A former Nike and LA Clippers executive, Sanja is dedicated to advancing gender equality and representation, leveraging her expertise to amplify marginalized voices and create lasting impact. She was inducted into the 2024 Advertising Hall of Achievement and recognized on INC Magazine’s Female Founders 500 list in 2025, honoring her as one of the most dynamic and influential women building the future of business.
This moment is decades in the making. Title IX laid the groundwork, and now with the power of social media and more intentional brand investment, we’re finally seeing a long-overdue cultural correction. The talent and stories have always been there. What’s changed is who gets to amplify them.
Working across this roster of clients, what’s become clear is that when women athletes are given the same creative energy, media attention, and strategic support as their male counterparts, fans don’t just show up—they show up loud, proud, and ready to buy. The old myth that there’s "no audience" for women’s sports is just that—a myth. If you build it, they will come. And they bring their communities with them.
The real takeaway? When brands invest authentically—not just performatively—they’re not only supporting equity, they’re tapping into one of the most passionate and fastest-growing spaces in culture today.
A huge driver of demand right now is social media. It’s completely shifted the power dynamics—brands and athletes can now command attention in ways we’ve never seen before. But with that visibility comes a higher bar for authenticity.
Consumers are more aware than ever. They know when a brand is genuinely invested versus just chasing headlines. People can spot that "me too" energy instantly. And once a brand is labeled as fake or performative, that’s a hard reputation to walk back.
A clear example is the public rollback of DEI initiatives. People weren’t just upset about the shift—they were frustrated because so many companies had made bold, public commitments, and then pulled back the second the administration changed and they thought the tide was shifting. That kind of inconsistency erodes trust.
What executives need to understand is that today’s fans aren’t passive. They’re engaged, vocal, and unafraid to hold brands accountable. The smartest companies are embedding themselves in fan culture in a real way—not just showing up with a logo or a campaign during a moment of hype, but being there before, during, and after.
Authenticity isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s the baseline.
There are still structural barriers—lower budgets, fewer media opportunities, and outdated assumptions around what audiences want. And quite frankly, a lack of women, particularly women of color, making decisions behind the scenes.
At ONA, we’re intentional about changing that. We build diverse teams that reflect the athletes and communities we’re speaking to. We don’t rely on tired tropes—we lean into storytelling that’s nuanced, bold, and culturally relevant. And we don’t treat women athletes like checkboxes. We treat them like the cultural forces they are.
We have been doing this work not just in women’s sports, but across clients. We always look to lean into human-truths and pass the mic to the communities that tell that story best. People with lived experiences paired with people who know the business, and sometimes those people are one and the same.
Women’s sports are a microcosm of the broader fight for equity, visibility, pay, representation, and self-definition. As media attention shifts toward women athletes, we’re also seeing more women take up space in leadership positions across industries—sports, business, politics, and beyond. The cultural and commercial impact is undeniable.
As women dominate in sports and unapologetically show up as their full selves, it signals to the world that strength, ambition, and authenticity in women should be celebrated—not contained. It empowers more young women to move through the world with that same confidence and gives all young people permission to challenge outdated gender norms.
Title IX laid the groundwork over 50 years ago. It gave millions of girls the chance to play, but more importantly, it planted seeds of leadership, confidence, and community. What we’re witnessing now is the return on that investment.
So yes—women’s sports are doing far more than generating headlines. They’re reshaping conversations about equity, power, and identity. And perhaps most importantly, they’re proving that investing in women isn’t charity—it’s a winning business strategy.
Leaning fully into storytelling, both on and off the court.
What makes sports magnetic is the storylines—and not just the Cinderella stories. People love the on-court and off-court drama. They want to see what will happen next when two powerhouses face off head-to-head.
For too long, we’ve asked women to quiet the most interesting versions of themselves. To show up modest and reserved. Anything that didn’t exemplify ‘lady-like’ behavior was seen as a setback.
During the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Brandi Chastain, a U.S. women's soccer legend, ripped off her shirt in celebration after scoring the game-winning penalty kick. The controversy sparked national attention, with critics calling the celebration masculine and aggressive. She was even labeled a “bad role model” for young girls. It was even a question posed to Miss Universe contestants. Yet, that moment remains one of the most memorable in sports history.
