Honor Your Authenticity: Power Up Award Winner Succeeds With Life Choices
Jenny Nguyen, owner of The Sports Bra, will be honored with the Changemaker Award at Power Up 2024.
“Jenny Nguyen, owner of @TheSportsBraPDX, will be honored with the #Changemaker Award at #PowerUp 2024.”
Jenny Nguyen learned how to dribble a basketball at four years old. So it’s little wonder that at 44, she is running the hugely successful enterprise, The Sports Bra, the first bar/restaurant ever to only show women’s sports on its large TV screens.
Winner of the Changemaker of the Year Award from Take The Lead, Nguyen will speak about her journey as a first-generation Vietnamese daughter who followed her dreams even as they shifted when she is honored at the 2024 Power Up Concert & Conference on Women’s Equality Day in Washington, D.C.
“Nguyen will speak about her journey as a #firstgen Vietnamese daughter who followed her dreams at the 2024 #PowerUp Concert & Conference on #womensequalityday.”
Nine Power Tool Award winners will receive recognition at the event August 25-26– one for each of the 9 Leadership Power Tools in Take The Lead’s curriculum. The awards were created by Felicia Davis, Take The Lead Leadership Ambassador and Founder of the Black Women’s Collective.
Register here for The Power Up Conference
“My biggest accomplishments are from choosing to be my authentic self,” says Nguyen. As a trailblazer personally and professionally, the LGBTQ+ leader says, her greatest advice is to stay humble. “Know your why, choose your why and stick with your why.”
“As a trailblazer personally and professionally, the #LGBTQ+ leader says, her greatest advice is to stay humble. #trailblazer #femaleleader”
Her parents, who emigrated to the United States in 1975, had dreams of their only daughter to be a doctor after she was born in 1980, she says. Nguyen had different plans for herself, and it was sports.
“I was Jenny the basketball player,” Nguyen says. “I started playing basketball at the YMCA summer camps. I slept with the basketball, and spun it on my finger,” she says.
Read more in Take The Lead on women in sports
At 11, her family moved to Vancouver, Wash., and after middle school she played on the high school team, though her mom “was about fashion and makeup and was convinced girls don’t play sports.”
Coming out to her parents as gay when she was 17 was a challenge for her parents to accept, Nguyen says. “It took my mom a decade. My dad was great because he had a boss who was a lesbian.”
Read more in Take The Lead about Inclusive LGBTQ+ leadership
Attending Clark College on a basketball scholarship, Nguyen, then 19, blew her ACL in practice two weeks before her first college game. She could no longer play.
“It was devastating. I went through a bad depression figuring out my identity as I had wrapped up my whole identity in basketball,“ Nguyen says. “I never planned beyond that, I never thought about a career.”
She transferred to Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. , and signed up for pre-med classes. Though she never thought about being a professional cook, she found she was homesick for her mother’s Vietnamese cooking.
Her dorm room had a shared kitchen and she started watching Food Network and cooking every meal. “With all the stress of coming out, rehabbing (after injury), studying, the kitchen was my safe zone,” Nguyen says. “The only time I am myself is playing basketball or cooking.”
Read more in Take The Lead on closing sports gender gap
Telling her parents she wanted to be a chef was also a tough conversation.
“My dad said, ‘We did not cross an ocean so you can be a cook’.”
After graduation in 2002, Nguyen enrolled in culinary school in Portland, Ore. working full time while taking courses. She graduated in 2004 and began working in the kitchen at Adidas headquarters, cooking for 600 employees.
Nguyen then became sous chef at Lewis & Clark College, where her team prepared 8,000 meals a day, from 2006 to 2011. Her next position was as executive chef at Reed College in Portland, Ore. A trip she took with her parents to Vietnam—her first time there—in 2015 “changed everything,” Nguyen says.
Read more from Gloria Feldt on Olympics and equality
“We spent 14 days there and it changed my worldview,” Nguyen says. Working 75 to 100 hours a week, Nguyen says she was missing friends and family. “Vietnam was the opposite, so many people have family, friendships, community. I started to see what I was missing. I came back and put in my three months’ notice.”
