not even a desire, but
almost like a need, you know, to create these spaces.
So the outpouring of support was very palpable from day one,
from the moment from the moment people found out it
was happening, and the space in Portland, like, I'm pretty
risk averse, and I had no idea what was going
(15:03):
to be like because when I did research, it turns
out there's never been a women's sports bar, So I
had no idea if it was going to work. And
so I I basically picked a place that, you know,
if the whole thing failed, I could I could manage
to get myself out of out of trouble. And so
the bar is a forty seat bar, it's fifty people
standing room onely uh like low key. It basically we
(15:27):
basically double that capacity on game days. Don't tell a
fire or Marshall, but yes, but like you know, when
there's a championship game or if there's like a huge
playoff game where we fill up in five minutes and
then it's and then it's done, you know, it's so
so it's very clear that spaces like this have been needed,
(15:49):
and it was just a matter of kind of thinking
outside the box. And you know, I remember when I
sat my parents down and I told them my idea
for the sports bra And by the time I got
to telling my parents, I kind of had made up
my mind, like there was no like changing my mind.
I was like, this is what I'm doing. I'm just
letting you know. And the very first thing my dad
said was like, so you're saying this a space like
(16:12):
this has never existed before, And I said, yeah, from
all I can tell no one has ever done this,
And the very first thing he said was maybe there's
a reason why. And when he said that, it kind
of triggered this thing in me.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
It was just which was just.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Like, if that were our mentality about everything, you know,
we'd still be in caves, like not even thinking about
rubbing two sticks together because fire would have been invented already, right,
So in my mind, I was just like, you know
what if this is how we invent things, this is
how we progress when we when we need a space
and it doesn't exist, we create it, right, and like
(16:47):
it just needed somebody to do it. And if it
doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but I'd always
wonder if it would and so and that was kind
of the you know, one of the triggering points for
me where I was just like, let's let's try this.
But since then it's just been incredibly like welcome. Like
there's always haters, Like whenever you disturb systems of power
(17:09):
or systemic systems, the folks in power are the folks
who believe they're in power, they get upset, and so yes,
there were haters. We you know, I personally went through
some stuff the store itself had some vandalism, like there,
you know, things things that happened, but kind of it
kind of goes to show that you're on the right
track when there are some folks upset because you're kind
(17:31):
of rocking the.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Boat, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So so that was just part of the beginning, and
then as time went on, it just became more and
more parent that spaces like the Bra needed to exist,
and right right from like probably a month in, I
started to get emails from other women from across the
country and even other cities around the world, asking how
I did it? Would they would they would? I recommend
(17:56):
them to do it themselves. And you know, so much
of the folks out there right now opening spaces like
the sports Bra or their own version of a women's
sports bar, to create spaces for community and fandom, all
of that is so beautiful and so collaborative and so supportive.
(18:16):
I'm sure you know about this, but there's a slack
channel that all of us are on, and I want
to say, like every week, a couple more folks get added,
whether they're thinking about starting their own, whether they're thinking
about franchising with the sports Bra, whether they're you know,
hosting watch parties or you know, just trying to make
all of all of our lives better by helping create
(18:38):
more fandom, create systems, whatever it takes, and so you know,
it's just you when you involve women, it's just so
collaborative and so beautiful. And I'm just so I feel
so grateful to be a part of this movement. And
it really has become a movement. And what started out
is just like my little dream of having us fought
in Portland, and I was just like, if this can
(18:59):
last a couple of years, I'll be happy. You know,
let's give let's give some fans a space to have
fun and celebrate in community.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And that's that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But then it became something else and it unlocked just
so much potential and I just say, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful for it every day.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I love that whatever takes mentality.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
And I like to call people like us Jinny Good
disruptors because I sort of did the same thing when
it came to the digital space and how women's basketball
was covered in the digital space, and seven years later
we see more and more coverage in the digital space
kind of how like I used to do it when
I first started covering the WNBA good disruptors, Okay, and
(19:44):
Kat Williams said it best. You need to lead a
little bit of a hater haters. If you're not, if
you don't have any haters, you're not doing something right.
But it is a good balance to have. And he
talked about the Sports bra being welcoming to so many
people in a place that is necessary. You've been able
to welcome non binary, queer and trans individuals. Is there
(20:07):
a story from a sports fan or a patron who
is now, oh now has a place to watch on
the sports that they love that kind of keeps you
going and lets you know it reminds you like, this
is my why, This is why I started the Sports
broad This is why I created this space.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Girl, I ain't gonna cry this morning. I'm not crying
this morning. On our interview, there are so many stories,
like legitimately, there are so many stories from so we're
an all ages bar until ten pm. So we try
to bring families, kids, everybody in and try to normalize
women's sports on TV and create fans out of everybody. Right,
So there are moments where I catch a little kid
(20:48):
watching women's sports on TV and their eyes are just huge,
glazed over, their mouth is open. They're witnessing somebody playing
the sport that they love and that they can relate to.
