How two World Cup champions are helping female entrepreneurs get a leg up

Christen Press And Tobin Heath, USWNT World Cup Champions And Founders of the Re-inc lifestyle brand join Yahoo Finance's On the Move to talk about the return to sports, gender pay equality, and how they are working with Stacy's Pita Chips and the Rise Project to mentor female entrepreneurs.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: I'm Julie Hyman along with Adam Shapiro. Well, the National Women's Soccer League Challenge Cup begins this weekend in Utah. But a number of soccer stars will not be participating because of coronavirus health concerns. Two of those who opted out are World Cup champions-- Portland Thorns midfielder Tobin Heath and Utah Royals forward Christen Press. I spoke with both of them earlier today about what measures would need to be taken to make them feel safe enough to get back on the field.

CHRISTEN PRESS: I think what will make me feel comfortable is a bit more time and a bit more information on the state of the world and health and long-term effects. So I think I'm just thinking that it's important in this moment to prioritize public health and safety. And I felt it was really important to stand strongly by that through this time and I think only-- only more time and more information, effort. And I think until I have that, I think it's in the best interest of society to just be protected, public health and safety and staying home.

JULIE HYMAN: I want to ask you also about the equal pay issue, because in May, of course, there was a ruling on the lawsuit regarding equal pay for women's soccer. And the judge dismissed portions of that lawsuit. I know portions of it are still ongoing. So I wanted to ask you all about sort of next steps there and that going on in the background, as all of these questions about when sports is going to resume is going on in the foreground. Tobin, why don't you take this one first.

TOBIN HEATH Yeah, there's a lot going on right now, especially for us. A lot happened during this time of COVID for our lawsuit. I think for us, this has always been a long fight. You know, we got a ruling that we didn't necessarily like. But for us, we always knew that we were in it for the long haul.

So for us, we were just buckling down and continuing on our fight. And we understand the path that we need to take and what we need to do. And it's an ongoing fight, not just outwardly, but inwardly as well. The team has always been committed to this change to equal pay to representing something so much bigger than ourselves. So in that regard, we're in it for the long haul.

JULIE HYMAN: Christen, I would also ask you, since that is also ongoing during this time of quarantine in time of coronavirus, has it been any tougher to sort of organize and push forward? Or I guess you do what everybody has been doing. You have meetings like this that are remote. And you still kind of come together and figure out what to do next.

CHRISTEN PRESS: Yeah, I think, you know, when we joined the national team, each of us, it kind of passed a torch. And you don't really realize that is what it means to play on the national team to also be an advocate for gender equity until you're there. And when you pass that torch, you know, the people before you carried it as far as they could. And they give you that responsibility to keep climbing.

And it is made abundantly clear that it's not going to be easy. So setbacks like the ruling or not being able to have in-person meetings are really, really small in the grand scheme of things for us. And I feel really confident in the success of gender pay equity moving forward as it pertains to our team in our lawsuit, because there's no group better prepared for a long and hard fight in the US Women's National Team.

And we spend a lot of time together and then apart. So the apart part has always been there for us. So we made relationships via phone and Zoom. We've, you know, power our players association on Zoom calls all the time. And honestly, and we train individually a lot. A lot of our season is off-season. So I think in that regard, we're really well-equipped for this moment.

JULIE HYMAN: Gotcha. Well, that is actually a good segue way to our next topic, because when you talk about passing the torch, you all with two other of your teammates have started a lifestyle brand called Re-inc. And you're also participating in Stacy's Pita Chips Rise Project, which is about mentoring female entrepreneurs, so, hence, passing the torch in that way.

And Stacy's did a study that is centered around this that said 62% of current female entrepreneurs say they often feel burnt out. So I'm curious, especially as people who are doing this almost as a side hustle, I think a lot of female entrepreneurs start their businesses as a side hustle, especially given that how do you avoid burnout? What kind of advice do you all expect to give them on that front?

CHRISTEN PRESS: That's actually a tough question for me because I'm more of the Energizer Bunny. Like, I have so much life and so much discipline and dedication to what I'm doing. I feel like I personally am really lucky because I love both my jobs. And I love the way I spend my day.

It's a joy and a pleasure to be training. And I don't think I would be a good CEO or a good businesswoman if I wasn't training for a couple hours each day and getting out all my energy and vice versa.

JULIE HYMAN: And Tobin, I know that you are the creative director at Re-inc, right, doing the design. Are there any sort of takeaways or lessons that you have learned since you all started this that you then also expected to pass on to the people that you're mentoring?

TOBIN HEATH Yeah, I always had the best job in the company. I get to storytell, and I get to create, which is one of my favorite things. I guess kind of referring back to your last question, I think where at my advice would really be to keep going even when it's hard. I always say, like, when things are hard in life, that's when you know that you're going the right way.

And I think particularly for women in business, it's going to be very challenging and very difficult. And that's why I want the Stacy's Rise Project, because it's giving women the mentorship that they need. It's giving them some financial help. It's given them a community and role models and people that are trying to be successful in business as well. And I think that's really powerful.

I think it's really powerful having a team and support. I think too often when you're starting in a company, you feel alone. You feel like you have all these questions and no one to answer them. So this really aligned with what we're doing at Re-inc. And it's something that we're passionate about. It's not about just giving back, but it's about giving forward.

And we're seeing this with this project. And it's exciting how much it's grown from last year to this year. And with all the participants, it's really something that's true to kind of what we do on the field but also off the field with Re-inc.

JULIE HYMAN: --getting back to work and also the other work that they are doing right now amidst coronavirus. They're founders of the Re-inc lifestyle brand as well. We'll be right back with the latest in markets.