Former Pro Volleyball Player Gabrielle Reece On Becoming Vionic’s First-Ever Well-Being Ambassador: ‘Everyone Is An Athlete’
In 1994, professional beach volleyball player Gabrielle Reece became the first female athlete to design a shoe for Nike.
More than 30 years later, the now-retired competitor will have her first namesake sneaker with Vionic as the newly minted well-being ambassador for the science-focused footwear brand, with a release set for Spring ’26.
Reece and Vionic have a shared interest in movement, performance and longevity. Size inclusivity is also one of the reasons that Reece, who is six-foot-three with size 12 feet, appreciates the Caleres-owned brand — while she’s spent a great deal of time barefoot in the sand, she’s worn more than a few pairs of uncomfortable shoes throughout her life.
Speaking to why the brand resonates with her in an interview with FN, Reece praised the technology Vionic utilizes in their footwear.
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“So much of your well-being, your health, actually starts from the ground up. At least when we’re talking about movement and mechanics, your feet — it’s the starting point,” she said. “So for me to be a part of that message, because it aligns with my values as far as really taking care of yourself, but the fact also that they make them attractive and in big sizes, those were over-the-top bonuses.”
Reflecting on her definition of well-being and how it’s evolved for her over the years, she acknowledged that transitioning from her competitive days to her post-professional athlete life has altered her perspective on the term.
“In my younger years, it was just about performance,” she explained. “Will all of these things — my training, my food — support performance? And then through time, I started to realize, ‘Wait a second, my wellness helps me do everything.'”
The multi-hyphenate is involved in a bit of everything — in addition to leaving her mark on the volleyball court, Reece is a New York Times bestselling author, host of the podcast “The Gabby Reece Show,” co-founder of Laird Superfood alongside her husband, surfer Laird Hamilton, and she was recently recognized as part of Inc.’s Female Founders 500 list.
Reece continued to speak to her perception of wellness: “It’s this idea of everyone is an athlete. I think people don’t give themselves enough credit for all that they’re dealing with. So if they’re running around — working and family and relationships — and trying to juggle all the things that people are juggling, wellness for me is, ‘Can I do that in a way that really represents who I am, and I’m not just checking boxes?'”
Having time to reflect and make choices she resonates with are key for the businesswoman and mother of three.
“I always say that Viktor Frankl had this thing between stimulus and response,” Reece said. “Wellness for me is that I always have that distance and that I am having the opportunity to respond in the ways that I want.”
With wellness being top of mind for Reece and Vionic, the new ambassadorship is an exciting development for both parties.
“We are thrilled to announce world-class athlete, author, and entrepreneur Gabby Reece as Vionic’s first well-being ambassador. This is more than an endorsement; it’s a partnership. Gabby shares our passion for movement and already loves the Vionic brand,” said Jay Schmidt, president and chief executive officer of Caleres. “Vionic has unique authority in science-backed movement and wellness that cannot be replicated. Caleres is investing to build enduring brands that hold value and purpose in the lives of consumers. As we continue to do this, we will enhance the long term value of the company.”
Indeed, Reece already counted herself as a fan of Vionic before striking a deal with the brand. Some of her favorite styles are the Uptown Loafer, the Alameda Mary Jane and the Gemma II Mule Slipper, which is a slip-on style that her daughters like as well.
While she has several shoes from Vionic she already loves, she’ll be working closely with the brand to create her very own Gabby sneaker, which is designed for walking. With that process in the works, Reece looked back on what she’s learned about footwear design since working with Nike in the ’90s on gym/cross-training shoes.
“I’ve learned how damaging it can be if you’re wearing things over long periods of time, hours and years, that are damaging to your feet, how they can impact your overall well-being and for me, that translates not only into physical like my back, my knees, but even my moods,” she said. “I think I’m looking at it not only at a different age with different goals, but also trying to support people where we’re saying, ‘Hey, we want you to move, but we also want you to take care of your feet.'”
The goal with the forthcoming Gabby sneaker is to get women walking — an activity she refers to as “an unsung hero in wellness” — with the help of a footwear style that blends aesthetic appeal with top-notch functionality. Vionic says the sneaker, set to be introduced during August shoe market later this year, will be its most high-performance and technologically advanced walking shoe.
Reece said, “If I talk about wellness, people don’t give enough credit to what walking can do. But can we make it look a little edgy and a little sexy? Because that’ll make people feel like putting it on, which means putting it on and going for a walk.”
For Reece, aging doesn’t mean giving up on style: “I always say, even as you go through life and you get older, you haven’t thrown in the towel. I’m not here to wear my grandma’s shoes, I’m here to try to keep it cool, but first and foremost, functional forever. Hopefully, if you talk to me in 20 years, I’m still interested in ‘How does it look?’ Not just ‘How does it work?'”
