13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

In this assignment, I will be talking about Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, and his memoir Shoe Dog. Not only have I read this book previously, but I've also watched countless documentaries on Phil Knight, so I know a lot about him. What surprised me most about Phil Knight was how normal he looked to me. He didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary when he first started Nike, but rather he was a normal person that could've been anyone. What I most admired about Phil was his creativity. The fact that he created the Nike shoe design by looking at waffles and putting it to the bottom of shoes was something that I thought was extraordinary. Also, I loved how Phil Knight never gave up. Whatever adversity he faced he came through with an open mind. In his book, he was quoted saying "“I’ve had a lot of people tell me, ‘We ... think he’s not going to make it." But Phil knew that he had a successful vision and a strategy so he never gave up. As I've said previously, the main competency that I noticed Phil had was his ability to create a strategy from the get-go and never lose faith in it. Above anything else, he had an enormous amount of confidence in his own plan, so he didn't let anyone tell him otherwise. One part of the reading that I thought was confusing was why Phil Knight didn't go into greater detail of how his time at the University of Oregon played a part in his entrepreneurial life. Writing this book from an entrepreneur's perspective, I feel like this would appeal to younger audiences more who are also trying to become an entrepreneur and look up to Phil as an idol. If he gave some tips, how to balance the school life and the entrepreneurial life, or even say what classes you should take while in school, I feel like this book could've been way more successful from an aspiring entrepreneur's perspective. If I was able to ask Phil Knight 2 questions, the first one would be "what made you expand from just running shoes to other sports as well?" Nike is a huge factor in the markets of soccer, basketball, and all other major sports. I would love to know from an entrepreneur's perspective of when is the best time to expand. The next question I'd ask is "how much do you think your college education affected your brand strategy and organizational skills?" I feel like these are two extremely essential things to keep in mind from an entrepreneur's point of view so an answer to both of these would prove essential in my career path. I feel like Phil Knight had a strict policy on hard work. In order to become a success, one must not only work hard, but never give up in the pursuit of their goal. Phil Knight faced heavy adversity and I feel like to do this and succeed, you must work extremely hard.