They see themselves in them. And when I think about
that moment, I think about, you know, I can't help
but think about my younger self and if I had
(21:09):
been in a space at the age of five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, fifteen,
seventeen twenty one, if I if I'd been in a
space that had women's sports like that, what kind of
an impact it would have made on my life? And
I see that in kids at the BRA, and so like,
whenever I see a little kid kind of like just
(21:34):
all in, you know, fandom for women's sports and being
surrounded by adults cheering for the same people that that
is that that is part of my why. And then
when it comes to you know, the community, the LGBTQI
plus community, it's incredible that, you know, I have a
(21:56):
lot of intersectionality based on my lived experience and when
I opened the Sports Bra, I really did it based
on my women's sports fandom, and it hadn't occurred to
me that I'm also a first generation Vietnamese American queer woman.
And so when I opened the space, I was just like, oh,
I'm going to create a space that I feel really
(22:16):
good in. And it turns out that there's a lot
of intersectionality there. And when I did that, you know,
I have friends that are also very intersectional, and so
just again being intentional about certain things help so much.
And a lot of it is such a learning process too.
You know, we open the doors and people were like, hey, Jenny,
have you thought about doing this because it would really
help us feel more seen. And I'm like, oh my god,
(22:38):
you know, of course I had. I hadn't even considered that.
So it's like all of these things are learning also.
And that's another huge part that I always want to
like emphasize on folks with small businesses or even massive
multi billion dollar companies, that you need to continue to listen.
You need to continue to listen to your employees, your team,
your customers. They're going to bring in viewpoints of what
(23:02):
you're what you don't know, like I you know that
I don't have a lived experience with and hearing that
helps create a better world and a better environment for everything.
And so when I think about, like when you said
when you asked that question, there was one story that
kind of stood out in my mind, and there was
a woman, sorry, there was a person who had fled
(23:26):
a Central American country and she this person had been
living in their home.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
For fear of.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Retaliation of leaving the house because they had been under
kind of some severe death threats and things like that
from living in a Central American country. So they had
moved to the United States seeking asylum, and they hadn't
left the house in months, and one of their very
very close relatives convinced them to come to the sport
(24:00):
and it was the first time that they had left
the house and been in a public space in general
in years. And I met this person, and you know,
we didn't speak the same language, but there was very
much this exchange of sincere gratitude, and I just thought about, how,
(24:25):
you know, this space again, I had created it for fandom,
for women's sports fandom, and how it had become almost
like a sanctuary for more than that. And you know,
there are moments that are bittersweet because I'm grateful that
at the Sports Bra, my team and I have been
able to create what feels like a very safe space
for a lot of folks. But then there's this bitter
(24:47):
part that there aren't spaces like this more often or everywhere,
and so you know, that's kind of an extreme case,
but it really does kind of amplify the idea that
the sports bra has this certain something about it that
(25:08):
is really special, and that's that's done with intentionality. It's
not by accident, you know. And I think that I
want to impress on people that as business owners or
managers or even employees, you can you can help create
these spaces for folks who absolutely need it and deserve it.
(25:28):
And we try to like promote this welcoming atmosphere for everybody.
And we always say like everyone welcome, except for like
the haters, you know, no bigots.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
How about that? Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
It's just like yeah, you know, we get phone calls
and it's just like our kids allowed, Are men allowed?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Are these that and the others?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
And it's like, yeah, everybody, everybody, as.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Long as you come in with love.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah, absolutely, women's sports fandom, come on in.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Well, I can't wait to finally visit.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I know, I told you back in October movie We're
at the WNBA Finals Game two.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I was like, I have to get there. And I've
been telling you saying it for years and I really
mean it. I really have to get there. If I
have to make it solo trip to Portman just to visit.
I want to visit the og Sports Bra. But what
should I order when I visit?
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Because you talked about being a chef in the menu,
being intentional, what's your favorite thing on the menu?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Oh my gosh, girl, I got so many favorites.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Now.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So we brought on a new chef a couple months ago,
several months ago now, and the menu had stayed relatively
unchanged since I wrote it in twenty twenty two. And
you know, as a proud chef, I'm just like menus
the way it is, it's going to stay forever. And
this new young gunner, I mean, she's extremely talented. She
came in with so much passion, so much experience, and
(26:59):
she just was just like, Jenny, I really think that
we can up level the menu. And I was just like, Okay,
let's take a look. And she basically pitched me a
whole thing. She had a presentation, everything, and then we
did an R and D. I tasted everything and I
was blown away. So a bunch of the stuff on
the menu is kind of the same, but up leveled
a little bit. And then there she added some brand
(27:20):
new menu items. So right now I happen to be
like super excited about the menu. But there's some og
ones that are from the first day until now are
the same that she didn't touch because they're perfect. One
the very first one I got to mention is the
first thing on the menu, which is my mom's baby
back ribs, which is based It's based off of a
classic Vietnamese dish that I grew up eating, and it's
(27:43):
literally word for word like mom's recipe. The only difference
is we changed it from pork shoulder like braised pork
shoulder to baby back ribs, so it could be like
finger food.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
But it's delicious.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
It's sticky, salty, sweet, is so good, and that's kind
of a signature dish, you know, the babyback Mom's baby
beck ribs. And then my a couple of my personal
favorites right now is the smash Burger classic smash Burger,
American cheese griddled onions. Chef added a little burger sauce
to it to make a little extra special, uh and
(28:16):
it's kind of classic, you know, it's it's nothing too frilly.
