She’s Got Next: Lorin Hamlin

From an early career in publishing to an innovative role with an international athleticwear giant, Lorin Hamlin’s professional trajectory has been an unpredictable climb—but one that’s always embraced the possibilities of what’s next. She joined Under Armour in 2011 to manage the grand opening of the company’s state-of-the-art Innovation Lab; and acting as legal liaison for the Innovation team, Lorin’s role quickly grew to include business development, strategic alliances, and oversight of such platforms as Idea House and Future Show. Lorin is a graduate of the University of Maryland. Today, she works as a consultant for startups and entrepreneurs, many of which are women-led initiatives.

The following conversation is edited for space and clarity.

How would you describe your career journey?

Not a straight line. I actually started in publishing. I worked for a company called Gryphon House, a publisher of teacher resource books and children’s books, and was an editor there for quite a while. The company was bought and of course, when that happens, change happens.

So, I went back to University of Maryland, where I got my English degree and got my paralegal degree. After that, I became the legal liaison and innovation manager for the Innovation Lab at Under Armour. I literally was standing on the sidelines of a lacrosse game and was talking to what happens to be now my best friend’s husband, but at the time was general counsel for Under Armour. We were just talking, and he’s like, “So what was your area of law?” And I said, intellectual property. He’s like, “Well, would you like to come and open up our innovation lab?”

And I was like, yes, I would—and I was there for 14 years.

From the innovation lab manager position, I turned it into more of a business development role once the lab was up and running. It started as physical product facing, but eventually, expanded across the board. Coatings, chemistries, any kind of technology that would make an athlete better ran through me and my team, and we would try to find a fit within one of the business units within UA.

Then we created a platform called Future Show, which was sort of like Shark Tank before there was Shark Tank. I also built a platform called Innovation Idea House, which is unique in that most competitors in the space want you to have pretty solid IP [intellectual property], either a patent or some kind of protection. This platform allows anyone—whether you’re a garage inventor or Dow Chemical—to send in your idea, and it would be vetted by my team and see if there was a place for it, and hopefully create a path to commercialization.

From that, I sort of turned it more toward sports tech accelerator programs and startups. In my time with UA, I probably reviewed more than 3,000 startups and developed a passion for female founders and women in sport. I continue that [commitment] now in my consulting practice. I still work with startups with female founders—or at least women involved either at the cap table or the advisory board—so that really has been a passion throughout my career.

Have you found that these entrepreneurs are addressing issues for women and female athletes that other people have been missing?

Yes, absolutely. I think you’re starting to see bespoke solutions for women, and many times, it’s women doing the research. You’re seeing more of that now, whether it’s looking at hydration or sweat analysis. One of the interesting things to me is you’re seeing younger and younger girls getting ACL tears, and I hate that it must be that way in order for [the issue] to get attention.

Hopefully, we’ll get ahead of it and we’ll look at injury mitigation instead of treatment, but that sort of thing has drawn attention. Why are these girls getting injured so early? And it’s a lot of factors. It’s training year-round, what footwear they’re wearing, lots of things. But at least it’s finally getting the attention that men and boys have enjoyed for eternity.

What’s most exciting to you about the sport innovation space right now?

Of course, the buzzwords of the day: artificial intelligence. But I think about the way it’s being used. It’s going back to specific personalized training regimens, injury mitigation, nutrition, sleep. Looking at the athlete as a holistic athlete rather than just okay, today is going to be a leg day. I’m going to do yoga today. Instead, it’s a whole arc of what that looks like from what you put in your body and how much sleep you get. You’re starting to see that really converge, and I think that really came out in part during COVID. I think we all were sort of taking a look at our health. We had to just stay in and focus on ourselves and I think that led to this convergence of health, fitness, and wellness which used to be disparate verticals.

But now, you’re seeing that all together. It’s not just, “I’m going to go to the gym.” It’s, “What did I have for breakfast? How much hydration am I going to have? Did I have enough sleep?” So, seeing these apps that are coming through that are doing more than just counting your steps or telling you how many hours of sleep you got is really exciting to me.

