Chryssa Zizos and Briana Scurry are new investors in the Washington Spirit. (Photo courtesy the couple)

Briana Scurry’s goalkeeper abilities are legendary in women’s professional soccer. She is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion and was a member of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team for 15 years. She was the only core team member who was African American and the only African-American player who was out.

Scurry suffered a career-ending concussion in an April 2010 hit playing for the Washington Freedom. The next three years of her life would be spent trying to receive recovery care through a worker’s compensation case. During those years, Scurry experienced depression, physical pain, and struggles maintaining steady employment. She finally received surgery at the end of 2013 to remove pea-size balls of damaged tissue from the back of her head.

Enter Chryssa Zizos, the founder of Live Wire Strategic Communications. An award-winning local PR firm that specializes in media relations, training programs, video production, and social media.

Together, they began the rebranding journey of Bri Scurry. What started as a business partnership would evolve into a life partnership. Scurry returned to her pro team, now the Washington Spirit, as an assistant coach and technical adviser for the Spirit Academy youth programs. Zizos would lead the Live Wire relationship with the Washington Spirit. The pair married in 2018.

Last month, D.C.’s National Women’s Soccer League team, the Washington Spirit, announced a new group of investors that includes Scurry, Zizos, Chelsea Clinton, Jenna Bush Hager and Dominique Dawes along with a diverse group of other individuals.

The Washington Blade sat down with Scurry and Zizos to catch up on the new venture.

Chryssa Zizos and Briana Scurry with their children. (Photo courtesy the couple)

Washington Blade: I would like to start by hearing what is occupying Bri’s time these days.

Briana Scurry: I am in the process of writing a book right now, but my main job from day to day is keynote speaking. I am speaking on concussion awareness and diversity leadership, essentially keynotes for corporations, organizations, universities, and other groups. I was in a movie last fall in Atlanta called “High Expectations,” which will be coming out either at the end of this year or early next year. There is also a documentary coming up and now we are investors for the Washington Spirit. There is a lot going on and it is not all soccer.

Blade: And how did the two of you meet?

Chryssa Zizos: A mutual friend of ours introduced us. Naomi and her wife Fran own TomboyX, which is an intimate apparel company for the LGBTQ community. I was the first investor in TomboyX outside of friends and family. One night at dinner they were telling me about Bri’s career and concussion and said, “is there any way that you could help her raise her profile in regards to the concussion?” Bri and I connected, and Live Wire took Bri on as a client. We worked together for many months and then over time, we became a little bit interested in each other. We were percolating (laughter).

Blade: All right, Bri, did you know that you were percolating?

Scurry: I did. I mean, I was in a really bad place though. My concussion saga is well-documented and at the time I was really struggling, psychologically and emotionally. The insurance company was blocking me at every turn to try to get the care I needed, and we figured that it would be a good idea to try to put some heat on them. That is when Naomi and Fran talked to Chryssa. I was very vulnerable, and I was very open about how bad things were. And I’ve been open ever since, I talk about it quite a bit. Chryssa was just such an amazing listener and she just was really making things happen for me and then things started to grow from there. I was in therapy for my concussion for over a year and was just in a state of trying to get healthy.

Zizos: We went to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Vancouver in 2015 and Bri did the Today show and we met Joe Biden when he was vice president. We just had the best time together and after we came home is when I introduced Bri to the kids. We have been together ever since.

Blade: Making your own magic at the World Cup. Very nice.

Scurry: Exactly.

Zizos: It was really important for me to take things slow and steady because I have two kids. I wanted to make sure that before I even mentioned Bri’s name, that it was something I felt really strongly about.

Blade: The actual courtship was three years before you were married?

Scurry: Yes, June 2018.

Blade: And Bri, you were working with the Spirit during those years?

Scurry: Yes. I was reintroduced to the Spirit when I moved back to the area. I was starting my journey, getting back from my concussion. We talked to Bill Lynch who was the owner of the Spirit at the time. And I clearly wasn’t quite ready to do all of that yet, but I was on my way and so we just wanted to touch base with him and then in 2018 is when I became the assistant coach.

Blade: Did you leave the D.C. area after the concussion and then come back?

Scurry: That’s a great question. So the concussion occurred in the WPS league and that’s when the Washington Freedom was the team. When they moved to Florida I went down to become the general manager of the MagicJack team, which was the new ownership. Then I lived in New Jersey for several years until I moved back here to be closer to my medical care.