She pared down her life, selling her house and cars, and was semi-retired, taking odd jobs from 2016 to 2020. “I had been coasting for four years and not contributing to the greater good,” says Nguyen.
After soul-searching on her next move, and the pandemic hitting in 2020, Nguyen thought of her two loves of sports and cooking and what she could do with those. The idea of a sports bra—a pun for a women’s sport bar—was a running joke with her friends.
“Nguyen, founder of @TheSportsBraPDX, thought of her two loves of #sports and #cooking and what she could do with those. #entrepreneur”
“I thought about it on a macro level and that I can bring positive energy in Portland and change the narrative of the pandemic,” Nguyen says.
Read more in Take The Lead on gender gap in sports pay
With $25,000 in savings, Nguyen was denied loans from every source she applied to. In 2021, she drafted a pitch, signed a lease and launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of $49,000. That goal was met in nine days. In a month, she had raised over $105,000, Nguyen says.
Highly successful for the last two years as owner of The Sports Bra, serving pub food with some Vietnamese recipes, Nguyen has sparked applause and imitation around the world. “I have the lived experience,” she says. “If I can show other girls and women that when they choose their why, there is power in that.”
“Highly successful for the last two years as owner of @TheSportsBraPDX, Nguyen has sparked applause and imitation around the world. #womeninsports ”
Read more in Take The Lead on changing sports as system
The power to embark on your mission is the core of the Power Tools created by Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead. At this year’s Power Up Conference, with the theme, “Together We Lead,” 10 leaders will receive awards named for the power tools.
Keisha A. McKinnor, founder and CEO of MKUU, Inc., a Take The Lead Leadership Ambassador, and winner of The Maximizer: Use What You've Got Power Tool Champion Award, says that as a nonprofit leader, “A huge part of running any business, especially a nonprofit, is having the ability to scale for sustainability. Before I seek external resources, I figure out what I've got first and more importantly, who do I know. Building an ecosystem is crucial to using what I've got. I don't look at others as a competition, rather how can we partner to make this happen - to make a difference in the best way possible.”
“The #power to embark on your #mission is the core of the #PowerTools created by @GloriaFeldt, co-founder and president of @Takeleadwomen.”
McKinnor adds, “Take The Lead's mission is a reminder that although women have broken barriers, we still have a long way to go to reach parity in leadership positions. And not just reach them, but maintain these positions and carve out paths for others.”
Read more in Take The Lead on Keisha McKinnor
Hyacinth Tucker, owner of Laundry Basket Delivery, is receiving the Visionary: Know Your History Power Tool Award, and is grateful to Take The Lead. “It’s not just a recognition of the hard work and dedication that I’ve poured into The Laundry Basket LLC, but also a validation of the impact we’re making in our communities. This award signifies that our efforts to transform a mundane, often stressful chore into a sustainable and convenient service are being noticed and appreciated. It also reinforces my commitment to continue pushing boundaries, inspiring others, and striving for innovation in everything we do.”
Tucker adds, “As an immigrant from Jamaica to Brooklyn, I learned early on the importance of hard work, adaptability, and community support. These values have been the foundation of my strategies for success. I’ve always focused on identifying pain points—whether it’s the stress of laundry for busy families or the need for sustainable practices—and creating solutions that are both practical and impactful. Success, for me, has come from staying true to my mission, being willing to take risks, and always prioritizing the needs of my customers and my team.”
Read more in Take The Lead by Hyacinth Tucker
For Tucker, this award serves as “a reminder that there’s still so much more to be done. I’m also looking forward to collaborating with like-minded individuals and organizations to further the cause of gender equality in leadership. Together, we can achieve so much more.”
Marva Bailer, Vice President of Globality and author of the award-winning Be Unexpected, is the winner of The Activator: Tell Your Story Power Tool Award. “Your intuition, skill and intelligence lead you to influence others to create change and action, “she says.
