Lowey Bundy Sichol - From an Idea to Nike: How Marketing Made Nike a Global Success

Everything you need is already inside. Coach Bill Bowerman

The Knight familyPhil, his parents, and his twin sisters Joanne and Jeannelived in a big white house in a quiet suburb of Portland called Eastmoreland. Like his mother, Phil was very shy, an introvert. Absent-minded and often lost in his thoughts, Phil found comfort in one thingsports. Phils father also loved sports. In fact, it seemed that a passion for sports was the one thing Phil shared with his father. But William was relentless in his expectations, even when it came to his sons athletic activities. Phil felt that he was never able to please his father. Sometimes when Phil lost to his father in Ping-Pong, William laughed at him. This upset Phil so much that he would run out of the room in tears.

Over time, Phil became very competitive, perhaps because of his undying desire to make his father proud. Even at an early age, Phil did not like to lose. Once, when he and his cousin decided to play badminton in the backyard, Phil lost. Then he lost again. And again. Phil lost 115 times in a row and didnt give up. Ultimately, he beat his cousin in the 116th game.

As a young child, Phil believed hed grow up to become a professional baseball playeran accomplishment that would make his father very proud. But one day, Phil was cut from his high school baseball team. He was devastated, and sulked around the house for days. Finally, Phils mother insisted he pull himself together and try out for a new sport.

Like what? Phil asked helplessly.

How about track? You can run fast, his mother replied. Lota Knight was right. Phil could run fast. He tried out for the track team at Cleveland High School and not long after, the tall, thin blond was the number two runner in the state of Oregon.

Following high school, Phil attended the University of Oregon. He worked as a sports reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald newspaper and ran for the University of Oregon track team.

Phils coach was a legend, the most famous track coach in AmericaBill Bowerman. Usually dressed in a tweed blazer, sweater vest, and string tie, he was extremely tough on his runners but also very dedicated to them. People both feared him and loved him. Phil admired Coach Bowerman and once said, Besides my father there was no man whose approval I craved more, and besides my father there was no man who gave it less often.

There are 5,280 feet in a mile. It takes a six-foot-tall runner approximately 880 steps to run one mile. According to Coach Bowerman, if he shaved one ounce off each running shoe, that would remove fifty-five pounds of weight over the course of a mile.

Coach Bowerman was also known for inventing lighter and more shock-absorbent running shoes for his team. Obsessed with shaving ounces from each shoe, he would tear apart several running shoes and reattach certain sections to create a better, slicker version.