We're a very boutique sports marketing firm, and it's about being one of few versus one of many.

A few things make a partnership with a company like New Balance stand out.

And I would say, first and foremost, it's about consistently being there.

Whether I have an injured year or I have a gold medal year, New Balance is always there with me.

And that's part of the beauty of the relationship and the partnership that we do have.

I think another really important piece is the authenticity of it.

It has to be an organic partnership.

So you may have turned one deal into three, and those three deals are at the same level as it pertains to, um, just having that, that, that quality value, uh, from a brand perspective.

[upbeat music] As an athlete, I definitely do have the experience of having relationships with brands that can either be partnerships or they can be endorsements, and there is a fine line between them.

And having an endorsement does feel transactional.

Uh, y- you know, you show up, you do the campaign, you do the endorsement, you do a shoot, uh, you hold the product [laughs] and then you go about your day.

And of course, there's a benefit to, you know, the financial structure of that.

There's something really unique and special about a partnership, about building a brand together, and it's something that I think people can tell the difference.

It, it feels real.

[gentle music]

well Gabby when you're out there as a kid beating the boys in all the sports when's the first time that you realized wow my talent could really transcend just the average person I'm really fast and I'm really good at this

Honestly, I don't know.

I'm still getting there.

It's been like a process.

It's like you start out as a kid and you're fast and you beat people on the soccer field.

And then you go to high school, track team, you're still getting faster and faster.

You beat some people, go to college, start beating some people.

Tell everybody about this and why it's so important to you.

And what if a simple realization on an otherwise ordinary day could completely change someone's life? Welcome to the show and listen in.

[gentle music] There's a moment that I remember from when I was in, I think, third grade and I was at vacation Bible school and we learned this story of Elijah who is, is in First Kings chapter 19, I think.

Elijah's waiting in a cave 'cause God's asking him to encounter him there and he encounters, um, a big like wind, like a h- heavy wind, an earthquake, and a fire and in all those things it says like God's presence was-- the Lord was not in those things and then eventually Elijah knows that God is present with him through a small whisper.

And there's a moment many years later when I was in college where I encountered God's whisper finally piercing through, through all the, the craziness and the chaos in my life.

So it's my freshman year towards the end of the year, um, a normal Thursday in West Philly.

There were, you know, sirens going off outside.

There was loud music from a party next door and just, yeah, normal, normal life going on outside.

I know- [clapping]

[clapping]... [audience applauding] Um, I mean, my mom has believed in me since I, since I've been born.

Um, I grew up with a single mom.

I grew up with her and my twin brother, and she has done everything for us, from...

You know, she started as a waitress, and then worked her way, and now is a professor at, of an endowed chairman professorship at the University of Michigan.

And so I watched her- [audience applauding] [laughs] I, I've watched her my entire life work really hard for something and to make her dream happen.

Um, and she's always instilled in me the importance of not only education, but going after your dreams and giving back to your community.

Um, why is this kind of work so important to you?