Hi my name is Phil Knight. I created Nike almost single-handedly with some help from my running coach at Oregon University. He gave me new shoe ideas and helped me sell the shoes!

First I'll tell you why I wanted to get into the shoe business with my running coach. I wanted to get into the shoe business after the project I did on shoes when i was in second year university and I found out that less than half the people I surveyed did not like the shoe options they had then!

So, to get motivated, I really wanted to fly around the world and have a meeting with a shoe distributor. I didn't want to do it alone so I took my friend with me too keep me company. When we got to the Bahamas, he liked it there too much and didn't come to our next stop on our tour. Instead, he stayed in the Bahamas.

So, I had to finish my world tour without him found spots i would go back to like Japan. When i made it to China to discuss a shoe deal with Onitsuaka Tiger, I wasn't prepared and had to make up a name for my shoes on the spot and I chose Blue Ribbon Sports, just like Onitsuka's shoes that look like they have ribbons on the side.

Onitsuka Tiger said they would send me a pair of prototypes for $45. Right as I finished the interview, I called my dad and asked him to send a check for $45 to Onitsuka. It took 3 long months to get the 40 shoes. As soon as I put them on I knew they could get better so i called my track coach at Oregon university, Bill Bowerman.

Let's talk about Bill. Bill loved shoes and being a track coach but would still experiment on my shoes because I wasn't their best runner. So, if he broke my shoes by accident, the good runners could still run their race. But, if he did a really good job on my shoes he would do the same to the good runners' shoes. When I brought him my 40 Onitsuka shoes, he wanted in!