And seeing this uptick in technology specifically for women—whether it’s apparel or footwear accessories—is exciting, too. Things that should have been invented long ago are finally seeing the light of day and getting support. You’re seeing a big uptick in venture capital and private equity [interest], realizing there’s a large market here to be tapped.

What opportunities do you see for women in the sports innovation and sports startup space?

I think there’s a huge opportunity. You’re seeing an uptick in female sport; you know there’s an expansion of the WNBA. You’ve got an interest in Caitlin Clark. More people watched the women’s NCAA tournament than watched the men’s NCAA tournament, and we’re seeing more women’s sports on TV. Nothing drives me crazier when people are like, people don’t watch women’s sport. Well, you can’t if it’s not on TV.

So you’re seeing more and more of that, but one of my big passions is keeping girls in sports longer. More than 85% of girls quit at ages 12 and 13, usually at the onset of puberty.

McKinsey did a great study on this, and it shows that girls who stay in sports end up having much stronger leadership skills and team building skills. They end up in the boardroom more often—so finding a way to get those girls into sport and keeping them there is one of my ongoing goals.

What are some ways that businesses can create a culture that supports women and girls in sports?

I think there are lots of ways. On an individual, grassroots level, go to games. If you don’t have children in sport, I’m sure you know someone who does. I’ve dragged many people to a field hockey game. They didn’t understand the game, but they enjoyed it because it’s a fun game to watch.

And then a broader, more enterprising way of making an impact is through donations. Rec programs were hit hard during COVID. The elite travel programs are always going to be okay because they have affluent parents who are supporting it. But in Baltimore City, where I used to work, [the pandemic] was a death knell for rec programs because many of them are volunteer. So that’s another way: volunteer. Just get out there and be in the field. It’s so rewarding. Yes, it’s time—and we’re all short on time, but it’s so worth it.

But if you can’t do it with your time, do it with your money; do it with your support. Go to your local high school games. Go to rec games. Be involved. When the athletes—particularly the female athletes—see that support, that’s really impactful. I think it needs to be very intentional. I mean, yeah, it’s great if a company puts their name on the back of a jersey, and that has its place, but I think it needs to be more intentional to show the athletes that it really does matter.

What are some challenges that still face women working in sport and how can we begin to address some of those?

When I started [with Under Armour] back in 2011, I would go to sports tech accelerator programs and I would literally be one of five women out of 200 men. The good side of that is we would all sort of end up congregating together, and we’d go to dinner. And we’re all still friends.

Now, it’s increased—but it’s still nowhere near parity.

It definitely needs to be, and that’s going to have to start at the grassroots level again, keeping girls interested in sport. Wanting them to go into things like STEM and finance and business, those sorts of things. I think men need to maybe crack that door a little bit and encourage women, and not just because it’s the right thing to do. Having diversity is good for business. This is obviously sort of a point of contention currently, but having diversity is proven to improve business. If you look at it from that perspective, women still get less than 2% of the investment dollars that are out there, and it’s because of a network of men who all know one another and refer one to each other.

So be that advocate. Be that ally. Be that activist. Actually, I don’t think ally is a strong enough word. Be willing to step out there and take a leap of faith with some of these female founders, and I think you’ll see this groundswell. There are some great funds out there like Underdog Ventures that focus on female founders. You’re seeing more and more of that. Serena Williams has a fund that seeks out female founders.

The more you see that growth, I think more traditional, more conservative funds will jump on the bandwagon.

Finally, what advice do you have for young women who want to work somewhere in the sports realm?

I would say get and keep a mentor. There were a lot of good things when I worked at UA, but when I left, I must have gotten literally 50 messages, calls, and texts from young women thanking me for my mentorship and showing them how to show up and have a voice.

I wasn’t really conscious that I was doing that. I didn’t set out to do that, but I would encourage women to get a mentor and listen. Really listen to them, but don’t be afraid to speak out. Be authentic. Don’t wait to be offered a seat at the table. Earn it, and then take it.  And once you earn that respect, no one can take that away from you.

For me, this mentorship piece is key, and I try to do that as much as I can. I do some pro bono work because I was fortunate to have great mentors, so pay that forward once you get to where you want to be. Don’t forget the women who are behind you. Reach back and help pull them up to where you are.

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