““Your intuition, skill and #intelligence lead you to #influence others to create #change and action.” — @MarvaBailer”
“I’ve steadfastly believed that the world needs more people willing to take risks, dream of future success, and inspire others to join in that vision. Without the courage to act, even the most brilliant visions remain unrealized, and the opportunities to make a difference slip through our fingers. It’s not enough to talk about what could be—we must be willing to make it happen,” Bailer says. The time is now to activate change through courage and compassion.”
Read more in Take The Lead on Marva Bailer
She adds, “For me, action is everything. I thrive on shaking things up, putting the gears in motion, and encouraging others to do the same. After all, a shaky launch is far better than standing still. I understand that this approach might leave some wondering what’s happening, but I also know that true leadership requires followers who trust in the journey and are willing to come along for the ride.”
According to Bailer, “Change—whether in direction, speed, decisions, or other factors—can make people uneasy, but it’s in these moments of uncertainty that true leadership shines. By embracing the chaos, trusting our intuition, skills, and intelligence, we can influence others and create meaningful action.” Bailer says she aligns with Take The Lead’s mission. “This mission is a call to be part of a movement that not only propels women forward but also ensures that we reach parity by 2025.”
Angilee Shah, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Charlottesville Tomorrow, and alum of Take The Lead’s cohort, 50 Women Can Change The World in Journalism, is this year’s winner of The Change Catalyst: Carpe the Chaos Power Tool Award. In 2019, Shah and her colleagues launched the Women Do News Initiative to add women journalists to Wikipedia.
“It's an honor to be among women leaders who are defying the odds to make diverse communities better, healthier, more powerful in our civic life,” Shah says. “If I can help bring more resources to our powerful and resilient communities in central Virginia by expanding their access to news and information, I do it every time. This award, to me, is not just about what I've done with my career, but the investments these communities have made in me.”
Shah says, “Local news is in trouble — many people know this, and many people are beginning to understand what that means. You could say, the news industry is in chaos. But for me, I draw on the power of those before me who have always struggled and triumphed to serve their communities — the Southern Black press, the traditions of ethnic media in the U.S., the women who powered through to make sure we are part of the narratives of this country — they all inspire me because they showed me how to grow from adversity.”
Leading the independent local news site, Shah says, “I've seen firsthand what can happen when strong leaders — no matter their gender — are given space and resources to make change. Take The Lead's mission to me is about making more of that space, and about challenging the conscious and unconscious biases that prevent us all from reaching our full potential.”
““I’ve seen what can happen when strong #leaders, regardless of #gender are given resources to make #change.” — @Angshah”
Other award winners honored at Take The Lead’s Women’s Equality Day include: Dr. DeShawn Taylor, Founder and CEO, Health Justice and Desert Star Family Planning, for The Disruptor: Embrace Controversy Power Tool Champion Award; Nicole Haggard, Director for the Center for the Advancement of Women at Mount St. Mary’s University, for The Influencer: Employ Every Medium Power Tool Award; Dena Patton, co-founder of the Girls Rule Foundation, coach, trainer and author for The Truth Seeker: Wear The Shirt Power Tool Award; Julianna Andujo, Operations Manager for Amazon and winner of The Movement Maker: Create a Movement Power Tool Award; Marisa Hambleton CEO + Founder at MH2X at Salesforce for The Trailblazer: Define Your Own Terms Power Tool Award; and Rosser Goodman, film and television director, writer and producer, founder of KGB Films, wins The Trailblazer: Define Your Own Terms Power Tool Award.
“It is incredible to even be mentioned in the same breath as the women who are creating space and making space for others,” says Nguyen. “I feel that authenticity is at the core of everyone who is part of this cohort. This is such an honor.”
Leadership Takeaway of The Week:
“If I can show other girls and women that when they choose their why, there is power in that.”
Jenny Nguyen, owner, The Sports Bra
