Missy Park

Missy Park launched Title Nine from a Berkeley garage in 1989. A former college athlete, she maxed out her personal credit cards to fund the first run of women's performance athletic gear, even after multiple retail buyers told her flatly that women didn't care about high-performance workout apparel. She named the brand for the 1972 Title IX gender equity legislation that had opened up competitive sports opportunities for millions of women and girls just 17 years prior.

Her first product line sold out in six weeks, proving the doubters wrong before the brand had even secured a permanent retail foothold. Park remains the company's founder, CEO and sole owner, with no plans for an IPO or outside sale, a rare choice in the cutthroat activewear market.

The brand's 2023 spring line included 12 new styles designed specifically for post-mastectomy patients, a product category almost entirely missing from mainstream athletic brands' offerings. Title Nine also runs an annual scholarship program for female student-athletes, a quiet extension of Park's focus on supporting women in the sports space that first inspired her to launch the brand.

In October 2021, Park sat down with Guy Raz for NPR's How I Built This to walk through the brand's unlikely origin story, from credit card-funded garage startup to a decades-long leader in women's athletic and outdoor gear that still operates entirely on Park's terms. She has never taken outside investment, and has repeatedly stated she has no interest in ceding control of the company she built from scratch.