Jasmyne Spencer on Her Sustainable Clothing Brand

OL Reign forward Jasmyne Spencer is always an energetic presence on the pitch. Off the pitch, Spencer channels that energy into her clothing line, Jas It Up Sports, a clothing line that aims to have a positive impact on the environment and society alike. 

Spencer started Jas It Up Sports in 2017 while playing with the Orlando Pride. 

“My sister-in-law is who gave me the idea,” Spencer said. “It started as a headband collection because I’ve got crazy, curly hair and I always would wear them when I train and play. She said ‘you should make your own headbands.’ I started there, really small, when I was playing in Orlando. My fanbase loved it. I started to do more research. I’m very into the environment and I learned that parts of the fashion industry are very toxic, the practices, so that’s when I transitioned to eco-friendly fabric.” 

Spencer certainly wanted more athletically out of her 2019 season with OL Reign. After suffering a season-ending ACL tear in the club’s first match, Spencer found a silver lining in having more time to focus on her business. 

“After my injury last year, I had a lot of time on my hands,” Spencer said. “I felt like I could really re-launch the company as a sustainable lifestyle brand. With the extra time and the ability to do my research, I was able to re-brand it and now it’s Jas It Up Sports, a sustainable lifestyle brand.” 

Spencer, who grew up on Long Island, spent a great deal of time volunteering to help clean up beaches and parks. The experience imbued her with a passion for preserving the environment, to the point that she had planned to major in marine biology while playing at Maryland, though the major was eliminated a year before she was able to enter the program. 

Attempting to ensure her clothing line was sustainably sourced was eye-opening for the forward. 

“It’s difficult,” Spencer said. “I didn’t realize how much you need to be accountable for. I’m lucky, because I’m coming from a background where I wanted to make sure I was doing good for the planet, but for your average owner, particularly in the fashion industry, you don’t really know. It’s not really out there how detrimental the practices are for the environment. I understand why for bigger brands it might be difficult to backtrack, set these environmental standards in place and then move forward from there. I absolutely think it can be and needs to be done. Brands like Patagonia have been doing it. For me, starting small and understanding what I needed to do to be sustainable—not only on an eco-friendly level—but also on a people level, making sure that anyone I employ or outsource work to is working under ethical conditions and getting fair wages, I think it’s been really enlightening and rewarding to know the product I’m putting on the market is helping both people and the planet. The whole process has been interesting and rewarding.” 

The knowledge has informed every aspect of Jas It Up Sports. The label’s “Revolutionize the Game” collection, including items made from organic cotton and recycled polyester, express Spencer’s desire to create meaningful change in the fashion world to produce a smaller environment impact. 

Spencer wants Jas It Up Sports to have a positive impact on more than just the environment. The forward hopes that some of the profits from her clothing line can be used to fund programs for the disadvantaged. 

“I built a relationship when I was in Orlando with a local YMCA in the neighborhood where our stadium is, which is a socioeconomically disadvantaged area in that city,” Spencer said. “I run a benefit clinic for people who are members of the Y, so it doesn’t cost anything extra. It’s easy to get to, it’s an established part of their community. I go down once a year and do a free soccer clinic and mentoring program for them. I use the money from Jas It Up to fund it. The kids get t-shirts. This year, we were hoping get some soccer balls and bags, but the pandemic halted the initiative for this season. I just reached out to the Washington Youth Soccer Foundation to get it up and running in Washington as well. They do great work and I think our values really align. I’m hoping to build that partnership and run the clinics on both coasts in the future.” 

Jas it Up doesn’t have any full-time employees yet. Spencer runs it out of her basement with her sister-in-law Lauren Spencer and her sister-in-law to-be Brianna Harrison. To Spencer, the label is truly a family endeavor. 

“They’re used to it now,” Spencer said, laughing. “I’m always coming up with these crazy ideas. In the beginning they were like ‘you’re going to do what?’ Now, they’re just used to it. ‘Hey Jas, what do you have for us?’ When I thought of the idea to re-launch the brand, I created a PowerPoint and I called a family meeting. I had my fiancé and his family come and I presented it to them. ‘This is my idea, this is how I can achieve it. What do you guys think?’ They’re on board and supportive. They’re helping me run things while I’m away from home. They’ve been great.” 

In a time when many companies are reevaluating their business and hiring practices to create a more equitable society, Spencer offered the lessons she has learned as a business owner. 

“I think it applies to soccer as well as business,” Spencer said. “The best thing you can do is to go out to those communities that are underfunded and underrepresented and actively seeking to employ—or offer scholarships to in the realm of sports—I’ve been there. The people in those communities are working hard, they’re just looking for an opportunity. I think sometimes we get tunnel vision. I don’t think it’s on purpose, but a lot of people fall through the cracks, especially in those communities.  

“Now is a perfect time to broaden your search and make sure that when you’re looking for an employee in any capacity, that you’re looking in communities of different backgrounds. That’s really what’s going to make you diverse. Ultimately, it will make your brand better because you have better representation and better reach. I think getting out and making sure that you’ve got somebody who represents every part of America. Our country is unique because we represent the whole world, in a way. We have a little bit of everyone and everything going on. Representation is huge. So is making sure you can find people to align with and work with that cover all facets of life.” 

As she continues her professional soccer career, Spencer is glad to have found an outlet for her other passions that allows her to have fun along the way. 

“I can’t put it into the words,” Spencer said. “I fell into it. It’s not something I ever envisioned of myself, but it’s probably the most rewarding thing in my life after traveling the world to play. I feel like I have the ability to impact people’s lives doing this. I couldn’t be more thankful that I fell into it.”