Letter #220: Elliott Hill (2023)
Nike CEO | The NIKE Empire
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Elliott Hill is the President and CEO of Nike. Prior to becoming President and CEO, Elliott was retired—pre-retirement, he held 14 different positions at Nike over 31 years. He started as an Intern, Apparel Sales Representative, then moved onto Sales, Sports Graphics, Team Sales, Sales Representative, Sales Management, Director, Team Sports Division, Vice President, EMEA Sales and Retail, VP and GM, USA Retail, VP, USA Commerce. He then become VP, Global Retail, VP and GM, North America, President, Geographies & Sales, President, Geographies & Integrated Marketplace, and President, Consumer & Marketplace.
Today’s letter is the transcript of an interview with Elliott Hill. In this conversation, Elliott tells JW Wilson about growing up in Texas, getting involved in sports, going to TCU, becoming a trainer for the Dallas Cowboys, going to Ohio University for grad school, and getting his foot in the door at Nike. He then reflects on his journey at Nike, starting with the origins and explosion of the Just Do It campaign, his beginnings as an apparel salesman, meeting Phil Knight, and meeting and working with Michael Jordan. He then discusses the movie Air and whether it was accurate, his relationship with Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine’s legacy, Bo Jackson as a person, meeting and befriending Tony Dorsett, what Charles Barkley is like as a human, Lebron as a person, athletes as businesspeople and brand builders, and whether any athletes were pains in the ass. He then returns to business, sharing how Nike made the swoosh so iconic, partnering with TCU, and the development of Nike University, before moving onto more memories, including whether he enjoyed what his work, Nike’s team-first environment, Nike’s innovation labs, whether humans have reached the end of their development, his favorite sports events, his relationship with Lance Armstrong, a story around MJ’s famous flu game, receiving a community leadership award, whether he ever reconciled with his dad, the memorabilia auction he held for charity, any regrets he has, the most inspirational people in his life, his baseball team, his approach to philanthorpy, and the best day of his life.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
[Transcript and any errors are mine.]
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Transcript
Host: Welcome to Fortitude, everyone. JW Wilson, and today we have a very special guest, one of the cooler guys we've had in studio, one of the nicer guys we've had in studio. He's got a hell of a story. Welcome to show. Mr. Elliot Hill.
Elliott Hill: I appreciate it. Hopefully I live up to the feeling of being one of the cooler guys on the show.
Host: Those of you who don't know will know here quickly, but this man, he was--he's retired now--former President of Consumer and Marketplace at Nike for 32 years. He worked at Nike, retired in 2020--
Elliott Hill: Yeah, right in the middle of covid.
Host: You're in charge of 190-ish countries, you told me, during your time there. We're grateful for your time, Elliot. I've known you for a little bit of time, but your story goes way back. Let's, if we can, let's jump back to the beginning and we'll race forward. This is--patiently as we can. You're born in Austin--
Elliott Hill: Yes. First of all, appreciate you having me, and appreciate everybody out there that's listening to the story. Yeah, born in Austin, raised by a single mom who was a school teacher. I think my father left when I was three and a half, and so she raised me and my sister by herself. Never dated, never remarried. I told her when she got older, why don't you date? She goes, Because I don't want to be a nurse or purse for anyone. But anyway, so my mom raised me in Austin. Went to Austin Reagan High School, just a nice, hardworking blue collar neighborhood, and I think an incredible way to grow up. My mom set an unbelievable example for me in terms of commitment to her family and work ethic, etc.
Host: Aside from the fact that your dad was not around, happy childhood?
Elliott Hill: Oh, I had an unbelievable--I think everybody back in those days, in the 60s and 70s, I mean, it was carefree. We hopped on our bikes and we all hung out together, and there was a park not too far from my house that had a rec center and a swimming pool, and I spent a lot of time there with me and my buds, and a lot of touch football and wiffle ball and swimming. And yeah, it was a incredible neighborhood to grow up in. Super blessed. Sports was definitely a big part of my life, and the neighborhood's life, and all the kids in my neighborhood, that's for sure.
