Spiking Stereotypes: Kayla Simmons Empowering Sports, Media & Beauty

NCAA volleyball standout. Social media phenomenon. Now, a genuine media voice. Kayla Simmons is changing what it means to be an athlete in public.

Kayla Simmons played volleyball at High Point University. But it was what happened outside the gym that changed her trajectory. A few Instagram posts went viral. Then more. Suddenly she had an audience of millions who knew her face before they knew her vertical leap. The question was what to do with that.

Taking Control of the Narrative

A lot of female athletes with Kayla's combination of achievement and attractiveness get pushed into a lane: show up, look great, stay quiet. Kayla decided early on that wasn't going to work for her.

"I worked incredibly hard to be good at volleyball. I'm not going to let anyone reduce that to how I look in a swimsuit — even when I'm the one in the swimsuit."

She's been vocal about the double standard in how female athletes are covered. Her social media presence actively resists this framing, leading with athletic work and building context around lifestyle content.

What's Next

Kayla has been quietly building toward a media presence extending well beyond Instagram — developing content around sports, women in athletics, and the intersection of beauty and achievement. Territory that doesn't have many established voices yet. We think she's going to fill it very well.