XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey at President Trump's left shoulder at the Feb. 5 Executive ... More Order signing Courtesy of XX-XY Athletics It’s been a year since Jennifer Sey and her XX-XY Athletics brand entered the large and fiercely competitive athletic apparel market, expected to reach $173 billion in North America this year, according to McKinsey. Just about all the cards are stacked against a start-up brand breaking through. However, Sey and the XX-XY brand have had remarkable, if not unprecedented, success by traditional financial and brand engagement measures. It reached seven figures in sales in only the first eight months by using only the power of social media and numerous earned media appearances to get the message out. All the while, she and her brand have faced numerous obstacles, being villainized by many, shadow-banned on TikTok for eight months and blocked by Meta during the Paris Olympics Games from using the hashtag #XX. Yet XX-XY stands out for being the first, and still only, athleticwear brand that takes a stand against trans athletes competing in women’s and girl’s sports and invading their private spaces. The accomplishments don’t stop there. How many first-time entrepreneurs get invited to the White House, much less acknowledged by the President of the United States by more than a handshake? He handed her his notes after giving his Executive Order speech protecting women’s sports. Only a handful get such a White House invite, and usually they’re present for a photo op to support a political agenda. Admittedly, politics is always behind anything a politician says or does, but in the case of Jennifer Sey, the President wanted to thank her personally for bringing public attention to an issue that has crossed the political divide. MORE FOR YOU Four Russian Helicopters Landed Near The Front Line. A Ukrainian Drone Was Watching—And HIMARS Was Ready. Yes, ‘Snow White’ Is Bombing At The Box Office Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers For Tuesday, March 25th A recent New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of Americans believe that trans athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports, including a dominant 67% majority of Democrats or those who lean Democrat. As Sey says, “Brands are a tool of culture, and they influence and inform ideas in the same way file, art and music do.” She’s recruited the support of such outspoken feminists as J.K. Rowling, Megyn Kelly, Sage Steele, and Martina Navratilova, along with a team of 60+ female sports warriors and proud wearers of the XX-XY brand, to be the change they want to see in the world. Beyond Political Consumerism Since the 1970s and 1980s, the conscious-consumerism movement emerged with consumers making purchase decisions influenced by corporate ethics, environmental and social justice positions to effect societal change. Then it rapidly began to evolve into political consumerism, particularly among the higher-income status individuals with less conservative views. It’s no surprise politics entered the consumer mindset, as Aristotle asserted, “Man is a political animal,” and defined the ultimate purpose of politics to achieve “the good life” and “eudaimonia,” translated as flourishing or happiness. Expand Aristotle’s philosophy to the marketplace – Americans are consuming animals – and the foundation of corporate ESG policies be found. Accordingly, consumers increasingly engage in the political process in their purchase decisions, choosing to buy from this brand or that retailer because they believe it is advancing the common good and avoiding, even boycotting brands that stand on the opposite side of the political divide. An experimental study led by Northeastern University political science Professor Costas Panagopoulus found that brands perceived as partisan, i.e. aligned with Democrat or Republican candidates, drew consumers with similar party affiliations and distanced those on the other side. The stronger the consumers’ party affiliation, the stronger their movement one way or another. “Partisans, on average, reward or punish firms upon learning that their campaign contributions lopsidedly favor one party,” the study found. And the research indicates that in specific regions or market niches where the partisan balance favors one party or another, it could impact the company’s market share. However, Panagopoulos points out that some social issues go beyond politics to shared “consensus values,” or a supermajority. “Consumer demand has been shown to increase when products are advertised with reference to widely shared values.” XX-XY brand at least initially tapped the partisan political divide. In 2022, Pew Research found that only 37% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning consumers supported restricting sports participation to the gender assigned at birth and 85% among Republicans and Republican leaners. However, it’s become a supermajority consensus value in a few short years, according to the latest Ipsos/NYT poll. More Than Just A Social Cause If Sey had only hitched XX-XY’s wagon to the trans-athlete issue, its days may have been numbered after President Trump signed the Executive Order to keep men out of women’s sports on Feb. 5. But at its founding, Sey had a broader purpose: to build a world-class athletic brand committed to “creating exceptional products, inspiring marketing and maintaining financial discipline while fostering a work environment where