Blade: There is a lot of crossover between the two of you, even beyond the initial connection. After you became a couple, how did that evolve?

Zizos: It’s been very interesting. I manage Bri’s career, Live Wire does all of her PR and we’re married. I am obviously very emotionally involved in it, so she has her own publicist at Live Wire, Patrick Renegar. As we go out and seek opportunities for her, Patrick is always involved in it and then I do all of the negotiating. It’s been really nice.

Scurry: Live Wire and Chryssa have done amazing things for me. I am so far along with my relevance in the space, my concussion rollout and becoming an advocate, along with my work in the LGBTQ community, in leadership and with the Women’s National Soccer Team. I was featured in the Hall of Fame in the African American museum.

Blade: Yes! The Game Changers exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. I watched the video rollout of you walking past Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Venus and Serena Williams. That must have been overwhelming.

Scurry: It’s very humbling. If you’ve been to the Smithsonian, it is so intense there, and to be seen as someone who helped my community, my people, my race, to elevate through my work. Chryssa handled all of that negotiation. She has been so instrumental. I’m so much further along in a place in my life now that I never thought I’d be, even better than before when I played, to be honest with you. I am so much happier. I have such greater depth and I have purpose deeper than I had before. And a lot of it is because of what she’s been able to do. It’s really helpful that we are able to separate our relationship as each other’s wives with the business side, because it is difficult a lot of times for people to do both. She mapped out how we would do it methodically, going through all the evolutions and recreation of me. Now I’m doing movies. All this stuff I never thought I would do.

Zizos: And it’s helped Live Wire too. I mean, having Bri as a client, all of our clients love that we’re married. I started Live Wire 23 years ago and I was afraid to tell anybody I was even gay when I first started the company. And now when I’m introducing myself, I always say, “And I’m married to…” It’s an ice breaker and it’s fun. Now that we’re investors in the Washington Spirit we’ll be bringing clients to all the games. It’s really helped both of our careers in a very positive way. I also feel like from our perspective, we spend a lot of time talking about our work together and I love it. Bri was on MSNBC this morning doing an interview and then we played it back and I was media training her afterwards.

Blade: Does that mean you’re the task master?

Zizos: Yeah.

Scurry: It’s interesting I don’t know if this is because I would be able to just mentally compartmentalize things in my whole life, but I don’t take what she says in the defensive posture. It’s not my wife telling me at that moment. It’s my manager telling me, and that’s her specialty. It’s media and messaging. And she’s like, “Bri you did a great job, but what if you had done this?” And I’m like, “Oh, well, that’s brilliant.” Of course, the next time I’ll incorporate it, which is part of my ability to be coachable, and also for her that I’m coachable, that I’m willing to receive her input. She is the expert.

Blade: Let’s hear something outside of work and media and rebranding. What else have you connected on as people, as wives?

Zizos: Well, we love to travel. We got married in Saint Lucia and Jade mountain is one of our favorite places to visit. We own a beautiful home in Alexandria and we just built a pool. Almost every night when I get home from work, Bri is here and she has a bottle of wine open, and she has Pandora playing. Bri’s the sous, she does the craft for all the food. Then I get home and we start cooking. I try to get home by six every night and then by eight o’clock we’re having a gourmet meal together. We love to have friends over. Many of our friends are in the business, so either clients or former clients or associates.

Scurry: Or former players or teammates.

Blade: Let’s talk about your new roles as Washington Spirit investors. You both already had a relationship with the team, and here we are again with something that weaves the two of you together. It’s been great to watch celebrities and different types of people get involved in sports franchises, but it always feels like they’re just there in name. This feels different for some reason.

Zizos: It is.

Blade: What do you expect your role to be beyond the fact that people now know you are investors?

Zizos: Bri has individual roles that she can tell you about. I have individual roles and then we have roles together.

Scurry: For me, this is an amazing opportunity because it helps me come full circle. I went from someone who played in a league to someone who coached in the league and now I’m in an investor group for the same team. The fact that I’m able to do it with my wife makes it that much more amazing for me. And it’s something that I’m really looking forward to. My experience as being a pro and somebody who could maybe mentor, which I’m doing with Spirit player Trinity Rodman. When they get back from Florida, working with her and the players and helping them become better pros, but also with the community. I want the DMV community to get to know the team and become part of the fabric of what the Washington Spirit is and to help us connect the two. I think that’s my two main roles. I think with the investor group, all of us have expertise in a certain area. And the cool thing, like you said, is that it’s not just about the money, it’s about the contribution of the skill set to the team as well.

Zizos: And then from my perspective, Live Wire is working with the Spirit. We did the investor group roll out with their internal team. It was a very coordinated, strategic effort. We’re working on a couple of different projects and we just produced a video. We might be producing, hopefully a second one. And then together, Bri and I are the hostesses of the investor suite on game day. On game day, Bri and I will be welcoming all the investors and sponsors in the suite at Audi Field.

Blade: On every game day?

Zizos: Every game day. We’ll be welcoming the other investors, playing matchmaker and introducing them to each other as well as the sponsors. And then Bri will have MC responsibilities on game day.

Blade: What is the MC role?

Scurry: When a game ends, the MC talks to the fans and says, thank you for coming and please come next time. That kind of thing, just chatting with the fans that way.

Blade: You mentioned hosting other investors. Do they have an obligation to attend games?

Zizos: No. But I’ve had many conversations with the investors, and I know a lot of them are planning on being there. In fact, Assia Grazioli Venier, who we just had breakfast with on Thursday morning, she’s flying here from LA for every home game. One of the beautiful things that Steve Baldwin did with this was, he picked people that didn’t want to just invest money but wanted to play a role. Every investor is bringing opportunity to the table for the club, which I think is really special. So it’s not just a PR play here. I mean, everyone who’s an investor is really, truly not only financially, but emotionally and physically invested in the team.

Blade: Do you feel like there are still things to be healed from the bad press related to Bill Lynch?

Zizos: I think it’s time to move on and time to move forward. And there’s so many good things that the team is doing. And Bill is a really good guy. We’ve known Bill for years. I adore him. I trust him. I like him. Did I say I respect him? Because I really respect him. And I consider him a personal friend of ours.

Scurry: Yeah, I like Bill too, and I really love what Steve Baldwin has done. He came on in 2019 and revolutionized the team and brought it up a level of professionalism that it needed. And now this investor group was just born out of COVID essentially. He’s really done some great things to elevate the team to new levels.

Blade: The Washington Spirit is leaving the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds for Audi Field and Segra Field. Thoughts?

Scurry: I think it’s time to bring the team home to all the DMV. Audi Field is going to be way more central for everyone and it makes it a lot fairer. I think that the soccer community out in Boyds, all the teams that play there are more than welcome to continue to support the team in any way they can. And I think it’s important.

Zizos: Washington, D.C. is a power city. We have some serious power players on our team and now we have power investors on the team. It’s a very powerful movement. Washington, D.C. is welcoming the team and Audi Field is going to be a fantastic place. I think that it demonstrates the excitement that this city has for this team.

Scurry: Also, the thing I loved about Boyds was the intimacy, but we couldn’t hold over 5,000 fans. It wasn’t possible. And if you’re going to really elevate the team to a new level and have it not only be a big sports team in D.C., but also, internationally potentially, you really need a bigger stadium.

Blade: Did the investor group happen fast, or have you been sitting on this information for a while?

Scurry: So we started talking to Bill and Steve before 2019. We were already connected with the team at that point, but then the investor group idea, I think really started to come into fruition during the pandemic. I think the seeds of it were starting before, because Steve had built that momentum from 2019 and he was going to try to broaden the diversity and also the interest in involvement in the team with more people. And then the pandemic just kind of slammed it. But then that allowed him to be able to really transform the idea and move it forward. I feel like it accelerated it.

Zizos: I mean, they came to our house, both Bill and Steve together and individually many times to speak. Three times?

Scurry: Yeah.

Zizos: Three times to speak with us and we were the first to commit and write the check. I think that created some positive momentum and excitement and I think they were really excited to have Bri.

Blade: Where do you see yourselves in five years with this project?

Scurry: Oh, wow. That’s a great question. I really feel like the team can become an internationally known property at a level that’s been not seen before.

Zizos: I think five years is probably aggressive, but 10 years I think is on the horizon. It’s going to be phenomenal. And I think we’re going to make a lot of money on this investment.

Blade: Good, that’s the best answer yet.

Zizos: I just love what we’re doing together. We’re doing some really cool things professionally together, and we have an amazing family too. My kids, her step-kids, call Bri their bonus mom. One is 18 and she’s going to Duke next year. The other is 14 and he’ll be a freshman in high school next year.

Scurry: They are awesome.

Blade: This has been a great conversation. You are both amazing role models for so many different communities.

Scurry: Thank you.

Zizos: Thanks.