Fast forward to 2024 and the Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark March Madness clash. Sure, there was backlash—mostly aimed at Angel—but it captured attention and catapulted women’s sports into the mainstream conversation. It became the most talked-about moment in college basketball that year, and it's a big part of why we saw record-breaking viewership numbers. They owned their narratives. It was real, emotional, layered—and people couldn’t look away.
Let’s be honest: passive consumers don’t love sports for flawless fundamentals. They love the drama, the dunks, the touchdown celebrations—the entertainment. That’s the stuff that fills arenas.
So, in short, the bold move the industry needs to make is to stop making women self-edit. Let them be real, unapologetic, loud, aggressive—or whatever else they choose to be—and we’ll see the momentum for women in sports continue.
There’s a quote from Doc Rivers that I recently heard, and it really struck me: "People think if you are the champion, you don't get hit. It’s the exact opposite. Champions get hit over and over and over. It’s just that the champion is the one who decides to keep moving forward."
The secret to my success has been developing resilience and a grit mindset from an early age—the ability to bounce back quickly in the face of adversity and the tenacity to work toward long-term goals.
Some of this came from escaping war-torn Bosnia and rebuilding my community more than once. But a lot of it also came from playing sports. Setbacks in business happen daily—sometimes hourly. Just the other day during a shoot, I got a call that we lost a $2M+ client due to a CMO change. On top of that, the shoot we had scheduled with high-level talent needed to be re-briefed. In the creative world, that means a concept you’ve been working on for two months—with a tight timeline—now needs to be changed in one or two days, likely impacting set design, lighting, camera, location, talent, and more. And that was all happening while dealing with the normal issues that arise during production.
Over time, I’ve built such a strong sense of resilience that I walked back onto set, dealt with what I needed to from a production standpoint, and began working on the necessary creative changes. After 12+ hours, I sat down at my computer, assessed our financial situation, and started planning what needed to happen in the long term to keep our team intact (i.e., avoiding layoffs in the coming months).
This is where grit comes in—the passion, perseverance, and commitment to something bigger than yourself. We've been through tough times before, like during Covid, and I’m proud to say in 10 years of business we’ve only ever laid off two people. I firmly believe that if we work together, we can achieve anything.
Life is no different. To live a meaningful life, we have to overcome obstacles and work toward long-term goals—whether it’s fitness, health, financial freedom, love, relationships, or any other aspiration. To run a thriving business, you have to get up every day and find a reason to keep moving forward, even when you could really use a vacation.
I admire women who have been through public storms, criticized, dragged, doubted—but still kept showing up and leading with impact. The biggest example for me is Hillary Clinton, but also women like Malala, Greta Thunberg, Sojourner Truth, Gloria Steinem, Anita Hill and too many to name.
I could never imagine what it feels like to face so much scrutiny day in and day out and still be brave enough to show up for what you believe in.
Great-health. My dad always says, everything else is important until you get sick, and then the only thing that is important is your health. I find that to be the wisest advice I can give anyone. No matter how hard things get everywhere else, prioritize your health.
I’m really excited about how women athletes are stepping into their full cultural power—not just in sports, but across entertainment, fashion, and entrepreneurship. They’re building brands, launching shows, designing product lines. It’s not just about endorsements anymore—it’s about ownership. And that shift is going to keep changing how we see influence and leadership.
A few years into starting ONA, everything felt difficult. I kept thinking I must be doing it wrong. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz completely changed that mindset. It helped me realize that struggling doesn’t mean I’m failing—it’s a normal part of building something meaningful. Other CEOs and leaders are often deeply stressed behind the scenes, too. The toughest parts of running a business—layoffs, losing clients, managing your own fear—don’t come with clean, step-by-step solutions. We often have to make decisions with incomplete information and no obvious right answer. That’s the job.
Then there’s The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I read it a few years into my career. He wrote it while dying of cancer, and it’s full of powerful life lessons: integrity and sincerity matter; apologize when you mess up; enable the dreams of others; and brick walls are there for a reason—they give us a chance to prove how badly we want something. One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of pursuing childhood dreams—and if you can’t achieve yours directly, help others achieve theirs.
Some of these lessons hit me as I was reading them. Others showed up years later when I needed them most. Either way, autobiographies and books that offer real life wisdom have shaped who I am—both as a business leader and as a friend.
