Sports, Representation, and the Power of Community with Grace Vella

Grace Vella... The brains behind Miss Kick and a footballer and student, who became an entrepreneur. 👟

Starting from printing t-shirts on her mum's kitchen table, Grace turned her passion for football and her desire for better representation into the brand, Miss Kick.

From navigating the male-dominated world of football to championing inclusivity, Grace's story resonates with listeners aspiring to make their mark.

This conversation shines a light on how Miss Kick is all about empowering girls and giving back, both on and off the field.

Listen to learn:
- The lack of female representation in sports
- The driving force behind Miss Kick
-  How to embrace lessons from mistakes
- How Grace empowers her community

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:38

The Northern Power Women podcast For your career and your life, no matter what business you're in. Hello, hello, welcome to the Northern Power Women podcast. This is our International Women's Day series, and what we're doing this year is not just focusing on the one day, the one day where all of us fantastic women run around attended things 3-kinet things. This year, there is so much to say. We always talk about this not being one day, so we've created a whole season of it and we're talking about sport. We're talking about that mental health, resilience, role modelling across the world of sport and everything, whether we're talking to athletes, whether we're talking to people who have created a business from sport or with sport or working in and around. That's what we want to tell a story of, because we're so passionate here about the world of role models and we know sport is full of them.

Speaker 1: 1:31

And this week, I am so delighted to be talking to the founder of Niskick, which is such an amazing brand Grace Valla. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Your bio is endless. You've been featured in everything Forbes, guardian, bbc, sky, your former Liverpool, manchester City footballer and, oh yeah, you just got a first-class degree as well while you're at it. And then, oh yeah, I'm just going to set Ms Kickel Welcome. Welcome to the pod. I've been dying to get you on here for so long. Oh, what a lovely introduction.

Speaker 2: 2:01

Thank you so much. It's great to be here.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Oh, and it is in your talk. I love the way you have such a positive vibe around you. I think that's definitely one of the things that I feel watching you and following you. That's what makes you you, that positivity, and it's I think it's really kind of contagious, infectious.

Speaker 2: 2:19

That positivity Is that always been you? Yeah, I think so. I think with everything I've always done. Obviously there's good times and bad times, but remaining positive in every situation has really helped me drive forward. So, yeah, I think, even as a young girl, I've always been that kind of way. And yeah, it's so nice of you to say that as well.

Speaker 1: 2:39

Oh no, it is. I think it's an important, so important, I think, especially when this challenge is along the way, which I'm sure we'll get to today. Now tell us, tell everyone out there you know about Miss Kic. Where did it come from? Because you started, as I said in the intro, playing. You started playing football and where did Miss Kic come from?

Speaker 2: 2:56

Yeah, so I grew up playing football.

Speaker 2: 2:58

It was such a big part of my life when I was a young girl and when I didn't quite make it as a professional in the game, I decided I wanted to go to university and although I did psychology, I knew that I wanted to do something in sport or in football, and I remember just being at uni and thinking, wow, when I was younger, it wouldn't have been great to have a brand or something that really represented me as a woman and as a young girl, because when I was growing up, I was wearing boys' kits and we were just treated so differently.

Speaker 2: 3:30

So that kind of led to Miss Kic, the brand, and my dad organised a football tournament every year on the same field where I grew up playing as a young girl, and we launched it and it went down really well and we sold all these t-shirts and I thought, wow, this could, I could be on something here, and so I haven't really looked back since then, to be honest. So I found it when I was 21 at university and five years later it is one of this today.

Speaker 1: 3:58

And this was literally you starting. Printed t-shirts on your mum's kitchen table. Is that right?

Speaker 2: 4:03

Yeah, definitely, definitely the typical start story. So I was buying them online and designing them myself and printing them myself, taking them to Pope's office. It all kind of started from there.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Really, my mum's really glad now that we don't have boxes everywhere, but yeah, that's where it all started in the kitchen and you talk about this as almost like you know, we're talking about entrepreneurs creating things that fill gaps in the market.