I'm kind of a simple person, so I like a
simple burger, and it kind of highlights the beef, which
is from a female rancher out in eastern Oregon. Uh So,
Corey Carmen is one hundred percent grass fed beef. Not
very many female ranchers out there, so you know, we
had to give a shout out. So all of our
beef is coming from Carmen Ranch. And then the other
(28:39):
thing that Roxy added, which is actually a holdover from
one of our old chef's specials, is a dry rub
fried chicken wing.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I love me some chicken wings, Danny. It's real good.
It's real good.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
We used to we started out with the Vietnamese version
only on the menu, and now we have three versions
that are all outstanding. So we have Vietnamese version, which
is named after my aunt Tina, and then we have
a buffalo wing, which is of in house fermented chili's
so made from scratch buffalo sauce. And then the dry rub,
(29:11):
which I'm really a big fan of because it's just
spicy enough. I'm kind of sensitive palette, so it's just
spicy enough. Dipped in ranch or blue cheese, and then
I'm good to go.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's it's real good.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It's like I'm getting so hungry just thinking amazing food.
So the baby back ribs, the dry rubbed wings, and
the smash burger, I'm gonna order all that when I visit.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
There's also a lot of.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Excitement around the Sports Brah this past few weeks because
you all made a huge announcement with Alexis Ohanian. So
what was the announcement and what should we be excited
for the future for the Sports BRA.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
I guess I didn't hint at it early on. I
kind of just like blurted it out. But a couple
of weeks ago, we announced that we're franchising to four
new cities. And the announcement really is kind of the
first step, like right after we announced it, basically means
we found people in those cities that we that want
to open the sports brought in their communities, which we're
so so excited about. And those four cities are Las Vegas,
(30:14):
Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Boston. Yes, that's so we're really
really excited about that. And so first step is the announcement.
Now we're onto like finding a site and you know,
we've got to secure funds for them, and then we
got to do the build out. So a lot of
folks have been asking, you know, when is it opening,
where is it at, and it's like, we don't know
any of that stuff, but we're really excited and we
(30:37):
just couldn't wait to tell the cities so that they
can also get behind these new franchisees and you know,
are our goal is to make sure that our franchisees
people know that they're the owners and operators of these
small there's basically small businesses. You know, it's not us
opening them. We're helping to support an opening. But these
are community spaces, just like the sports Brown Portland is
(30:58):
a community space. And that's that's the reason why we
decided to go with franchising versus opening our own stores,
is because we really wanted people who live, breathe, and
you know, support the women's sports fandom and communities in
those cities to be the ones owning these spaces.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
I absolutely love that having a community hand in building
their community but also building women's sports around Last question
for you before you get out of here. You talked
about your franchisees and just community building. But what advice
would you tell someone who wants to open a SPORTSPRA franchise.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Oh my gosh, Well, technically I can't really say too
much because there's a lot of franchise laws. But the
first step would be check out our website. On our website,
there's tons of information. So go to the sports BRA
I think, gosh, I can't remember the sports brascial dot Yeah,
the sportsproofficial dot com will get you to where you
need to go. There's there's tons of information on there,
(31:58):
and there's a phone number that you can reach out
to us. And connecting with us is the first step.
And you know, we announced we were franchising in April
of last year. Then we opened a website for franchising
in October of last year, and it took us until
from October until, you know, a couple of weeks ago
to really vet people and really get to know people
(32:20):
and understand where they're coming from. And honestly, the franchise
world is pretty massive and the franchise business is incredibly
complex and a huge undertaking. But as the Sports BRA,
we're kind of doing things a little bit unconventional, so
We've gotten a lot of advice and we're taking as
much as advice as we can, but we're also like,
(32:43):
you know what, this is the sports Bra. We're going
to have to do things our own way on some
of these things because it's we are kind of paving
a new path for you know, there's not it's been
a long time since in the food and beverage market
that there's been a new kind of market and we're
kind of defining that now, and so it's a little
bit unconventional, but we're we're here for it. We're excited,
(33:05):
a little scared, a little nervous, but all of those
things are probably really good for us as we grow.
But yeah, I would say reach out to us, let's
get the conversation started, and we're just we're just really
really excited to open more of these for more folks.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Well, I'm super excited for you, Jenny. I just want
to thank you again for joining us this week on
In Case you missed It with Christina Williams on the
Iheartwomen's Sports Network. Super excited for the sports Bra franchises
across Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, and Boston. Make sure
you guys, follow Jenny and her journey all across social
(33:40):
media and we'll talk to you next time. Thank you
so much, Jenny, I appreciate you so much. Thank you Christina.
