NIKE Meeting

My first reaction to the Nike headquarters is that it's absolutely huge, probably bigger than many college campuses. We only had 2 hours there because we had to fly back to Seattle, and in that time only got around two floors of one building, Jerry Rice. *The pictures below were grabbed from the net because I was a bit busy to take any myself, so my apologies.

The week before I called [Wordwide] Wes just letting him know I was going to Nike, but I never knew who I would be meeting with from Nike to tell him. On Wednesday, the day before my meeting, he apparently called one of his many contacts at Nike, Yuron, and told him, "I've got this kid you gotta meet..." And then he proceeded to tell Yuron about me. When Wes said Tyler Way, Yuron said he paused, and thought that name sounded familar...then Yuron told Wes in a bit of disbelief, "I think I'm meeting with him tomorrow..." For Wes, the most powerful man in sports, to offer a recommendation to Nike, let alone the same guy I was meeting with the next day, could be nothing but an answered prayer.

We got dropped off in front of the Jerry Rice building, and then Yuron, the Global Footwear Product Director of Nike Basketball, met us in the lobby & told me my name proceeded itself - that's when he told me the story with Wes. He then took us up to the Basketball offices and gave the tour introducing us (Terry Davenport, CMO of Starbucks, and I) to everyone in the office. We went into the main conference room where they make all the presentations, signings, and deals with the players from Kobe, to Lebron, and everyone else in between - it was the sickest board room I've ever seen. He also showed the exclusive Olympic pack each player on the USA Men's team received. After the tour, we met in the conference room with the design team for Lebron. They shared the overall process of designing the next great basketball shoe from where the inspiration comes from to the technology they use - which was amazing to get that inside look into what & how they do what Nike does.

The Global Product Director of the Jordan brand then took us to the Jordan offices on another floor. She gave us the tour introducing us to everyone part of the Jordan; she even pulled Howard White, the Vice President of the Jordan brand, out of a meeting to introduce us. We were also taken into the "Secret Closet" where they keep all the samples of the future Jordan shoes - she was even able to give me a pair! After the tour of Jordan, we went back to the conference room where they had more people waiting for me to meet.

I showed them all the work I've done & the players I've worked with, and their entire team was very excited about it all. We spent a little time talking about T.WayCustoms, and I had presented the proposal book I had put together with the numerous ideas of how & what tWc can make even Nike better. This part is to be continued as we'll work on different options of how this can happen - but before we had to depart Yuron said we'll definately be in contact & for now they may send out some sneakers to be worked. But like I said, this portion of the program is to be continued...Before we left though, they absolutely hooked both Terry and I up with shoes, shorts, shirts, socks, bags, etc. Let's just say they took such great care of me I had to ship everything back from Seattle to Detroit because there was no way I'd be able to fly back with it. In a couple more days when everything gets in I'll be sure to post & share. So stay posted for much more!