📚 How Storytelling Can Amplify Women's Sport 📢

Our chat with content strategist Justine Browne of Togethxr, the brand changing the landscape of sport media for the better

With the Olympics kicking off and this being the first year that there’s gender equity at the Games, we wanted to share a chat we had back at Camp Strava in May all about how storytelling can change the world for girls in sport. We know that—and we know all of you reading this agree!—so anytime we can amplify this message, we want to do so. And of course, if you want to help make sports more visible for girls, check out our latest reads from Strong Girl Publishing!

Everyone has a story to share. And for women athletes, those stories might be the key to continuing the upward trajectory of the movement to put women's sports front and center. Covering women's health and fitness has been a no-brainer for years, but holistic coverage of women's sports has sadly been a tougher sell. Now women are fighting to change that, because as Togethxr's VP of Content Strategy Justine Browne says, "I've seen the ability. We just haven't had the visibility. "

Browne points out that people who love women's sport are truly the most ardent fans: They're subscribing to multiple sites in order to stream games and competitions from different leagues, downloading VPNs to watch games that are only broadcast in, say, Spain. They're the ones buying the somewhat obscure merch with long waits for shipping, they're following every person on the team on Instagram, and they're voraciously consuming content that is generally harder to access than it is on the men's side.

Browne's first passions was sport, but quickly, she found her niche in management. "I was a basketball player and a softball player. I really, really wanted to be a division one basketball player," she says. "That did not happen. But in high school, the high school boys basketball coach told me to read a book by Pat Summitt, who's the legendary head coach of the Tennessee women's basketball team. I did and I was like, 'Oh my God, she's a legend. She's incredible. I want to go to Tennessee. Could I go if I practice every day?' The answer was no. But I did end up getting the opportunity to manage there. So I managed the team during to their last two national championships."

After that, Browne made the shift to sports media, working for Fox Sports Radio, covering USC football and I started working in digital for the Clippers. But rather than continuing to pursue sport, she ended up shifting within the entertainment industry, moving to working on a sitcom.

"I ended up playing getting asked to play in a softball team by somebody who worked on this TV show," she says. "The team was Jamie Foxx's." Luckily, her muscle memory for softball was still there, and she impressed Foxx with her throwing skills. That move parlayed her into working with Foxx not just on on the field, but professionally as well.

But what does Jamie Foxx have to do with women's sports? Often, the career trajectory of someone writing, talking or braodcasting women's sports begins and ends with a love of that sport. You play it and hten you work in that field. You grow up loving it, and you work in that field. But Browne's sidestep into the entertainment industry taught her a valuable lesson that very few people working in women's sport get the chance to learn.

"I knew that working for him or in entertainment was not where I needed to be," she says. "My heart and soul was actually in sports, and particularly women's sports. But there wasn't always an angle to have a career in women's sports." The jobs that were on offer were often short-term, low-pay.

"What's so beautiful about the era that we are in now is not only am I in women's sports, but it's a real frickin' career that people really see the value—finally."

"We're in a place that for women's sports to be relevant on a large scale, it has to be culturally relevant. For that, you have to think bigger."

That’s where Togethxr comes in—and so does Browne’s entertainment background and the savvy she learned there. "We are here to be storytelling for women's sports. We are here to be the top media brand in the world in that," she says. "But we also are here to stay true to what we represent who we are. And we have a lot of ethos, a lot of ethics, a lot of values that I hope we represent every day."

"There's a lack of representation in this space. I think a lot of that drives our direction. I think making sure we stay genuine to who we are is really important," she says. "I actually think that when you talk about growth, and like any other business in the world, like where can you get the best returns? Why would you invest there? What who has the best growth market? Right now, women's sports are good business."

"I don't think the lack of participation is happening because they're not interested. It's multifaceted. I think we need more women coaching girls at a grassroots level. When I was growing up, girls were dropping out because of body issues, and that's still a thing," she says. "Playing sports took me so far in life. Sport built my entire foundation. I didn't make it as a professional athlete, but guess what? Me playing sports brought me to where I am."

"Something that we did this year was our ‘everyone watches women's sports’ campaign. That was birthed from hearing the phrase, ‘nobody watches women's sports.’ We decided that we did not want to hear that anymore. And the easiest way to do that was to tell the truth. We saw record numbers of people watching women's sports this year."

On the note of entertainment, we often hear now that women have to be everything to make careers as athletes. They need to not only be an incredible athlete, but also a professional content creator. "That stuff is exhausting," says Browne. "The goal is for that to not be the case. Women athletes tend to be way more dynamic than a lot of the men because they have to be. They shouldn't have to be everything. They should just have visibility that makes people be like, 'I love them' and they can post when they want to and say what they want. I don't think that women have that luxury yet."

But it is the future. It’s still an uphill battle, but the more stories that are shared, the more fans will come to women’s sports. "I honestly think that storytelling is how you bring people into sport," she says. "Visibility to the athletes and their stories and something that's relatable to the people at home—that makes people turn on games."

At Strong Girl Publishing, we believe in strong minds + strong bodies—and having fun while exploring new books and sports! So, we’re hosting a summer challenge to blend reading + movement in new ways.

Your goal: Read 3 books, and try 3 sports between the start of summer on June 21 and Labor Day weekend on September 2. You can pick any three books you want, as long as at least one is from Strong Girl Publishing. We also have a list of recommended reading for strong girls here if you need more ideas! And the sports can be anything from pickleball to pingpong to paddle boarding. We want you to get outside and play: dig that old sports gear out of the garage and have fun with it. Heck, we’ll count watersliding in the backyard!

Once you’ve read 3 books and tried 3 sports, fill out this Form and we will send you a sticker pack + certificate for completing the challenge! Plus, you will also be entered to win our 3 grand prizes! The winners will be chosen at random when this challenge ends on 9/3/2024.

Need a new read? Try Commonwealth Games gold medalist Micha Powell’s memoir-slash-workbook titled Sprinting Through Setbacks: An Olympian’s Guide to Overcoming Self-Doubt and Imposter Syndrome. Her goal is to inspire the next generation of young women going after their biggest goals on the track and beyond.

You can also check out the accompanying workbook, Sprinting Through Your Setbacks, which takes the journal prompts at the end of each chapter in Sprinting Through Setbacks to the next level so readers and writers can really dive in and learn about themselves, set goals, and be prepared for their next big dream!

And finally, don’t sleep on all of our merch drops, including the new READ BOOKS RIDE BIKES collection with a tshirt and a tote!