Moolah Kicks CEO Natalie White is a former hooper turned business mogul taking her ambitions straight to the bank.
The concept behind Moolah Kicks is to create shoes and apparel built to support girls and women in sports, especially at the highest levels, like in the WNBA. White started the company when she was a student at Boston College, feeling that women needed sneakers designed just for them, which elevated their game to new levels.
In a short span, Moolah Kicks has grown in parallel with the increasing popularity of women’s sports, trailblazing a pathway that has even surprised its CEO.
“When I started the company in 2020, the most recent NCAA championship had 3.6 million views, [and this year] LSU-Iowa had 9.6 million views. Moolah [went] from nothing to a performance leader in three years,” White told For The Win. “It’s unbelievable what women’s basketball is becoming.”
Before releasing new performance gear, including the company’s first high-top shoe designed for forwards and bigs and its first low-top shoe designed for guards, For The Win spoke with White about basketball culture and why every WNBA player needs a signature shoe.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What should we know about Moolah?
Moolah is a performance brand that is transforming women’s basketball. We’re the number one women’s basketball brand. We’re making sneakers built by and for female basketball players, and we’re leading the category with an expansion into 450 stores with a model for every position starting October 12th.
What makes these new shoes -- the Triple Double and the Neovolt Low -- so special?
What’s exciting is that not only do we have sneakers that are fit specifically for the female foot form biomechanically, but now, with the introduction of the Triple Double and the Neovolt Low, we have models that cater specifically to the needs of that position’s game. For example, in our Triple Double model, you’ll see a high-top silhouette. It has a Thermoplastic polyurethane arch plate and features materials that promote shoe stability. Our Neovolt Low model is our first low top, low profile, which allows for more quickness for guards. They don’t have as much of their ankle held back by anything. They don’t need additional support. With the low profile, we can really cater to the guard game.
Is there a W player that you feel needs a signature shoe or someone you'd like to collaborate with on a future project?
I think every W player needs a signature shoe. It’s more than a name. It’s more than saying, “This is my shoe.” It’s more than a headline. We are talking about real performance implications when female players are playing in sneakers fit for the male foot form. It puts us more at risk for knee, ankle and leg injuries. I would like to see every WNBA player not only wearing a women’s signature shoe but also shoes that are fit specifically for women.
What are your thoughts on college athletes securing NIL shoe deals? Any plans to add more athletes to your roster in the near future?
NIL is a huge part of what built this business. No question this is a Gen Z movement we’ve started. I started this brand when I was fresh out of college. This was just at the turning of the tides of NIL, and we were able to secure over 60 NIL athletes.
That’s how we were able to connect with the high school girls basketball community across the country. It was through some of their favorite athletes sharing what Moolah Kicks is doing, how we’re paving a brighter path for women’s basketball by celebrating the hype and the talent and prioritizing female performance with our products.
Will we expand our athletes? Of course. It’s a complete switch of who’s on our NIL roster every four years.
What does the legacy of Moolah Kicks look like in the next 10 years?
Moolah Kicks is about a feeling. When I started the brand, we had girls’ basketball players. We’d ask them who they’d want to be when they grow up, and a lot of times, they’d say NBA players.
Those are great players, and we have respect for everyone, but the future that Moolah is making is one in which the world celebrates women’s basketball for who we are, the talent we bring, the hype that’s in this game, and that girl’s basketball players are just as excited and proud of this game and this brand. Can you continue to identify with it, feel seen by it, and feel celebrated by it?
Most importantly, our products should elevate their game and the player they’re becoming. We already see that on the shelves today where girls no longer have to walk in and go to the boys’ section. They now walk to a section specifically for them and their game. Now, they know they can pull a sneaker from a brand where the only thing we care about is serving them and amping them up.
In the next ten years, we hope to change the culture so that women’s basketball continues this exponential growth that we’ve been at the forefront of.
If you could make a starting five with current and former WNBA players, who are you putting in your lineup?
We will start with Courtney Williams, A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird (because you can’t have one without the other). Then I’m putting in my friend from Boston College, Taylor Soule, who’s on the Chicago Sky, too.
What is your favorite basketball movie of all time?
Hoosiers or Coach Carter, but my dad and I used to watch Hoosiers all the time. There’s a rule that if Hoosiers is on, you have to drop what you’re doing and finish the movie. My dad used to come to many of my games, and when he couldn’t come, he’d say, “Oh, Shooter. Shooter.” He just started calling me “Shooter,” like they do in the movie. I think I’m very partial to that one.
Teams are often introduced with music playing in the background. What is your intro song?
I think my intro song changes every day. I have the craziest taste in music from everything [like] DMX, Ja Rule, the Barbie Dua Lipa playlist, and classic rock. I’ll come out to any song that’s playing. I’ll make the most of it. Just give me a song.
