13A Reading Reflection

You read about an entrepreneur:

Shoe Dog By: Phil Knight

·       What surprised me the most was how long it took for him to get the company off and running. As an outsider, and someone who knows who Phil Knight is and what Nike is to date, I would not have imagined that the company would have taken so long to take off. I was surprised that it took so long for people to invest in a company that was selling shoes, especially because back then the only other competitor was Adidas, and now Nike is arguably better than Adidas. I was surprised that it took so long for people to invest and for Nike to officially take off.

·       What I most admired about Phil Knight was his passion for selling shoes. Throughout the book he writes from year to year, and what each year possessed. I admired his determination from year to year and how he never gave up on his dream, regardless how no one believed in him and his business. From when the bank told him he would not make it, to his father not signing as his guarantor, he never gave up on his business. I admired this because he was passionate about his dream, and regardless of what other people believed, he had so much passion for his company and that is what I most admired.

·       The thing I least admired about Knight was his relaxed demeanor about his company. I enjoyed that he stuck with it, but I did not like how he did not live and breathe for his company, much like his first full-time employee did. He described how much he felt like Nike, or Blue Ribbon, would make it, yet he got annoyed with the one person who lived and breathed for his product, Johnson.

·       Knight definitely faced adversity, much like almost every entrepreneur does. The bank told him that he was not welcomed, did not get money from his father, and stopped receiving letters from his partners in Japan. Yet, he did not let any of these things dissuade him from following his dreams and making shoes for everyone. He did not listen to anything anyone said, especially when it would have been so easy for him to quit and use his education to make a solid career for himself. Rather, he stuck with his passion and pushed through it.

2) Knight’s biggest competency he displayed was his drive for selling his shoes. He showed passion, along with lifestyle for his company, because he refused to let anyone tell him no. Even though he goes on to get another job while also working for Nike, he never quits. He shows how his passion is the driving force for him selling shoes, especially when he compares to selling shoes to selling encyclopedias. He shows that he loves to sell shoes for people, and that was what made him so successful.

3) One thing that was confusing was his timeline. I understood that he wanted to go to Japan and travel the world while giving his pitch, yet the beginning when he discusses his timeline really confuses me, mostly because he is all over the country, yet doing nothing pertaining to Nike.

4) Why did you think that your idea of a Japanese style shoe, especially during a time so close to war, was something that would make it in the world? And allow you to make money? Now that you know what your business today is (one of the greatest, well-known companies in the world) did you ever know/ imagine what it would be today? What was the “aha” moment for you when you realized it would be what it is?

5) I think Knight’s idea of hard work aligned directly with passion. Throughout the book he often describes how he did not like selling things, and was not good at it, but this shoe thing came easy and he accredits it to passion. The shoes, following the entire company, were driven behind Knight’s passion of running and he often references this throughout the book. He viewed his company and job more as a hobby, and something that did not require work because it was fun to him and this I believe is what his idea of hard work was: finding something you are so passionate about it does not seem like work. I too share this opinion because I feel like it is important to find something you are passionate it about and then making a career out of it. I feel like if you do this, then you will change the world. Things come easy when you care about them, and you are often willing to go above and beyond when you are passionate about something, which is the ultimate driving force for hard work.