The women’s business is a key component of New Balance Athletics Inc.’s strategy for growth.

“Not long ago, our consumer was older, male. We knew that as a brand, if we were to grow, we had to get younger and we had to get more female, so we started being very deliberate about some of the investments that we were making as a brand,” said Melissa Worth, the brand’s senior vice president, Americas. Worth was interviewed by Footwear News executive editor Katie Abel on “Winning Her Trust: How New Balance Reimagined Sport for the Female Consumer” at the Women in Power Summit Sept. 8.

The brand began working with female long-distance runners, and then kicked it up with investments in track, with high profile Olympians Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin. “As we made these investments through these athletes, we were really able to start to tell their stories,” Worth said, adding that the company favors long-term partnerships over sponsorships.

“The partnership that we have with any one of our ambassadors, including our female athletes, really means it’s a set of shared values. And it’s not just something that is transactional, but [that] we’re also in it for the long run,” the sneaker executive said. The strategy includes looking at how to build out both the athletes’ stories and that for the New Balance brand, and then at how to “grow those to life.” That formula is “where we get a lot of authenticity, and that comes across,” Worth said.

One example is tennis star Coco Gauff and her signature shoe, which has a marketing campaign that includes her grandmother’s voice-over. Marketing efforts also include Gauff greeting kids who otherwise might not have had the opportunity of meeting her at tennis courts in Atlanta.

“It goes back to that [authenticity, where we] try to tell a story in terms of what the brand wants to tell…if something is too polished or too staged, the consumer really recognizes it,” Worth said.

Understanding where an athlete’s passions lie is a part of the storytelling. WNBA sensation Cameron Brink’s passions are mentorship, her basketball camp in Oregon and interest around fashion and culture. “We did a whole thing with her at Paris Fashion Week (in February), where we combined basketball and fashion together and shared this long-form content of her at Paris Fashion Week,” Worth noted, adding that those types of initiatives “really resonate with the consumer.”

Worth said New Balance’s products include a wide range of sizes and noted the items are specifically designed for women. A multisport research lab at its Boston headquarters allows athletes to test product and provide feedback for improvement so they are better able to perform in them.

New Balance also provides an internal associate resource group for its women employees. The brand has partnered with Women Unlimited Inc. (now rebranded to AscentPoint Leadership) through New Balance’s RISE (Reimagining Industry to Support Equality) program to support its Tier One suppliers. The goal is to impact over 100,000 women by 2027 in the brand’s supply chain with up-skilling and development skills. New Balance also partners with the State Department’s Global Sports Mentoring Program.

She said that Gen Z comprises about one-third of her team and that they “are looking for a platform to be heard and to be seen.” Worth noted that the biggest lesson the younger generation has taught her has been the ability to listen.

And for women to succeed, that means elevating them so they stay in their positions instead of choosing to leave. That requires creating conditions for them to be successful, such as providing flexible work to balance child care with self care.

Worth said her advice to 21-year-old self would be to be “grateful for where I am and where I am able to grow. I would tell myself I would need to network more. I am a very introverted person, [and there’s] so much we can learn from each other.”