Gender equity and equality have been important in CrossFit since its inception in 2000. Starting in the affiliate, men and women share equipment and workout space. On the competition floor, men and women get the same amount of coverage and compensation. This year alone, of the 295,000 athletes who signed up for the Open, about 44% were women.
Just as CrossFit, the fitness program and sport, has been intentional about having men and women on the same playing field, the same standards are being held behind the scenes.
Looking back eight years to the 2014 Regionals, a team of five women was the reason why thousands of fans were able to watch their favorite CrossFit athletes on the big stage from their computer screens. Today, 13 out of the 17 CrossFit Games media team members are women. And one of their leaders is CrossFit Games Content Operations Manager Emily O’Hearn.
In October 2021, O’Hearn reflected on the strides CrossFit has made in pursuit of gender equality. Recognizing more work is to be done and wishing to continue CrossFit's contributions to providing new perspectives from women, she created “We the Women.”
The "We the Women" project is inspired by the galvanizing strength behind the words “We the People” from the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. Its purpose is to record and relay important aspects of the female experience woven into CrossFit's history by sharing stories and insights from some of the most prominent women in the sport.
Sifting through an extensive list of women leaders in the CrossFit space, O’Hearn narrowed it down to a few women who would kick off the project, which she hopes will continue growing and evolving for years to come.
At the 2021 Rogue Invitational, O’Hearn recruited a team of videographers, writers, graphic designers, and content creators to make her vision come to life.
It all started in a small locker room in the Dell Diamond baseball stadium.
There, CrossFit athletes and trainers Amy Bream, Jennifer Hunter-Marshall, Michèle Letendre, Julie Foucher, Rebecca Voigt Miller, and Tasia Percevecz sat down with O’Hearn and videographer Michael Dalton and began to tell their stories. They discussed hardship and triumphs. They shared what they’ve learned over the years. And they reflected on what they wish they had known growing up.
The project evolved organically over the next six months as the contributors shaped the direction of the discourse through their unique stories.
Here's the team who was behind the scenes, bringing “We the Women” to life.
Emily O'Hearn: Co-Director // Executive Producer
After playing several sports as a kid, O’Hearn focused on swimming until college. But due to a shoulder injury, she knew her swimming career wouldn’t lead to the Olympics.
So, she continued to stay involved in sports behind the scenes.
“I like being in places that are uncommon for women to be found in sports,” she said. “I find that challenging, but in a good way, because I feel like I'm pushing the envelope of what's possible so that the next generation of females can take that and go farther, and maybe they won't hit as much resistance earlier in their life.”
O’Hearn started CrossFit in 2013 and at the time was a sports producer at the University of Florida, but she began to realize how impactful CrossFit was and the potential she had to share those stories the world needed to hear. In 2014, she began volunteering for the CrossFit media team and over the years moved up in the ranks and was hired as the Content Operations Manager in 2020.
Throughout the years, O’Hearn has seen how powerful women can be when they come together. Most importantly, she has experienced CrossFit as a healing modality beyond her physical health, for through the stories and strength of the women of CrossFit, O’Hearn is reminded that she isn’t the only one struggling but also embodies the strength to push forward.
O’Hearn’s vision to start “We the Women” resonated with the entire CrossFit Games media team. After pitching the idea in October, she has overseen all aspects of the project and interviewed all the women featured in the series.
“I hope that women will take this as a starting point for having more conversations, but also a reminder that you're not alone and that people are struggling next to you that you don't even realize,” O’Hearn said. “There is bravery in being vulnerable and in owning your truth, and you are in this journey with other people who have scars or are going through some of the darkest times in their lives.”
Michael Dalton: Co-Director // Director of Photography
Since childhood, Michael Dalton has always had a video camera in his hand. So, naturally, his passion led him to film school at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Dalton began shooting video for CrossFit in 2012 and has worked on almost every CrossFit Games documentary as well as other feature stories and videos across CrossFit’s platforms.
In October of 2021, Dalton was invited to the Rogue Invitational, expecting to capture stories of the athletes in action. But O’Hearn had other plans for the weekend.
“Emily basically told me, ‘Hey, we're gonna shoot some interviews today for a project about Women's History Month,’ and I had no idea what that meant, but I was like, ‘OK, great.’”
The team of two huddled into a cramped but quiet locker room meant for umpires and began to shoot interviews with the first three women to be featured in the project: Foucher, Voigt Miller, and Percevecz. The significance of the project soon became apparent.
“I was just sobbing, crying in three separate interviews, trying not to get picked up on the microphone,” Dalton said. “So, that's how it started. It was a very low-key introduction to a very sudden, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is important.’”
Dalton has been a part of the “We the Women” project since its beginning, serving as the creative director for the past six months. He shot all of the interviews, edited the introduction video as well as several of the profile stories, and color-corrected and edited the videos in post-production.
The passion Dalton brought to the project stemmed largely from what he wants to teach his 4-year-old daughter as she grows up.
