Gemma Johnston is the co-founder of She Is Action, a new dedicated digital network for women’s sports. Here, she explains what led her to quit her career and set it up – and why it’s ok to be ‘totally average’ at sports
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Gemma and I’m the co-founder and CEO of a new women’s sports social platform called She Is Action. I use the term CEO loosely, as we are only a tiny team of two! But it’s useful when having conversations with other businesses, investors and decision makers. Aside from that it means very little! My co-founder, Yomi, is responsible for all the technical decision making and implementation, which means I take care of everything else, from strategy, to marketing, to sales, financials and everything in between. It’s incredibly hard work, but we absolutely love what we are doing and believe so passionately about getting more women into sports and levelling gender participation.
She Is Action is a digital network where you can find new sporty and adventurous friends, explore businesses and browse content based on your sporting interests, experience level and location. It’s been described by our users as “Tinder for adventurous women” which has really made us laugh a few times!
When did you first have the idea for She is Action and what is the thinking behind it?
The realisation that there were far fewer women in sports hit me early on, but over the years I would always be one of the only women on the mountain, in the ocean shredding waves or in the skate park, and I felt like I really missed out on being able to share those “after moments” with a group of women like me. It’s those moments watching the sun go down on the beach after surviving the waves or having a drink on the slope after a great snowboard run, or fist bumps after a climbing session – that’s when you want a good crew around you. And when I would have conversations with women about the sports I was doing, I would often hear the same thing “I’d love to try that, but…” and there was always a “but” that was completely resolvable. So, the seeds of an idea had been forming for a while. But it wasn’t until after a fatalistic coffee with a friend in July 2022, that I decided to quit my career and put my all into She Is Action. Literally, I handed in my notice that same day, put my house on the market and sold my campervan. It then took months of studying publicly available research and conducting our own surveys and interviews for the vision of what the platform would be to finally take shape.
The statistics are shocking. Data shows one in two teenage girls drop out of sports, a problem that perpetuates into adulthood, and 2.4 million fewer women than men say they enjoy sports. That’s what we want to change.
Where does your love of sport come from? And are you Norwich/Norfolk born and raised?
I’m the first to admit I didn’t always love sport. In fact, at school I hated it! I was a self-confessed chubby kid, which was a big barrier to me getting involved with sport, because I didn’t feel confident in sports kit or running round a track. The one thing I wanted to try for years was ballet and a well-intentioned adult told me I wasn’t really built for ballet and that was the final straw in putting me off sports. So, when I ended up at a snowboard lesson at 19, I was shocked to find I loved it. The clothes were baggy, so I didn’t have to worry about my body! And it was an individual sport, so I could learn at my own pace and express myself without the pressure of anyone else judging me. It was so liberating! Because of that, I eventually tried a bunch of other sports and – full disclosure here – I’m terrible at most things I do. Surfing is like constantly trying not to drown and skateboarding is mostly trying to avoid needing full body skin grafts. But the difference now is that I love all the things I do so much that I don’t care if I’m good at them! It’s ok to be totally average!
When did you launch?
We started inviting users onboard in January and are already at 300 members across the UK and in countries as far as the USA and Philippines. We’ve also made over 100 updates to the platform over the last three months! It’s exciting and incredibly humbling to have new women and businesses joining the platform every day.
How is raising investment going? What do you need to reach your goal?
To help us grow the platform quicker and roll out across the UK and eventually into other countries, we need to raise a massive £500k investment! So far, it’s been crazy getting to grips with pitch decks, investor meetings and all the documentation we need, but it is definitely an exciting journey to be on! One thing we did decide very early on is that we wouldn’t put any lower limit on the amount people could invest. The amount of the investment is far less important to us than a passion for women’s sports and a desire to help us achieve our vision for a global sports network. We want to surround ourselves with supporters who believe in our vision.
Who can join – and how?
It’s super easy! Head on over to sheisaction.com to join the network. It’s free! And only takes a couple of minutes to get set up with a profile – then you can start searching for friends, discovering new sports, and hopefully finding something you fall in love with!
Visit sheisaction.com
Featured images – supplied
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