Elite Entrepreneur

By USC Athletics Black History Month

February 24^th, 2022

USC track & field sprinter Bailey Lear was not the first to experience the so-called "freshman 15" in her when she arrived in Los Angeles, but immediately, she noticed the impact that it had on her as an athlete. She quickly realized the importance of properly fueling her body in order to perform like a champion.

The Frisco, Tex., native saw a gap in nutritional offerings for USC’s athletes, especially for track & field athletes, where an extra 15 pounds can be critical to performance at practice and in competition, as well as recovery after practice. So, she decided to fix it.

With the guidance of USC Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, and Lear’s coach and mentor, Quincy Watts, Lear created Good Eats for Elites, inspired by her desire to reach her full athletic potential, and help others better navigate the same challenge she faced.

"I made a whole company off of some little mistake I made in college," she said.

Lear began researching foods that would help her become a better athlete. But beyond just picking the right ingredients, she wanted to combat the idea that healthy food tastes bad. Combining her family’s New Orleans roots and her passion for cooking, Lear began meal prepping in her USC Village apartment during the height of the pandemic. Her teammates quickly took notice of Lear’s skills in the kitchen, and a business was born.

"I started promoting it to my teammates and it just went crazy,” Lear said. “I was doing three meals a day and then one day, it just blew up and it turned into like 20 meals a day."

Lear expanded her market — and pushed the bandwidth of her home-kitchen — to begin fueling professional track athlete Angie Annelus and Olympians Kyra Constantine and Rai Benjamin. What makes her meals unique, aside from the hours of research and a deep understanding of what works for athletes, is the influence of her family’s recipes. The soul food flavors shine through in everything from salmon coated with her painstakingly perfected seasoning blend to a turkey chili, inspired by her grandmother’s recipe.

"It’s not turkey chili that she makes, because she’s from New Orleans, so it has like 10 pounds of butter the way she makes it," Lear said. "But obviously, she makes chili and I was like, 'Oh, I'm gonna do this because I want this type of flavor to really catch people's attention.'"

Lear is preparing to graduate with her Master's in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Entrepreneurship is a family tradition for the Lears, with Bailey joining her grandfather, dad and mom as the next generation of innovators.

"I think being a Black entrepreneur is just so important during this time because it shows other Black entrepreneurs that want to do the same thing," Lear said. "It's inspiring and honestly gives people that motivation."

Lear joins the growing number of Black female entrepreneurs in the country, drawing inspiration in business and sport from fellow Trojan and entrepreneur Allyson Felix. She hopes to be part of the change in seeing more Black women start their own businesses and serve as a strong role model on and off the track.

"That’s obviously what I want to be someday, having Good Eats for Elites be something so big, and just to inspire little Black young girls that nothing is impossible," Lear said.

Bailey Lear returns as a senior sprinter on the 2022 USC Track & Field team and will help the Women of Troy defend their NCAA championship. Click Here to learn more about the reigning national champions.