Everything kind of comes together and culminates within an individual category.
Because you manage everything between designers, developers, product line managers, sports, marketing, brand. I think running a category at Nike is one of the absolute, most incredible jobs that you can have. I was the global director for tennis two different times in my career. What kind of stuff did you do within the tennis category?
I know at Nike you had worked on tennis products. Instead of risking it or gobbling up Kizik, Nike decided to invest in Kizik and license the hands-free tech from the brand. When Nike went to launch FlyEase, it came across Kizik and realized the brand already owned most of the technology that Nike had tried to invent. Kizik specializes in hands-free footwear and owns many of the patents tied to the technology. In recent times, we’ve seen a rise in the popularity of the Nike Go FlyEase, a slip-on shoe that gained notoriety not just for its looks, but also because it was snatched up by resellers and many thought it was unfair to profit off a shoe intended for people with disabilities.īut what if I told you that Nike doesn’t make the FlyEase shoes all by itself? That’s where Kizik comes into play. The FlyEase story goes even further back to when Nike’s first employee, Jeff Johnson, had a stroke and then-CEO Mark Parker and designer Tobie Hatfield wanted to create footwear that Johnson could put on himself. The technology solving those needs gained attention in the public eye in 2015 when Nike launched its first FlyEase sneaker, a LeBron Soldier 8 that was inspired by Matthew Walzer, a 16-year-old with cerebral palsy. There are also kids who can’t tie their shoes yet or parents on the go who prefer a lace-free sneaker. Whether someone was born with a disability that prevents them from completing everyday tasks or experienced an injury that limits their mobility, there are plenty of people who need footwear that’s easier to put on. And for some people it’s an impossible task. Putting a sneaker on your foot can be the hardest part of wearing shoes.
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