Building a Brand, Cultivating a Community

A solid online presence can do more than boost sales—it can build a brand before its products even exist. For new entrepreneur Kayla Jones ’18, a strong social media presence practically made her business a reality.

It was a fashion emergency turned inspiration. Jones was getting her gameday outfit ready when her trusty stadium bag finally gave out. The wife of Denver Broncos defensive lineman D.J. Jones, she didn’t want just a replacement, she wanted to make a fashion statement. With no time to shop, she had to get creative.

“We have footballs galore around the house and in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors,” said Jones. “I came across this one smaller ball and wondered, ‘If I cut it open, what would happen?’ A zipper and a handle later, I had a purse for the game.”

“It was so amazing to see the reactions I got at the game and on social media, not only from female fans, but from male fans as well. That was the moment I realized I had something special here.”

Fast-forward a year later, and Jones has released her own line of football-based purses through her company, Women With Ballz. But transforming an idea into a full-fledged business—all while caring for a young daughter—was anything but easy. From sourcing manufacturers and learning to scale inventory, the human resources graduate gave herself a crash-course on business development in time to release the line for the 2025 NFL season.

But it was online that Women With Ballz really came to life. After unveiling the purse on her TikTok, Jones created a landing page to collect interested emails and build community for the product almost a year before it was available. Sharing prototypes with pop star Ciara—wife of former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson—catalyzed attention for the fledgling brand. Word of mouth and grassroots social media posts became a pillar of support—as well as added pressure on Jones to deliver.

“Had it not been for TikTok, there wouldn’t have been a way for us to capture how many people are really interested,” said Jones. “Moving forward, social media is definitely going to be a tool that we use for Women with Ballz in connecting and building a community around the brand.”

By Derek Herscovici ’14