“I grew up in a family of athletes, and I knew the power of sport,” she said.

Ms. Nassif began advising Ms. Hussein on a volunteer basis, as did a couple of other businesswomen. “What are you good at? What do you have time for?” were her initial questions for Ms. Hussein, she said.

The two biggest challenges to Ms. Hussein’s success, as Ms. Nassif saw it, were time and money constraints. She felt strongly that Asiya needed to be the first to market in the United States, which would require the company to raise capital.

“If you look at any category, the first three players get to own the shelf,” she said. “The shelf in the retail store, or the shelf in the consumer’s mind. It’s really important to be one of the leaders.”

Getting any product to market quickly requires focus, and often entrepreneurs get in their own way. “I call it falling in love with yourself,” Ms. Nassif said. “A lot of people get so enraptured with their idea that they can’t actually put their head down and get the work done.”

While Ms. Hussein understood the product, she would need a partner who could help figure out how to sell it. By putting out feelers at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, Ms. Nassif found an M.B.A. student named Jamie Glover who was interested in teaming up with Ms. Hussein. Ms. Glover had spent a decade working in marketing, at 3M and at a local advertising agency. She had also played on her college’s varsity softball and volleyball teams.

Once she agreed to join forces with Ms. Hussein, they officially started Asiya. The company researched fabrics and had the participants in Ms. Hussein’s Girls gym program test prototypes.

“Not only did it need to be a sweat-wicking, breathable performance fabric, but because it’s on your face and neck, it had to be very lightweight, soft and stretchy,” Ms. Glover said, adding that they were determined to find an American manufacturer.