Host: Austin Reagan High School, you said, would take you on to TCU. Lucky for us. You became a Horned Frog.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. I played sports up to high school. Played baseball through high school. I wasn't good enough to play D1 sports, and I knew I wanted to go to a D1 school, and so TCU--I had no business going to TCU, financially, but pieced together a little bit of academic, a little bit of financial, need-based, some athletic--I worked as an athletic trainer--and then some work-study. And it helped me afford to go to TCU. And I'll tell you this--when I went to school there, my world completely changed, because I didn't realize people live the way that a lot of the students that I engaged with at TCU. And so it was a wonderful, wonderful four years.
Host: Fair. And as a trainer, then you went moved on to a higher level of that. The Cowboys, you said, right?
Elliott Hill: Yeah. There's a story behind that one. But I applied for four different jobs coming out of TCU, and I did--I thought I was gonna go to med school--I was so far along with my classes, I went ahead and finished my degree in kinesiology, and I interviewed to sell life insurance, interviewed to do commercial real estate, interviewed to work in the development office at TCU asking people for money. And I didn't get any of the three jobs. And the fourth job was to be a third trainer, a graduate assistant trainer with the Dallas Cowboys. And I kind of went thinking, There's no way I'm going to get this job, and walked in, I interviewed with the head trainer, assistant trainer, Tex Schramm, Tom Landry, Gil Brandt. And I ended up getting the job. And I started working for them the day after I graduated from TCU in May of 1986. Amazing experience.
Host: Wow. Not where you wanted to be in life, though. You weren't planning on being a trainer for a long time--
Elliott Hill: No. It was one of those things, and I think the message for everybody here, and we all have these moments in our lives where a door opens up and you choose to enter that door. In this in this case, it happened to be the Dallas Cowboys. I knew I didn't want to be an athletic trainer--or at least I didn't think I wanted to be an athletic trainer my entire life--but what it did do is open up my world of sports. And I knew I wanted to be around sports, and there's no question that moved helped me, because I got introduced to a number of individuals that ultimately helped me go to--I didn't even know--internet didn't exist back then. I didn't know about this grad school in Ohio where you can get a degree in sports administration. And it was the Cowboys that picked up the phone, introduced me to them, asked them to send me information, and help me ultimately get into school at Ohio University.
Host: And you got your masters from Ohio, graduated 88 from there. Something happened in Ohio that obviously led to the next major step in your life.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. And again, I think--real quick on the Cowboys, and then I'll jump into Ohio. I think for everybody, there are these moments that define--the Cowboys continued to open my world up. I'd never seen Washington DC, New York City, I'd never seen Denver. We got to play in the very first America's bowl in London against the Bears in 1986. It was after the Bears had come off winning the Super Bowl. We spent 10 days in London, and my world just goes Okay, I want more and more of that. So then I go to Ohio and I take a sports marketing class, and I do a paper on Nike, literally just by chance. I love the brand, the product, and so I write this paper on Nike, and it was about the evolution of their marketing funds. They started doing athletes first and then print, and then started to move into some TV. So I did this paper, and by chance, a month or so later, a guy from Nike comes to the university. A guy by the name of Tim Joyce comes to speak to the university. And I went up to him after and I just said, Hey, I want to work for Nike. And he said, if you want to work for Nike, meet me tomorrow morning at this cafe. I put my suit on, and went down there and met with him, and--there's a whole story behind that, but I bothered him for for about six months, until he finally hired me. He called me on a Friday--I remember I called him, and I said to him, Mr. Joyce, everybody in my class has a job except me. And I'm holding out. I have opportunities, but I'm holding out because I want to work for you. And until you tell me no, I'm going to keep calling you. If you tell me no right now, that you're not going to hire me, I'll never call you again. He said, Give me a day. He calls me back, and this was on a Friday, and I was working the Memorial golf tournament in Dublin, Ohio, and he said, Can you be in Memphis on Monday? I said, I'll be there. This is on a pay phone. Hung up the phone, went and told my bud I got to leave, because I was working there, and drove back to Athens, packed everything up I owned in one little car, and drove to Memphis, Tennessee. I started working June 1 of 1988.
