New Mexico woman designs shoes for sports stars

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A woman from New Mexico is just starting her career but she’s already making her mark on the sports world working with legends. Lacey Trujillo is on a first-name basis with some of the biggest tennis stars in the world. “Serena and Naomi and Rafael, so it’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Trujillo said.

Trujillo grew up in Fruitland, New Mexico, in between Farmington and Shiprock. She left home to chase her childhood dream of designing shoes like the Nike ones Michael Jordan wore. At just 25, Trujillo landed a job at Nike and three years later, she now works directly with all-stars who choose to wear her designs on the world stage.

She designed shoes like the hot pink pair Naomi Osaka wore when she won the 2020 U.S. Open. “I’ve been with Naomi since she signed onto Nike,” Trujillo said. She also designed the neon zip-ups Rafael Nadal wore when he won his 12th French Open in 2019.

Sometimes, even both opponents are wearing Trujillo’s designs like when Maria Sharapova went up against Serena Williams at the 2019 U.S. Open. “It was cool to see both of them wearing my shoes on court. That was a huge moment,” Trujillo said.

Another huge moment for Trujillo was when the pandemic hit. Nike shut down its Oregon campus and Trujillo moved back in with her parents finding new design inspiration back home. “I’ve been getting a lot of inspiration from the land,” Trujillo said.

At home, she and her parents get to watch tennis matches together and it’s helped her be even more proud of all she’s accomplished. Trujillo wants to work her way up at Nike and ultimately, design shoes inspired by her Native American heritage. Right now, she speaks to a lot of middle and high school kids, encouraging them to chase their dreams.