merit is paramount and free speech thrives,” the company states. At the same time, its other mission was equally ambitious. “We are more than just a business: we are a movement,” Sey explained. “We differentiate ourselves by telling the truth about women’s sports.” At first, customers came for a logo t-shirt or a hat to wave the XX-XY flag, but Sey told me that between 25% and 30% of customers have come back for more. They learned that the brand has the style, performance and fit that competes favorably with mainstream brands and it also aligns with their values, where other brands don’t. “We’re building trust with our customers. After their first purchase, they are surprised at the quality and they are leaning in to buy some of the higher-priced performance items, like leggings. That’s how we will establish ourselves as a real player in the space,” she said. Taking It To The Mat The women’s sports mission provides powerful storytelling narratives to get people’s attention, with the athleticwear going along for the ride. Female athletes of all ages are the heroes in its video social media campaigns which have collectively earned 50 million organic views, such as Real Girls Rock, which J.K. Rowling shared to her followers, and its Dear Nike campaign – “poking the bear,” Sey called it. Apparently, it’s working. Through connections with billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, she learned the ad was at least partly responsible for Nike coming back to this year’s Super Bowl after sitting it out for 27 years. Nike did not respond to a request for comment. And the Nike “So Win” Super Bowl ad featuring WNBA star Caitlin Clark and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles provided Sey with a springboard for the next XX-XY campaign: “So Speak: Athletes Respond to Nike’s Super Bowl Campaign.” In the XX-XY video, accomplished female athletes, including Riley and sister Neely Gaines, April Hutchinson, Réka György, Lauren Miller, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Sia Liilii, Macey Boggs and Payton McNabb, challenge the Nike ad where it stated women are told they can’t be demanding, relentless, confident, challenging, stand out and win. Riley Gaines, Melissa Batie-Smoose and Sia Liilii for XX-XY Athletics Courtesy of XX-XY Athletics “We watched the ad in real time during the Super Bowl. I felt like it was such a pathetic way to address our challenges and so beside the point, like there are evil sexists in the world who are telling women they can’t win championships or fill stadiums. That’s just not true,” Sey shared and continued: “Nike failed completely to address the one thing that women are actually told they can’t do: stand up for the integrity of women’s sports.” XX-XY’s “So Speak” ad tells the real story of what women face when they speak out. “They are harassed. They’re threatened,” Sey explained. “They’re physically assaulted, like Riley Gaines. They are severely injured, like Payton McNabb,” who suffered permanent brain damage in a high school volleyball game. “They lose scholarships and endorsements and they lose their careers, like Melissa Batie-Smoose,” the San Jose State volleyball coach, who was suspended for filing a Title IX complaint against the school for allowing a trans-gender athlete to play on the team. More Work To Do Even as the NCAA revised its trans-athlete policy, which many believed doesn’t go far enough in protecting women’s sports, including the state of Texas, Sey says the XX-XY brand is just getting started. Being the master marketer she is – named twice to Forbes’ most influential marketers list for work she did previously at Levi’s – Sey says there is still a lot more work to do, not just protecting women from unfair competition by biological males, but supporting women’s and girl’s sports more broadly. Sey expects that other athletic brands might catch on to the message, but at least for now, the XX-XY brand has the playing field to itself. And Sey has benefited by making numerous appearances on such widely viewed media channels, such as Fox, Fox Business, The Blaze, The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal, The Daily Mail, Megyn Kelly and others, to champion the cause, and secondarily, promote the brand. Ironically, despite being overlooked, even vilified by what some may consider the mainstream media, such as CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS, a casual mention in a New York Times article positioning the brand in a negative light turned out to be the third most important way customers learned of the XX-XY brand, after Fox and social media. “We’re committed to having this conversation. I can bring facts, like why the qualifying time for women in the Boston Marathons is 17% slower than men and why there are no rings in women’s gymnastics because men have much more upper body strength,” Sey said. “I’m calm, rational, not bigoted, and just talk common sense. Eventually we’ll have a balanced conversation. While they try to demonize us and argue against us, that’ll will change over time. “I’m not at all fearful of having a challenging conversation. I don’t need to talk only to people who agree with me, but most especially with those who don’t,” she concluded. ForbesEx-Levi’s President Jennifer Sey Launches XX-XY Athletics For Women’s SportsBy Pamela N. DanzigerForbesLevi’s Brand President Jennifer Sey Resigns, Citing School Closure DisagreementsBy Jair Hilburn Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades