If You Ever Get The Chance To Go To Nike HQ, Just Do It.
Maybe it's just a mid-life crisis...averted.
I’ve spent the better part of the last 6 months trying to figure out what to do with my life. That may sound dramatic, but being laid off for the first time in my life, combined with moving to a smaller city last year, and generally becoming more of a recluse since the rollercoaster of living through five years of 2020, really set me up for the mental gymnastics of a mid-life crisis. Thankfully, I crawled out of my comfort zone and recently met up with some incredible people in Portland, Oregon that reminded me why I love sneakers. It’s the people. It always has been.
While I don’t think my work, or my obsession with sneakers defines me, it’s heavily influenced what I talk about and who I connect with through creating content. It’s not a bad thing. But oftentimes, I’m the person people ask for connections, introductions, or to find the inside scoop on people they are looking to hire in the footwear industry. In a lot of ways, it’s what I’ve manifested in this crazy journey that sneakers have carried me through.
I measure my own success by the amount of opportunities that I can help create for others.
So, it’s not a surprise that people ask me for support or call me when they need someone to listen to them get through a challenging situation. It’s a part of fulfilling my purpose as a human being and in most cases, it helps me feel fulfilled. It helps me feel Grounded.
After being laid off, however, I find myself helping other people when I really need to be helping myself. It’s led me to question a lot of the things that I never have. Why do have hundreds of shoes? Do any of these people actually give a shit about me? Are sneakers such a focal point in my life that they are actually the problem?
Thankfully, I realized the answers to those questions and maybe even the questions themselves aren’t really relevant to what I have been going through. I just needed a reminder of what really mattered.
In fact, I was reminded how amazing some of the people I’ve met and the people like you that subscribe to my newsletter really are thanks to my aforementioned trip to Portland.
A few months back, I got a message from my friend, Andrew. He was working with a handful of people to put together a series of events in the Portland area, including a trip to Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, a top secret event at TedxPortland, and a couple of small private events with the potential for some “special guests” in attendance. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to Nike, and I had heard amazing things about the new buildings and modernization that took place during the pandemic. While I was absolutely interested, I was hesitant.
The past 6 months have given my mind endless excuses to not participate in life. That said, after a conversation with my girl, she talked some sense into me and made me realize this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.
I decided that I would drive to Portland. It’s about 12 hours from where I live, but if you know me, you know I absolutely love road trips. I also lived in Oregon as a kid, and have a lot of, um, “interesting” memories from that time of my life. So I decided to head up the coast and camp on the way there. That’s a whole deep dive that needs to be unpacked another day.
I arrived at Nike campus in Beaverton to see a handful of familiar faces and even more people that I didn’t recognize. It didn’t take long to I realize that I’d known some of folks there based on their avatars from Instagram, or even from long ago on the ISS Forums or NikeTalk.
I’ve never been interested in working for Nike. Nothing against the brand, they’re the best in the business. For me, though, sneakers are more about the bringing of people together from all different backgrounds and passions. So for work, I’ve always chosen to not work directly for any brand, that way I can continue to work with many different brands when the opportunities arise. However, as a sneakerhead, there is nothing quite as inspiring as getting to spend a day on Nike’s campus.
The countless athletes that have inspired so many people. The insane amount of shoes that we all share memories of. The stories of triumph, both for the names plastered on the buildings around campus, and from those people that worked so hard to create the products and bring them to market, deserve to be celebrated time and time again. That’s where this trip brought me back to my roots and reminded me of what sneakers mean to me.
That evening, at the future Beaverton home of Deadstock Coffee, dozens of sneaker enthusiasts and industry professionals gathered to celebrate the stories and shared passion that brought all of us together in the beginning.
There wasn’t anyone trying to resell pairs. There wasn’t the inherent disconnect of social media conversations. There wasn’t any of the frustrations of an app telling you the memories you were willing to pay for aren’t available because they’re sold out. There wasn’t anyone trying to hustle and grind or get the exclusive story in order to be the first to post.
It was a moment in time that freed all of us from those things that have buried the joy we once found from sneakers. It was a bunch of nerds like me, connecting with other people who shared that same nerdiness that helped make sneakers what it is today. It was a reminder that even the big names we’ve been convinced are bigger than life, like Aaron Cooper, Wilson Smith, and Tinker Hatfield, are all just regular people who share this insane passion for sneakers, and they reminded me that the inspiration for the entire world of sneakers is circular. The people inspire the stories, the stories inspire the people, and the products carry the memories, but not without the passion of the people like you who are reading this.
It felt full circle for me.
I needed this reminder.
The experience has me re-energized to get back to telling the stories and celebrating the people that have helped make sneakers an indelible mark on my soul. So, expect a random sneaker photo from me and some kind words to let you know I appreciate you in the near future. And please…let me know the stories that matter to you, so I can help share them with others.
-Nick
✌️+ ❤️ + 🌯
For more photos from the event check out my Instagram and on Sneaker History.
Also, HUGE thank you to Greg & Sara for letting me crash at their place. Love y’all! ❤️