The high point for me was being able to complete the book at a time when life had blindsided me with a serious health issue. There were times when I thought I would never be able to meet my deadline, but I kept hearing three words over and over. “Just do it.” Most of you are familiar with the “Just Do It” advertising campaign that landed Nike a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institution. However, few of us have probably been able to incorporate the words into our own lives. As a teenager, I was inspired by every catch phrase that was aimed at making consumers feel invincible. Yet, I had long since forgotten about the “Just Do It” campaign until I embarked on the Nike project. I certainly never imagined the phrase would ever serve as a source of motivation for me to write a book about this incredible company. 

Sports celebrities like Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns made my job easier by being very accommodating in terms of answering my questions. Their responses about how Nike has inspired them were quite interesting and compelled me to be relentless in telling the story of how the company’s co-founders initiated their dream with a mere handshake. Of course, I did not realize as I was writing the book that I had something in common with the founders. In fact, completing the project while in the midst of what could have been a health catastrophe required me to exercise the same determination they used to propel their company to the top.

Fortunately, I have recovered, but the road was difficult. My book will forever be a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the indomitable power of focusing on a goal. Nike co-founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman epitomized this spirit when they refused to let naysayers thwart their dreams. Their persistence paid off tenfold with the creation of a company that continually outpaces its competitors by utilizing the most modern technology, developing the most innovative products, creating the most remarkable advertising campaigns, and endorsing the most well-known, and sometimes controversial, athletes.

It is my hope that the story of Nike will unleash the necessary passion to help readers pursue their own dreams. Writing the book was a saving grace that has made me a firm believer in another less popular, but just as profound, Nike catch phrase – “There is no finish line.” Each project and every experience should be considered stepping stones not to the end, but to our next journey because there truly is no finish line. There is always one more hurdle to surmount.

--Tracy Carbasho, author of Nike (Greenwood, 8/2010)