Speaker 1: 4:25

But this was a personal journey and it this really resonates with me because I'm, you know, sort of I'm I don't want to say older, probably just been around a bit longer but I always wanted, I was a big passion for football and it wasn't something that there was the opportunity to play in school or you know, so I was a big Everton fan from my sins. My nan always said that you know, I wanted to play football and she was like you can, and we're going to set Everton ladies open, all this kind of thing, but there was, like you said, there was no, there was no kids, there was nothing, you would just buy it. It was a youth at the time as there was nothing that sort of gave, that, that women's fit or anything like that. Is it not crazy that we fast forward all these years on and we still had the sort of the supposed fiasco or debacle that happened in the summer with Mary Erpshire?

Speaker 2: 5:13

It's madness, isn't it? Yeah, it's crazy, like we think, especially reflecting on when I used to play and where it is now. Of course, I'm a huge advocate for the game and I've always said women's football is going to grow, but the sort of trajectory it's been on, not just here in the UK but across the world, has been absolutely amazing. And, of course, it was upsetting to see the things around Mary Erpshire and Herschere, which does highlight that there is still those barriers that girls and women face, especially when it comes to representation, whether that's through a golden shirt in store or me just being a footballer and being able to go into a high street store and buy a football shirt that fits me. And so, yeah, it's positive, it's great and I'm so excited for the game, but we, like you say, there's still these things that kind of crop up along the way that remind us that we've still got to keep pushing on and doing our best to do in our own bit in order to grow.

Speaker 1: 6:05

One of the things that stood out for me in the last couple of years is that two years in a row, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year has been won not just by a footballer, but female footballer. You've got to high five that right.

Speaker 2: 6:17

Yeah, definitely Like. What the Lionesses have done for women's football in this country is unbelievable, and it's so amazing that they're getting these accolades, because it's nothing more than they deserve. So, yeah, it's amazing, and long way it continue.

Speaker 1: 6:31

And one of the things last year, one of the first things or one of the things that the Lionesses have done, is they've used that, if you like, that voice and that platform for good and so for them to go in and really sort of champion and advocate every girl should be able to play at grassroots, I think is absolutely amazing and I know sort of grassroots and community is really that's I. When I've heard you interview before and read you know sort of your stories and stuff. Community is, I feel, is the thing that really sparks you. It's the thing that you love more than anything. Is that power of the community? Is that right?

Speaker 2: 7:08

Yeah, absolutely. When, honestly, when we go to games or I'm out and about and I see the young girls in the Misket Cuddy or the Misket Headband, I'm just like, wow, it's so amazing and there's been so many incredible stories about. You know, it's more than just a brand to these parents and to these young girls. We've had girls all the way up in Scotland and they went to a football company with the only two girls there over all these boys, but they both had a Misket Headband on and they were able to connect over that and sort of make friends. And girls now, when we have community chat to, might not have friends of themselves to go to games with, but now they've made friends through the brands and can go to watch man United or man City together.

Speaker 2: 7:48

So that's what really like gets me going. And when I think about success and what we've achieved, those moments to me mean more to me than anything, because I know what it's like to be that young girl. You might be the only one in school who likes football and so, yeah, communities at the heart of everything we do, whether that's through activations. We bring girls into our office and we get them to try on different products and ask for their feedback, because we feel that'll be what we will win if we really listen to our community, and so, yeah, it's a big part of what we do at Misket.

Speaker 1: 8:20

And it does feel really personal. It feels like this is what you would have wanted back in the day when you were getting into football, planning your career of you know obviously wanted to play, you know, on the top level. So is this every time you get those young girls in your office? Do you think that was me?

Speaker 2: 8:39

Yeah, 100%, 100%. I love asking what. Even when we're doing photoshoots and stuff, I'm always asking them questions about like, what position they play. What's the favorite player? Where do you play? What's it like playing at Grassroots? I just love learning about them and finding out more. But I'm finding actually now more so many different girls play football now and it's amazing. It's not just one stereotype, it plays into what we do when we're thinking about color and fit and sizing and we want to be able to cater to all those girls, which is amazing to see.

Speaker 1: 9:13

And what is the advice that you love to pass on?

Speaker 2: 9:17

Advice, I think because I get asked a lot about a lot of them want to have a career in sport. I might jump on a quick call with them and I always say to them to follow the passion and what they really enjoy doing. So I know when I was there I could never have called. I was going to be doing this. There's no way. But the one thread that's got me through everything is football, and so I always say to them if you want to build a career or something, make sure you love it and passionate about it, because one, you're probably likely to be good at it. If you find it passionate and two, things are going to go wrong. So it's important you have that resilience. If you care, then you're more likely to keep pushing through.

