Baseball coach was told companies 'weren't in a position to hire a female.' She changed Rachel to Ray — and her inbox flooded
'You have the right name. You just didn't know it was a woman.'
Breaking into professional sports management requires an elite résumé and years of relentless networking. But even with top-tier credentials, one female coach faced a wall of silence until she realized her gender was holding her back. In a candid video posted by Justin Lima (@strength_coach_network) on October 24, 2026, Rachel Balkovec, now the Miami Marlins’ director of player development, shared how she beat hiring discrimination. She was told that companies 'weren’t in a position to hire a female,' leading her to change "Rachel" to "Ray" on her résumé. The clip has now gotten over 400,000 views and 19,500 likes.
The hard truth
The trouble started when a contact broke the news to her after a round of applications. "And he's like, 'We're not hiring a woman for this role,'" she recalled. She said one contact told her directly that they would not hire a woman for the role, confirming what she had already begun to suspect from the lack of responses. Despite her impressive track record with elite organizations, they simply refused to bring a female candidate onto their staff.
The name game
Frustrated by the systemic barrier, Rachel discussed the problem with her sister, Steph. Fearing that hiring directors were tossing her application without reading it, Steph offered a quick piece of advice. "Why don't you just change your name to Ray?" she suggested. Rachel decided to test the idea and updated her name on her resume. "Immediately, the response was insane," she said. Instead of total silence, her inbox was suddenly filled with responses from interested organizations.
Instant results
The ultimate proof came when an employer called her directly to discuss a job opening. Asking for "Ray," the hiring manager froze the second she answered the phone. "You just hear the ruffling of the papers or whatever in the background," Rachel noted, realizing the caller had no idea he was speaking to a woman. "He was like, 'Oh, I... I'm just checking to make sure I had the right name.' I'm like, 'You have the right name. You just didn't know it was a woman.'"
Women in sports
What Rachel faced is something very common in America these days. According to research conducted from July 11 - August 10, 2017, by the Pew Research Center, 42% of working women in the United States report experiencing gender-based discrimination on the job. Within male-dominated industries like sports, the discrimination is skyrocketing. A 2025 Women in Football of 867 people working in the industry found that 78% of female respondents had experienced workplace discrimination based on gender. Another 63.5% said they had encountered sexist jokes or banter, while more than 56% of women who reported gender discrimination said no action was taken afterward.
'Should've sued them for discrimination'
Netizens in the comment section are expressing outrage and sharing their own experiences with workplace hiring bias. Several commenters called for accountability, with user @matt_collins42 stating, "Should've sued them for discrimination". Another user, @jordannoel09 shared, "This is why I gave my daughter the middle name Ryan!." Meanwhile, user @jamie4est writes, "I think my unisex name has been helpful working in the outdoor industry. I hated it growing up, but I believe it ultimately helped me professionally."
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