All Right, you guys, that's gonna do it for this
week's episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast,
and we'll see you back here next week. In Case
(34:02):
You Missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's
sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
You can find us on
Speaker 1 (34:10):
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams is an
iHeart Women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports
and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to another.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
And I want to call this news segment Fan Out Friday,
because every Friday we are bringing you the most exclusive
interviews with some of the biggest movers and shakers in
women's sports and women's basketball industry. So, as you guys know,
(00:35):
obviously I am a huge women's sports fans, but if
you ever try to catch a game at a local bar,
you know how rare it is to find women's sports
playing on the television screens. I know, for the most
part in New York City, whatever I'm at a local
sports bar, I have to like stop a waiter and
(00:55):
ask them and request to put on WNBA games. So
I'm super about this week's guest because she is creating
a space that is truly welcoming for the women's sports community.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
In her community and beyond.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And so in twenty twenty two, Jenny Wnn created the
Sports Bar, and I'm super excited to have Jenny on
the show because I've gotten to know her over the
last few years, A super huge fan of everything that
she's doing to change the game.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jenny, Welcome to the show. Hey Christina, thank you so
much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I know this has been like a long time coming,
I feel like in terms of getting you on the
show and get an interview done. But welcome to In
case you missed it, we are super excited to have
you on this week. And so before we dive into
your story and talk about all things women's basketball and
women's sports, we like to ask every guest who comes
(01:56):
on the show to share what a win for them
was in the past week, and we call it the
win of the week.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So, what was one of your wins this week?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Oh my gosh, what was one of my wins this week? Well,
there's a personal one. I was able to score some
free tickets to the Thorns game for my mom and dad.
It was Father's Day, so yesterday it was for Father's
Day and it happened to be the Pride match at
the Thorns too, so I knew it was going to
like kind of sell out Portland's you know, showing out
and it's about seventy seven degrees yesterday, so I knew
(02:25):
all of Portland was going to be there, and I like,
kind of last minute, I got got in touch with
my dad and I was just like, hey, I would
love to take you to this afternoon game. And we
were able to They were able to squeeze us in
there and the Thorns pulled off a W. So it
was just like a win win situation. So on the
personal note, you know, handed one off to Dad for
(02:45):
being so awesome and got to celebrate with him and
some fans and the Thorns got a W so that
that felt like really good. As I know, I know
it felt really and that was like just yesterday, so
it's really fresh in my mind.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And then, you know, when it comes.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To the sports bra, I just feel like there's so
many things going on all at once. I think one
really big one from last week was we did our
very first weeklies we're calling them weeklies with our new franchisees.
So we did our very first weekly calls where we
set aside one hour at least one hour every week
with each of our franchisees to kind of discuss where
(03:26):
they are in the process, what questions they have, what
help they need, and we're kind of setting up some
visits to go out to the cities and take a
look at some places. So that was a huge first
step for us after our announcement. Is kind of like
at looking at sites, So kind of setting up those
first calls with franchisees and making sure that they're on
(03:47):
track and that we're being supportive. That that felt like
really really good and a really great first step after
the announcement.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Jinny, I love that for you.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Not only did you get free tickets to the Storm game,
you were able to get to the Thorns game as well,
got the win, you got to spend time with your dad.
But you're building an empire, and so I love that
for you so much. So we're gonna dive right into it.
What first sparked your love for women's sports, and especially
women's basketball, because this is a women's basketball show.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
But what sparked your interest in women's sports?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I mean, oh, my gosh, we'll heard that, and you know,
I mean, I think you know this, Christina, but I
my first love was basketball. I picked up a basketball
around the age of five or six, started learning how
to dribble really young. My dad was a huge soccer fan,
so he tried to push me into soccer, and I
was just like not having it. So I played basketball
from super young age and it was really the only
(04:40):
sport that I really gravitated towards, and as I got older,
I just you know, was a super fan. Grew up
born and raised here in Portland, so grew up in
the Blazers era, you know, right after they want a championship.
I was born and born into like this incredible fandom
of you know, basketball and kind of the highs and
lows of be a Trailblazers fan for those who know no.
(05:03):
But then there was this undercurrent that became a roar
recently of women's sports fandom. From a super young age,
my dad was taking me to University of Portland college
soccer games and this was when you know, we had
Tiffany Milbrett and Shannon McMillan playing. And then he took
me to the games where the Rapino sisters were playing
(05:25):
with Sinclair. And then we had an ABL team, the
Portland Power, and then we had a w NBA team,
the Portland Fire, and we got season tickets to those games.
And then the Thorns came around and just like kind
of defined women's sports fandom for soccer. What seems to
me they defined it like internationally, like we had just
an all out crowd. And so I kind of grew up,
(05:46):
you know, loving basketball. That was my sport and kind
of what I was really gravitated towards. But then kind
of grew up in Portland where there was this really
strong current of women's sports fandom, and so that kind
of just kind of crescendoed into you know, me thinking
about creating a space for women's sports fandom in the
shape and form of a sports bar.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No, I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And you talked about growing up being an athlete and
how that shaped your fandom, but also the sports culture
in Portland and how that also helped shape you and
your journey. How do you think that all of those
elements came together when you came up with the concept
for the sports bar?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I mean, for the sports bra.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
It was crazy because as I got older, you know,
I started to go out with my friends, and all
of my friends were I made through basketball, and so
we would go out and whether it was a birthday
party or a pre party or post party, you know,
whatever it was, we were trying to watch women's basketball
mostly and it was always the challenge. And so we'd
go to these sports bars to try to eat and
(06:48):
drink and public to hang out with friends and catch
a game, and it was just really challenging. And so
for years that was kind of the status quo, that
was kind of the norm. And then, you know, the
only career I've ever had, so I played basketball, blew
out my knee when I was nineteen. So right before
my freshman basketball game, my first freshman basketball game, I
(07:10):
had kind of a what was a devastating to me,
a devastating injury, Like it was a blow to my ego.