Speaker 1: 9:56

I know one of the things that you're really, really passionate about is the give back as well, and you donate a percentage of your sales to charity. You have your own foundation Giving back. This is clearly as part of your value set.

Speaker 2: 10:12

Yeah, definitely so. Even when I had the idea for Miss Kick, I definitely wanted to build successful business, but all the way through in my journey we've had some sort of vehicle that enabled us to give back. So when it was just me selling t-shirts, it would be like I would just put a bit of money aside and we'd buy footballs and stuff for the girls. But as the company has grown, it felt like the charity was the right thing to do. So, yeah, we donate a percentage of our sales to that charity and that's all about giving girls opportunities to get involved in football and off the pitch. It's an amazing thing to do and I love being able to do that, and I think it really solidifies to people who we are as a brand and that we're not just about selling hoodies. We actually want to make a difference as well, which has always been really important to me as we've kind of grown.

Speaker 1: 11:03

And is that so much more than football? It feels like that's shared passion of the customers that you see, and I suppose you don't see them as customers. It is your community as well, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 11:14

Yeah, I think, when we can support them away from just product, I think that really drives home that message, which is good.

Speaker 1: 11:22

And you talked a little bit then about sort of making mistakes and doing things wrong and how that helps us learn. I think you've got to think like that. It's tough, isn't it? You talk about googling how to set a business or party, create a logo, how to build a strategy. Is that learning in that? Because I don't think it's failing, it's learning to recover sometimes isn't it Absolutely?

Speaker 2: 11:48

Even now, when you made that lovely introduction about all the things we've achieved, even right now, in this very moment in time, we're still in that learning phase and growth phase, and it's easy to set up a business, but it's hard to scale a business and I'm definitely finding that at the moment it's almost two different things. You have to have thick skin. I came out of uni and I'd set up this business and I didn't know trademarks, accountancy, website, all these things. And I just think, if you just keep trying and you've got to make mistakes I make mistakes every single day. If I could turn back time two, three years and know what I'd know now, I would do so much differently.

Speaker 2: 12:32

But you also got to be kind to yourself and think what you made, the right decision with the information you had at that time in your life. And so, yeah, it's painful, it's growth, but I know, when I look at myself as a person, I think I've learned so much and no matter what happens or what happens moving forward, no one can take that away from me. So, yeah, it's tough, but it's so rewarding at the same time. And what?

Speaker 1: 12:59

do you do to celebrate?

Speaker 2: 13:02

Celebrate. We get a starbucks every Friday. That's celebration, because we made it.

Speaker 1: 13:09

You know what? It's all about? The small wins, isn't it? It's all about the small wins, isn't it? You're kind of I think it's so important to high five those achievements because I think when people see, or even if it's celebrating with your team, it's really important. It is tough, isn't it? It's tough learning all this stuff that you never get the opportunity to. I don't think they've come across Young Enterprise for the 20 years. Now. One of the big drives of the moment is that financial education, because it's something you don't get taught, is it in school?

Speaker 2: 13:42

No, absolutely not. It's so strange that it's not because it plays such a big part in your personal life. If you want to go and set up a business, it's great to hear that. I wish I'd had that.

Speaker 1: 13:53

Bye, I'm going to go Talking about that education and passing on that skills or learning. I know that leadership is really a big thing for you and what you like to focus on. Looking at the leaders of the future. What does the future of leadership in sport football look like? Because there are so few leaders at certain levels, whether it be coaches or across leadership in the game. What do you think Is there a solution to this? Where do we start? Is it grassroots? Is it more highlighting people at senior level?

Speaker 2: 14:26

Yeah, it's so right. If we look at especially female representation in football, it's still lacking. I think we've just got to keep knocking on the door and asking questions and pushing forwards. We've got amazing role models like Yvonne Harrison, emma Hayes people like that who are real trailblazers and role models. The more we can highlight people like them, whether that's through the media or through opportunities within the sport, young girls coming through will see them and be like oh, I can be like them as well. I think that's really important. I know talking about a grassroots level as well. There's also a lack of female coaches. It's important that girls see those female role models even at that level. I think it has to go from the top down, but also the bottom up as well. The more the visibility is there, the more girls can dream of being in those positions You've talked before about being brave.