“I felt before she was born I didn't know how I would be able to teach her to be a woman. And as she has gotten older, I've learned that it's not my job to teach her how to be a woman. My job is to teach her how to be a person,” Dalton said. “And I think that … has been the most impactful (thing) to me about the ‘We the Women’ series, is that people, regardless of their gender identity, are connecting with the stories of these women, because they are not just women's stories, they are people's stories. And I have found myself connecting to them.”
Lindsey Miller: Video Editor
Lindsey Miller has been working with CrossFit as a digital content creator since 2019. She put together all the sport highlight videos of each woman featured in “We the Women,” highlighting memorable moments within their CrossFit careers.
Growing up, Miller had always been involved in male-dominated sports, from surfing to skating half-pipes. After college, she began working for GORUCK, where she was introduced to strong and powerful women in the rucking community. From there, she met even more strong women within the CrossFit community.
“We the Women” resonated with Miller because of all of the inspiring women she has met in her life. She knows how important it is for women to inspire each other across generations.
“I think that the series itself does not only encourage people to take a look inside themselves, but it's also inspiring the young, (showing them) that even the people they look up to went through their own struggles and were able to overcome them,” she said.
Lillian Fuentes: Videographer and Video Editor
Lillian Fuentes began shooting video for CrossFit back in 2017. For the “We the Women” series, Fuentes edited Voigt Miller’s and Foucher’s profile stories as well as filmed b-roll in Voigt Miller’s gym.
In 2014, Fuentes ran across the 2014 CrossFit Games documentary and fell in love with how inspiring the female CrossFit athletes were, from Annie Thorisdoittor to Camille Leblanc-Bazinet.
“They weren’t ashamed of showing strong, beautiful women,” Fuentes said.
Through the “We the Women” series, Fuentes really connected with Voigt Miller’s interview when she stated, “If they can do it, I can do it,” showing the importance of avoiding the superficial limits even when you think you’re not capable of something.
“After watching these videos, I was like, ‘I just did that to myself, I just limited myself without even trying,’” she said. “So when I share this with my friends, I'm hoping they get out of it what I have, to be confident in yourself, knowing that you are good enough.”
Erin Garcia: Graphic Designer
Erin Garcia started working for CrossFit as a graphic designer in 2021. She created the “We the Women” logo featured at the beginning of every video. She also recreated the women’s signatures seen at the end of each profile story, along with the on-screen graphics.
Competing in cheerleading from sixth grade through high school, Garcia was surrounded by inspiring female coaches and other strong women. She knows firsthand how capable women’s bodies are from cheerleading and sees that emphasized within the CrossFit space.
“I feel like I've struggled a lot with body image because of everything the world tells us (about) how we should be looking,” Garcia said. “One thing I really love about ‘We the Women’ is how it shows strong women and what their bodies can do, and not only are they strong and can lift these crazy weights, but one's a doctor and one owns a gym.”
Daisy Lennox: Copywriter and Digital Assistant
Daisy Lennox has been working for CrossFit since 2019 as a trilingual copywriter and digital assistant. She wrote all the captions for the videos and set up all the social media posts to ensure the series was broadcast to the world.
While working on the series, Lennox thought back to her niece and nephew, who are at the age where they are heavily influenced by role models. Lennox grew up with gender stereotypes that we still see today, and she knows CrossFit has helped break down female body stereotypes and other clichés. It is important to continue to break down those stereotypes, she says, so future generations can grow up feeling capable and comfortable in their own skin.
“I don't want my niece or my nephew to grow up hearing things like ‘you run like a girl’ or for my nephew, ‘you can't be emotional,’ because those are these societal norms that don't serve anyone,” Lennox said. “So now, as an adult, having been through some of that … I want to make sure that those messages aren't passed on to the next generation.”
Georgia Bayliss-Brown: Digital Assistant
Georgia Bayliss-Brown began volunteering with the CrossFit media team in 2016 and has been involved in the CrossFit space ever since. She turned all the “We the Women” interviews into podcast scripts and soundbites.
As a former marine scientist, Bayliss-Brown has experienced gender inequality firsthand, sometimes being mistaken as a secretary or seeing men turn their backs on her when she was trying to communicate with them. But when she found CrossFit in 2012, it reinforced her beliefs about how truly strong and capable women are.
“‘We the Women,’ for me, isn't ... about women being better than men. It's more about making women realize that we are valuable,” Bayliss-Brown said. “And also anybody who may feel like the minority, I hope that they might take something away from it.”
Kelley Laxton: Writer and Copy Editor
I joined CrossFit in 2021 as a writer and copy editor. I wrote the abstract for the “We the Women” introduction video and have written several other articles to complement the series, such as “The Women of CrossFit” and “Closing the Gender Gap: Empowering Women in Sport.”
I have been passionate about women in sport for years and jumped at the opportunity to help with a series dedicated to starting and strengthening the conversation surrounding women in the CrossFit space. This is an opportunity for us to grow and learn as a community. “We the Women'' is a series that will resonate with anyone who watches.
A special thanks to Head of CrossFit Games Content Johnathan Haynes and the rest of the CrossFit staff who helped bring this project to life.
Watch all episodes of the “We the Women” series on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel.