The notion that sports is a relationship business has been repeated so often it has become one of those truths that is both obvious and useless — obvious because everyone knows it, useless because knowing it does not actually help you get into the room where the relationships are being formed.

The GIST, the women-led sports media company based in Toronto, is now attempting to address that gap with a new platform called The Call Up, which transforms what had been a women's sports business newsletter into something more ambitious: a career resource for women trying to enter or advance in an industry that remains, by most measures, considerably more welcoming to men.

The revamped offering, which began publishing in early October, includes a free twice-weekly newsletter, dedicated social media channels and a podcast called "How I Got The Call Up," hosted by The GIST co-founders Ellen Hyslop and Jacie deHoop. Recent podcast guests have included Kirby Porter, the chief business officer of Unrivaled, and Susie Piotrkowski, the ESPN vice president for women's sports programming and espnW.

Ms. Hyslop said the initiative grew from questions The GIST regularly fielded from its audience about how, precisely, one gets into sports — a question that has no single answer and many wrong ones. The company conducted surveys and focus groups and found that existing career resources often skewed toward senior executives or were concentrated in particular cities (which is to say, not everywhere else).

"We've been pushing for fans and the product to have this level playing field," Ms. Hyslop said, "but the reality is on the business side of things, there isn't a level playing field."

The Tuesday newsletter will cover industry news; the Thursday edition will offer job listings, book recommendations and professional development advice. Ms. Hyslop described the current version as being in its "MVP stage," with events planned for 2027 and mentorship programming under consideration.

She likened The Call Up to "your big sister who's helping you get that next job." Whether the industry is ready to be a better sibling remains, as always, the open question.

Original story published in sportsbusinessjournal.com: "The GIST expands newsletter into career resource for women across sports, launches podcast"