Speaker 1: 15:25

How did you get brave? Could people listen to this? People who've come across people who fangirl you at a match when they've seen they realise that that amazing woman over there wearing the miskick hoodie is miskick herself. How do you get brave?

Speaker 2: 15:39

The reason why I'm so passionate about sport and football is because I believe those foundations have set me up for what I'm doing now. So I think the fact that I had to play at Liverpool and City and be challenged and go through struggle and understand the value of hard work really has helped me with what I'm doing now at Miss Kicking, I think I have the mindset of, even though I'm not 21 anymore, I think at this age I've got literally no, I don't have a morgue, I don't have all these sort of boundaries. Why not just give it a go and try it? What is the absolute worst thing that could possibly happen? Like yeah, it could go wrong or you could fail, but for me it's about understanding that. Like it's all those learnings that I would never have got if I'd have gone and just sat in a job I didn't really like and just kind of mulled through life.

Speaker 2: 16:30

I thought, if I just take that one step and I think it's about building confidence over time if you take one step and you're like, alright, today I'm going to learn about Shopify and the website, and it's about breaking it down and you kind of learn as you go along, actually I can do this. You've got to build that up over time. It doesn't just happen overnight. So, yeah, it's a long like. I've been doing this now for five years, so it's been a long process. The person who sits today isn't the person who was five years ago. So, yeah, I think it's just about taking just take the leap and just honestly, what is the worst thing that possibly happened?

Speaker 1: 17:05

Not, that can't be that one. And I think we've had a pandemic in the middle of that which I think came at a time where you were just on that kind of fabulous kind of upwards spike and then the pandemic came. Where did you get that mental strength and resilience to kind of deal with all the stuff that was happening at that time in a fledgling business?

Speaker 2: 17:25

Yeah, it was. It was well, it's bad time for everyone, I think, and so we were kind of going through our funds and rounds and it all got kind of paused at that time. But I remember thinking this is such a unique opportunity and how can I make the most of it? I'm going to be have all this spare time and it was just about thinking about what I can do. So instead we looked at our social media and grow with the community and everyone was at home doing nothing. So it was just about kind of seeing the opportunity, even though the actual circumstances were really bad. But the Covid was tough. But it gave me that time to reflect and we actually came out of Covid with a new logo and new branding which if I hadn't had that time to redo then I would never have done it. So yeah, it was just about thinking about it, but it was hard.

Speaker 1: 18:16

There's you, there's optimism, there's Grace, the Optimist again. And finally, what is next for Grace? What's next for Miss Kick?

Speaker 2: 18:24

Oh, what's next? I think what we're working on at the moment is really exciting. So traditionally, miss Kick's been more apparel and leisure way, so cuddies, t-shirts, things like that and they're great. But when we speak to our community and we ask for feedback, the biggest thing we get told all the time is about on-pitch products, about kit not fitting right and not having that variety in choice, which is crazy considering all the growth in the game and everything that's happening. So there's definitely a gap there that needs to be solved.

Speaker 2: 18:53

So at the moment, we're really developing our team wear and offering Miss Kick kits, making sure they fit right, they look great, they're designed nicely, not just off the shelf boring colors, so girls can really feel confident and comfortable. So that's kind of what we're working on on a business level and personally I don't really know, I'll probably still be here plugging away. Yeah, just taking each day as it comes. I think at the moment, like I said, we've, whereas people look at the business and think wow, but there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, a lot of ups and downs, so I'm just taking each day as it comes in and doing my best to do all the work.

Speaker 1: 19:31

Be more grace is what I say. Be brave, be optimistic, be awesome. Grace, thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast. It's been a joy to watch you fly and please keep doing that and inspiring the next gen and influencing, informing those you know to break through those feelings, Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, and thank all of you for listening.

Speaker 1: 19:56

I love this series. I love having these amazing conversations with these different women from different parts of the world of sports, playing it, leading it, doing a bit of both, creating innovating entrepreneurs, but all with different messages. So thank you so much. Thank you to each of them for helping to celebrate this whole season of International Women's Day weeks, which is great, not days and thank you so much. Please do stay connected and all our socials at Nord's Power Women, on Twitter and Northern Power and on all the others, and joining on all of our conversations on our digital hub. We are powered out now. Thank you so much for listening. My name is Simone. I'm the Northern Power Women podcast and what goes on media production.