My identity was wrapped up in basketball. So I felt
like I had like lost my identity when I got injured.
And so right after that, I felt I kind of
fell into cooking, and so I started cooking in college,
(07:31):
fell in love with cooking, and then went into the
culinary field. So for a little over fifteen years, I
was cooking in kitchens and became a chef. And so
during that time, you know, I'm playing pickup basketball. In college,
I played innermural. I never went back to actually, like
the coach tried to get me to red shirt, and
I was just I think like mentally, I just wasn't there.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
After my injury, I just couldn't, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
I rehabbed, but I just wasn't as strong of a
player mentally, and so I played innermural, played pickup ball,
and then cooked. So when it came to realizing that
the sports bra might be something that we could put
together in Portland, because of, you know, my love of basketball,
I had, you know, this culinary background where I'd managed
(08:18):
and run like kitchens, which really didn't it didn't prepare
me to be a business owner, let's just say that.
Like that, it was just like one tiny aspect of
every everything else, Like I really needed a ton of
help to get the business going. But those those two things,
combined with how Portland felt like it had always kind
(08:39):
of embraced women's sports, along with my love of sports
and my culinary background, it just kind of felt like
the perfect storm. And Portland being the town that I
was born and raised in and grew up in, it
just felt like, you know, to me, it almost felt
like if the sports Bra as a concept didn't work
in Portland, I wasn't sure if it would work anywhere
(09:00):
because it felt to me like Portland was the place
to kind of be the starting ground, you know, And
I was like, Okay, let's just try it. And if
it doesn't work in Portland, I'm not sure it would
work anywhere else. So it's kind of my mentality about it.
But also, you know, it's my hometown, so I love
this city.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Isn't it amazing how all the dots on your journey
ended up connecting? And you're like, wait, I was freaking
out for no reason, like I had to get derails
here with an injury because later on in life, I
was going to create something that was going to be
a movement, like when you look back in hindsight and
you connect all the little dots of your journey. You've
said this before, you said, it's a traditional sports bar.
(09:43):
All we have to do is change the channel. Why
do you think that mission resonates with so many people
around the world.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, I mean what's interesting is when I opened the
sports bra, I thought I was I thought it was
just changing the channel, But ultimately it's flipping the status quo.
So it's the time. To me, it's the tiny changes
that make all the difference. And so when I conceptually
thought of the sports bar, I was like, Okay, all
(10:11):
we're going to do is change the channel. But when
we had the opportunity to create the space, we went
about every aspect of it with intentionality. And so with
that intentionality was the opportunity to change the narrative, flip
the status quo, put everything on its head. You know,
whatever we didn't like about the traditional sports bar we were,
(10:32):
we had the opportunity to give it a new life,
give it a new story. So when it came down
to you know who, you know, we had twenty one taps,
what kind of beer are we going to put on tap?
And I was just like, oh, I wonder how many
women are making beer. Turns out there's hundreds and hundreds
of women in Portland making beer. So everything on a
tap list is either owned, operated, or made with a
(10:54):
woman in the brew house. And then so and so
just these tiny little ways that we could like chain
to the narrative in that space. We were like, let's
do it with intentionality and see what kinds of things
we can create. So it really started with changing the channel,
but it had a ripple effect. And I think that
what people why it resonates with people is because for
(11:19):
so long it felt as if sports bars, your traditional
sports bars were made for like fifty percent of the population,
and it really wasn't made for everybody. And so the
opportunity to have inclusive spaces, to have representation on TV
(11:41):
and on the walls, you know, to be surrounded by
women's sports memorabilia versus men's sports memorability, there's a different
vibe to it. Women's sports flags, to have autographs of
women athletes from local athletes to international athletes, to come
in and just be surrounded by like a dedicated space
(12:02):
for them, that feels special. So I think that I
think there's a lot of things that resonate with folks
from athletes to non athletes, sports fans to nonsports fans.
And then we do it through the menu too, So
we have like all our vegan, gluten free, dairy free,
and then all of our meat lovers. You know, we
have like the full spectrum of things for folks to
(12:22):
dine on and to drink. We have a bunch of
na So we're finding, like, you know, zero proof drinks
are getting more and more popular these days, which is awesome,
so we've been adding more and more. So it's just
like the ability to see people and have them feel
seen in the space. And what's crazy is like again,
(12:44):
it started out with just changing what I felt like
was just changing the channel. But when it got to it,
we we could approach everything with intentionality, and I think
that that makes a huge difference in helping people feel seen,
feel represented, and feel like they belong, which creates just
a great experiences for everybody, not just in fandom, but
just in enjoyment.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think beyond that, I mean what you've been
able to do in terms of the brand the sports Bra,
being able to activate at tent pole women's sports events
and you know, market your business and different appetents, but
also give other women an opportunity as well.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I APPOLOGI you for that.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
We obviously know that women's sports is at an all
time high right now, not just women's basketball, women's soccer, tennis,
across the board, women's sports is just blowing up, and
it's like we've been here this whole time. People are
just starting to take notice. But when you first opened
up the sports Bra in twenty twenty two, what was
the overall reactions that you received from the public, And
(13:59):
then any point when things started to turn with you
and go on the up and up. Or was there
ever a point where you had to eventually turn people
away from the sports braw on Portland because it would
get too crowded.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I mean I want to say that from the moment
it became public knowledge that the sports bra was happening,
there was an overwhelming outpouring of support. It was like
the floodgates had opened. People came out of every like internationally,
even people were dming us, writing letters, sending stuff in
the mail. It was just an incredible outpouring of support.
