Before Angel Reese became one of the biggest names in women's basketball, she was told to lower her expectations. The people who assessed her ceiling were the very people in a sports marketing agency she thought could help her grow her brand.
Speaking on Michelle Obama's IMO podcast, the Atlanta Dream star looked back at the early days of NIL, when the market was still largely unexplored and few knew how much female athletes could really earn. One agency believed Reese's value wasn't much.
"They [the agency] told me that I wasn't going to make more than $2,000," Reese said .
At the time, that forecast may have sounded reasonable. NIL legislation had only recently taken effect and the marketplace was still finding its footing. Brands remained cautious, particularly when it came to women's sports.
Reese, however, never bought into that projection.
She had a different foresight and her agent, Janine, who was the only person from that agency who believed in her, backed her up.
"This was at the very beginning of NIL," she continued. "So, I told myself I know I'm going to make more than $2,000. I don't know what y'all talking about, but I know I'm going to make more than $2,000… and me and [my agent] Janine left. We did our own thing. It was just me and her. She left agency with me."
Reese knew that the decision carried risk for both parties. She was still building her national profile, while Janine walked away from the stability of working at an established sports marketing agency.
Rather than relying on a large firm's infrastructure, the two decided to bet on Reese's vision and build her business from the ground up.
In hindsight, it became one of the defining business moves of Reese's career. The partnership succeeded and reached higher heights after Reese's popularity exploded during LSU's national championship run in 2023.
"We took a bold step that we're going to do this on our own," Reese reflected. "So, we started doing it and started doing it and then when we won the national championship, that's when we added two more people, but we're a very very small group. Like, a lot of people are signed to really big agencies, but we're very small. It's just us."
Reese and her agent's gamble helped redefine women's basketball business. While the WNBA admits that timing and luck played a key role in her NIL success, she also insists none of it happened by accident.
For Angel, it's always important to have a solid plan that you would stick to even if the odds aren't in your favor.
"I kind of had a plan and I took risk," Reese further revealed. "I was like, 'I'm going to do this. This is what I want to do. I know I'm going to be able to do fashion. I'm going to be able to be a basketball player. If I want to start a podcast, I can do it.' And I just had big dreams. And luckily, I was able to accomplish them at such a crazy fast pace. But I definitely had a plan."
Today, Reese boasts one of the most impressive endorsement portfolios in women's basketball. She has signed partnerships with global brands such as Reebok, Beats by Dre, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Airbnb, PlayStation, Raising Cane's and Cash App, among others.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Aug 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
