While some celebrities spend their leisure time scrolling through social media or resting at home, Olivia Nelson Ododa uses her off court hours to build a meaningful legacy. When she isn’t playing for the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, she focuses on her fashion and wellness brand, Kayelise. The brand serves as an intentional tribute to her father’s mother, who passed away from cervical cancer before Nelson Ododa was born, and honors other women in her family’s Kenyan hometown who have faced similar reproductive health challenges. Since she began developing the company in December 2023, Kayelise has already reached the global stage, making a public debut during Paris Fashion Week 2025.
For Nelson Ododa, the transition from the hardwood to the design studio is more than just a creative outlet. It is a rigorous exercise in balancing the high stakes of professional athletics with the meticulous demands of entrepreneurship. While the WNBA requires peak physical performance and mental toughness, building Kayelise has allowed her to tap into a different kind of strength, one rooted in legacy and advocacy. Navigating the logistics of a global brand while maintaining her status as a key player for the Connecticut Sun has provided her with a unique perspective on leadership and time management. In the following conversation, she opens up about the emotional weight behind her designs and the reality of building a fashion house from the ground up.
Scroll ahead to read about Nelson Ododa’s business journey and how she manages her WNBA career.
GU: Kayelise is an ode to your grandmother. Talk to me about the desire to bring this fashion brand into the world.
Nelson Ododa: I was talking with my father about life back home for him and how he grew up. He comes from a big family of ten five girls and five boys. As we were talking, he told me different stories and touched on his sisters who passed away, and obviously his mother, whom I never actually got to personally meet. Over there in Kenya, they deal with a lot of different reproductive issues, just like we do here, but a lot of times they do not get checked. From what I was told, it really sparked an interest in me first, because I am super interested in health and wellness for women, but also because of how it impacted my family personally. Kayelise was an ode to my grandmother, my aunts, and everyone personally affected, but it is also about bringing awareness to reproductive issues that just do not get talked about enough.
GU: How involved were you in the process of making sure the collection fit your vision?
Nelson Ododa: I was very hands on. I worked with an amazing design team and was able to help curate the pieces I wanted to showcase. This was true for the OG robe, which is named after my grandmother, and the pieces we showed during Paris Fashion Week. I was very involved even while overseas, communicating back and forth with the team to bring that vision to light. They did a fantastic job considering the schedules and time zone differences. They really helped me execute everything I wanted.
GU: Talk to me about the moment you knew your pieces were going to be featured in Paris Fashion Week. What were those emotions like?
Nelson Ododa: Once I found out I could showcase my work, we really started honing in on the design process for those specific pieces. At the time, I knew my team was going to make the WNBA playoffs, so I realized I would not be able to go to Paris and be there in person. I called up Nika Mühl, who is one of my best friends, and said, “Hey, I want you to walk in my show.” She agreed, so I got to have my best friend walking the runway and doing that whole experience for me. It was super cool. I remember being on the court for warm ups on FaceTime, watching the whole thing happen in Paris while I was all the way in China. It was so surreal that it brought me to tears because we had been planning this for half a year. We were communicating with people around the world every day, figuring out if pieces were right and how to ship them. In that moment, watching it actually happen, I just felt so many emotions.
GU: How do you ultimately juggle being a business owner while being in the WNBA? Have you seen those roles conflict?
Nelson Ododa: Time management has been huge. It is really about heavy communication and using off days to cram in meetings that I could not get to during the week. But honestly, the WNBA is my priority and what I am focused on right now. The team I have around me at Kayelise helps so much; they take on different tasks and answer questions to help ease the stress of me having to juggle everything by myself, especially in season. It comes with its difficulties, but having a great team has made it much easier.
GU: What is next for Kayelise?
Nelson Ododa: We have talked about doing more fashion shows, especially coming up in the winter. We are also discussing adding unisex clothes or even a men’s side. I definitely want to explore that. We are also figuring out how to open things up for pre orders and get the brand on the market. I know there has been a demand for the robes and the pieces people saw during Paris Fashion Week. It is super exciting to see that enthusiasm. We are designing more pieces, seeing what people are asking for, and getting those items out to the market.