(14:33):
And again I had no idea. I thought, you know,
maybe in Portland, maybe for this community, maybe for folks
like me and my friends, giving us a space.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I had no idea.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It was such a universal not even a desire, but
almost like a need, you know, to create these spaces.
So the outpouring of support was very palpable from day one,
from the moment from the moment people found out it
was happening, and the space in Portland, like, I'm pretty
risk averse, and I had no idea what was going
(15:03):
to be like because when I did research, it turns
out there's never been a women's sports bar, So I
had no idea if it was going to work. And
so I I basically picked a place that, you know,
if the whole thing failed, I could I could manage
to get myself out of out of trouble. And so
the bar is a forty seat bar, it's fifty people
standing room onely uh like low key. It basically we
(15:27):
basically double that capacity on game days. Don't tell a
fire or Marshall, but yes, but like you know, when
there's a championship game or if there's like a huge
playoff game where we fill up in five minutes and
then it's and then it's done, you know, it's so
so it's very clear that spaces like this have been needed,
(15:49):
and it was just a matter of kind of thinking
outside the box. And you know, I remember when I
sat my parents down and I told them my idea
for the sports bra And by the time I got
to telling my parents, I kind of had made up
my mind, like there was no like changing my mind.
I was like, this is what I'm doing. I'm just
letting you know. And the very first thing my dad
said was like, so you're saying this a space like
(16:12):
this has never existed before, And I said, yeah, from
all I can tell no one has ever done this,
And the very first thing he said was maybe there's
a reason why. And when he said that, it kind
of triggered this thing in me.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
It was just which was just.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Like, if that were our mentality about everything, you know,
we'd still be in caves, like not even thinking about
rubbing two sticks together because fire would have been invented already, right,
So in my mind, I was just like, you know
what if this is how we invent things, this is
how we progress when we when we need a space
and it doesn't exist, we create it, right, and like
(16:47):
it just needed somebody to do it. And if it
doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but I'd always
wonder if it would and so and that was kind
of the you know, one of the triggering points for
me where I was just like, let's let's try this.
But since then it's just been incredibly like welcome. Like
there's always haters, Like whenever you disturb systems of power
(17:09):
or systemic systems, the folks in power are the folks
who believe they're in power, they get upset, and so yes,
there were haters. We you know, I personally went through
some stuff the store itself had some vandalism, like there,
you know, things things that happened, but kind of it
kind of goes to show that you're on the right
track when there are some folks upset because you're kind
(17:31):
of rocking the.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Boat, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So so that was just part of the beginning, and
then as time went on, it just became more and
more parent that spaces like the Bra needed to exist,
and right right from like probably a month in, I
started to get emails from other women from across the
country and even other cities around the world, asking how
I did it? Would they would they would? I recommend
(17:56):
them to do it themselves. And you know, so much
of the folks out there right now opening spaces like
the sports Bra or their own version of a women's
sports bar, to create spaces for community and fandom, all
of that is so beautiful and so collaborative and so supportive.
(18:16):
I'm sure you know about this, but there's a slack
channel that all of us are on, and I want
to say, like every week, a couple more folks get added,
whether they're thinking about starting their own, whether they're thinking
about franchising with the sports Bra, whether they're you know,
hosting watch parties or you know, just trying to make
all of all of our lives better by helping create
(18:38):
more fandom, create systems, whatever it takes, and so you know,
it's just you when you involve women, it's just so
collaborative and so beautiful. And I'm just so I feel
so grateful to be a part of this movement. And
it really has become a movement. And what started out
is just like my little dream of having us fought
in Portland, and I was just like, if this can
(18:59):
last a couple of years, I'll be happy. You know,
let's give let's give some fans a space to have
fun and celebrate in community.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And that's that.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But then it became something else and it unlocked just
so much potential and I just say, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful for it every day.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I love that whatever takes mentality.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
And I like to call people like us Jinny Good
disruptors because I sort of did the same thing when
it came to the digital space and how women's basketball
was covered in the digital space, and seven years later
we see more and more coverage in the digital space
kind of how like I used to do it when
I first started covering the WNBA good disruptors, Okay, and
(19:44):
Kat Williams said it best. You need to lead a
little bit of a hater haters. If you're not, if
you don't have any haters, you're not doing something right.
But it is a good balance to have. And he
talked about the Sports bra being welcoming to so many
people in a place that is necessary. You've been able
to welcome non binary, queer and trans individuals. Is there
(20:07):
a story from a sports fan or a patron who
is now, oh now has a place to watch on
the sports that they love that kind of keeps you
going and lets you know it reminds you like, this
is my why, This is why I started the Sports
broad This is why I created this space.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Girl, I ain't gonna cry this morning. I'm not crying
this morning. On our interview, there are so many stories,
like legitimately, there are so many stories from so we're
an all ages bar until ten pm. So we try
to bring families, kids, everybody in and try to normalize
women's sports on TV and create fans out of everybody. Right,
So there are moments where I catch a little kid
(20:48):
watching women's sports on TV and their eyes are just huge,
glazed over, their mouth is open. They're witnessing somebody playing
the sport that they love and that they can relate to.
They see themselves in them. And when I think about
that moment, I think about, you know, I can't help
but think about my younger self and if I had
(21:09):
been in a space at the age of five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, fifteen,
seventeen twenty one, if I if I'd been in a
space that had women's sports like that, what kind of
an impact it would have made on my life? And
I see that in kids at the BRA, and so like,
whenever I see a little kid kind of like just
(21:34):
all in, you know, fandom for women's sports and being
surrounded by adults cheering for the same people that that
is that that is part of my why. And then
when it comes to you know, the community, the LGBTQI
plus community, it's incredible that, you know, I have a
(21:56):
lot of intersectionality based on my lived experience and when
I opened the Sports Bra, I really did it based
on my women's sports fandom, and it hadn't occurred to
me that I'm also a first generation Vietnamese American queer woman.
And so when I opened the space, I was just like, oh,
I'm going to create a space that I feel really
(22:16):
good in. And it turns out that there's a lot
of intersectionality there. And when I did that, you know,
I have friends that are also very intersectional, and so
just again being intentional about certain things help so much.
And a lot of it is such a learning process too.
You know, we open the doors and people were like, hey, Jenny,
have you thought about doing this because it would really
help us feel more seen. And I'm like, oh my god,
(22:38):
you know, of course I had. I hadn't even considered that.
So it's like all of these things are learning also.
And that's another huge part that I always want to
like emphasize on folks with small businesses or even massive
multi billion dollar companies, that you need to continue to listen.
You need to continue to listen to your employees, your team,
your customers. They're going to bring in viewpoints of what
(23:02):
you're what you don't know, like I you know that
I don't have a lived experience with and hearing that
helps create a better world and a better environment for everything.
And so when I think about, like when you said
when you asked that question, there was one story that
kind of stood out in my mind, and there was
a woman, sorry, there was a person who had fled
(23:26):
a Central American country and she this person had been
living in their home.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
For fear of.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Retaliation of leaving the house because they had been under
kind of some severe death threats and things like that
from living in a Central American country. So they had
moved to the United States seeking asylum, and they hadn't
left the house in months, and one of their very
very close relatives convinced them to come to the sport
(24:00):
and it was the first time that they had left
the house and been in a public space in general
in years. And I met this person, and you know,
we didn't speak the same language, but there was very
much this exchange of sincere gratitude, and I just thought about, how,
(24:25):
you know, this space again, I had created it for fandom,
for women's sports fandom, and how it had become almost
like a sanctuary for more than that. And you know,
there are moments that are bittersweet because I'm grateful that
at the Sports Bra, my team and I have been
able to create what feels like a very safe space
for a lot of folks. But then there's this bitter
(24:47):
part that there aren't spaces like this more often or everywhere,
and so you know, that's kind of an extreme case,
but it really does kind of amplify the idea that
the sports bra has this certain something about it that
(25:08):
is really special, and that's that's done with intentionality. It's
not by accident, you know. And I think that I
want to impress on people that as business owners or
managers or even employees, you can you can help create
these spaces for folks who absolutely need it and deserve it.
(25:28):
And we try to like promote this welcoming atmosphere for everybody.
And we always say like everyone welcome, except for like
the haters, you know, no bigots.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
How about that? Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
It's just like yeah, you know, we get phone calls
and it's just like our kids allowed, Are men allowed?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Are these that and the others?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
And it's like, yeah, everybody, everybody, as.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Long as you come in with love.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Yeah, absolutely, women's sports fandom, come on in.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Well, I can't wait to finally visit.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
I know, I told you back in October movie We're
at the WNBA Finals Game two.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I was like, I have to get there. And I've
been telling you saying it for years and I really
mean it. I really have to get there. If I
have to make it solo trip to Portman just to visit.
I want to visit the og Sports Bra. But what
should I order when I visit?
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Because you talked about being a chef in the menu,
being intentional, what's your favorite thing on the menu?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Oh my gosh, girl, I got so many favorites.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Now.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
So we brought on a new chef a couple months ago,
several months ago now, and the menu had stayed relatively
unchanged since I wrote it in twenty twenty two. And
you know, as a proud chef, I'm just like menus
the way it is, it's going to stay forever. And
this new young gunner, I mean, she's extremely talented. She
came in with so much passion, so much experience, and
(26:59):
she just was just like, Jenny, I really think that
we can up level the menu. And I was just like, Okay,
let's take a look. And she basically pitched me a
whole thing. She had a presentation, everything, and then we
did an R and D. I tasted everything and I
was blown away. So a bunch of the stuff on
the menu is kind of the same, but up leveled
a little bit. And then there she added some brand
(27:20):
new menu items. So right now I happen to be
like super excited about the menu. But there's some og
ones that are from the first day until now are
the same that she didn't touch because they're perfect. One
the very first one I got to mention is the
first thing on the menu, which is my mom's baby
back ribs, which is based It's based off of a
classic Vietnamese dish that I grew up eating, and it's
(27:43):
literally word for word like mom's recipe. The only difference
is we changed it from pork shoulder like braised pork
shoulder to baby back ribs, so it could be like
finger food.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
But it's delicious.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
It's sticky, salty, sweet, is so good, and that's kind
of a signature dish, you know, the babyback Mom's baby
beck ribs. And then my a couple of my personal
favorites right now is the smash Burger classic smash Burger,
American cheese griddled onions. Chef added a little burger sauce
to it to make a little extra special, uh and
(28:16):
it's kind of classic, you know, it's it's nothing too frilly.
I'm kind of a simple person, so I like a
simple burger, and it kind of highlights the beef, which
is from a female rancher out in eastern Oregon. Uh So,
Corey Carmen is one hundred percent grass fed beef. Not
very many female ranchers out there, so you know, we
had to give a shout out. So all of our
beef is coming from Carmen Ranch. And then the other
(28:39):
thing that Roxy added, which is actually a holdover from
one of our old chef's specials, is a dry rub
fried chicken wing.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I love me some chicken wings, Danny. It's real good.
It's real good.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
We used to we started out with the Vietnamese version
only on the menu, and now we have three versions
that are all outstanding. So we have Vietnamese version, which
is named after my aunt Tina, and then we have
a buffalo wing, which is of in house fermented chili's
so made from scratch buffalo sauce. And then the dry rub,
(29:11):
which I'm really a big fan of because it's just
spicy enough. I'm kind of sensitive palette, so it's just
spicy enough. Dipped in ranch or blue cheese, and then
I'm good to go.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
It's it's real good.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
It's like I'm getting so hungry just thinking amazing food.
So the baby back ribs, the dry rubbed wings, and
the smash burger, I'm gonna order all that when I visit.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
There's also a lot of.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Excitement around the Sports Brah this past few weeks because
you all made a huge announcement with Alexis Ohanian. So
what was the announcement and what should we be excited
for the future for the Sports BRA.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
I guess I didn't hint at it early on. I
kind of just like blurted it out. But a couple
of weeks ago, we announced that we're franchising to four
new cities. And the announcement really is kind of the
first step, like right after we announced it, basically means
we found people in those cities that we that want
to open the sports brought in their communities, which we're
so so excited about. And those four cities are Las Vegas,
(30:14):
Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Boston. Yes, that's so we're really
really excited about that. And so first step is the announcement.
Now we're onto like finding a site and you know,
we've got to secure funds for them, and then we
got to do the build out. So a lot of
folks have been asking, you know, when is it opening,
where is it at, and it's like, we don't know
any of that stuff, but we're really excited and we
(30:37):
just couldn't wait to tell the cities so that they
can also get behind these new franchisees and you know,
are our goal is to make sure that our franchisees
people know that they're the owners and operators of these
small there's basically small businesses. You know, it's not us
opening them. We're helping to support an opening. But these
are community spaces, just like the sports Brown Portland is
(30:58):
a community space. And that's that's the reason why we
decided to go with franchising versus opening our own stores,
is because we really wanted people who live, breathe, and
you know, support the women's sports fandom and communities in
those cities to be the ones owning these spaces.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
I absolutely love that having a community hand in building
their community but also building women's sports around Last question
for you before you get out of here. You talked
about your franchisees and just community building. But what advice
would you tell someone who wants to open a SPORTSPRA franchise.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Oh my gosh, Well, technically I can't really say too
much because there's a lot of franchise laws. But the
first step would be check out our website. On our website,
there's tons of information. So go to the sports BRA
I think, gosh, I can't remember the sports brascial dot Yeah,
the sportsproofficial dot com will get you to where you
need to go. There's there's tons of information on there,
(31:58):
and there's a phone number that you can reach out
to us. And connecting with us is the first step.
And you know, we announced we were franchising in April
of last year. Then we opened a website for franchising
in October of last year, and it took us until
from October until, you know, a couple of weeks ago
to really vet people and really get to know people
(32:20):
and understand where they're coming from. And honestly, the franchise
world is pretty massive and the franchise business is incredibly
complex and a huge undertaking. But as the Sports BRA,
we're kind of doing things a little bit unconventional, so
We've gotten a lot of advice and we're taking as
much as advice as we can, but we're also like,
(32:43):
you know what, this is the sports Bra. We're going
to have to do things our own way on some
of these things because it's we are kind of paving
a new path for you know, there's not it's been
a long time since in the food and beverage market
that there's been a new kind of market and we're
kind of defining that now, and so it's a little
bit unconventional, but we're we're here for it. We're excited,
(33:05):
a little scared, a little nervous, but all of those
things are probably really good for us as we grow.
But yeah, I would say reach out to us, let's
get the conversation started, and we're just we're just really
really excited to open more of these for more folks.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Well, I'm super excited for you, Jenny. I just want
to thank you again for joining us this week on
In Case you missed It with Christina Williams on the
Iheartwomen's Sports Network. Super excited for the sports Bra franchises
across Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, and Boston. Make sure
you guys, follow Jenny and her journey all across social
(33:40):
media and we'll talk to you next time. Thank you
so much, Jenny, I appreciate you so much. Thank you Christina.
All Right, you guys, that's gonna do it for this
week's episode of In Case You Missed It with Christina Williams.
Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast,
and we'll see you back here next week. In Case
(34:02):
You Missed It with Christina Williams is an iHeart women's
sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
You can find us on
Speaker 1 (34:10):
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Khristina Williams
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