Host: 88. So for those who don't know the bigger picture of Nike, you entered in 1988. By then, Nike had become a public company, around 1980. So it's not a small animal by any stretch of the imagination. But in 1988 Elliot, when you show up, are you an intern, or, what happened?
Elliott Hill: Yeah. Well, I thought I had a job. I show up, first day, I meet with Tim, and he says to me, he goes, Hey, I've been thinking about this. This will be a great internship for you, because after six months, if it doesn't work out, we can kind of shake hands and part ways. And I was like, Internship? I have all these school loans, and--anyway. I said I thought it was--so I never told my mom that it was actually an internship. I just told her I got hired. But yes, I was hired as an intern, working in the sales office, the Midwest regional sales office. I pretty much did everything they asked me to do, and then some. I would worked in customer service, picked up the phone when we were down a person in customer service. I even picked and packed boxes out in our warehouse. And that's what you do to to learn the business and to do what you can to help your team. The business then was around, I think, right around $800-900mn. We were number three, behind Adidas and Reebok. Reebok had caught an edge, and so we were the number three brand, revenue wise, when I started, and when I left, we were approaching $44bn in revenue, 32 years later.
Host: That year, 88, was the year that--one of the big drivers in that number you just said is the JUST DO IT campaign.
Elliott Hill: Absolutely, you are--you did your homework.
Host: Had to. There's a lot here to talk about. But that's the--in the story that I heard about, I read about, the Just Do It campaign is kind of a silly one, but I think it's true--maybe you can confirm it. But that guy, Gary Gilmore, was being executed in 77 by a firing squad, and his last words were, Let's do it. Somebody at Nike saw that, and came up with Just Do It. Is that an accurate story?
Elliott Hill: Yeah. It actually came from an ad agency called Wieden+Kennedy.
Host: Oh, so the story's not true?
Elliott Hill: Well, it's true that--yes, that was the inspiration for Just Do It, but it came from--Nike had just entered into a relationship with Wieden+Kennedy, which is an ad agency based out of Portland, and they were the ones that came up with the tagline. And there's no question--I still remember the first sales meeting I went to--it was in 88--when we ran those Just Do It ads in front of the sales team--this is before it's gone public. There's 400-500 people in the room, in a theater--the place went nuts. And you can tell when we're on to something. If you can inspire people inside of your company, you know you're going to inspire people outside of the company. And it was one of those moments that I'll never forget being there, watching those ad campaigns. And without a doubt, we knew we were on to something. And that, along with some product innovation--we came out with some new shoes--then we started on a crazy run, in 89. You can go look at the chart. It just--we went on a run.
Host: Was that meeting, Elliot, a situation where they presented several options, or was it just--
Elliott Hill: No. So by the time we showed up at a sales meeting--when I was on the receiving end then, as a salesperson--but I also later on in my career, was there preparing for these sales meetings--it's usually done. The products baked by the time you show up at sales meeting, the advertising campaigns are--they're finished. You might be able to tweak a few things, but for the most part, it was a finished product. And man, I'm telling you--literally, it was one of the defining moments in my career, and I was so fortunate that it happened so early in my career. And like I said, we went on this run, and because of all the growth--and I think this is a message for people out there is--not only me, but the person to my left and the right, we were given opportunities that, frankly, on paper we weren't ready for. But the company started to grow so quickly, they needed people to step up, and we got plugged into some roles, like I said, that maybe we weren't on paper. And so think the message is, If you're going to work for a company, get involved in a company that's growing. Because as the company grows, the employees need to grow with it.
Host: Sure. You were in sales, you said. What does that mean?
Elliott Hill: Well, I had so many--I started my career in sales, so about the first 10 years, I went from being an assistant working in the showroom in Memphis to--within six months, I worked my way into--had my own sales territory, where I had 168 accounts. I had the whole state of Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas in North Texas. I worked out of the Dallas office, lived here in Fort Worth. Couldn't let TCU go. And so I traveled--back then, every little small town had a mom and pop sporting good store. There was no internet. You had to connect with them personally. So I hit the road. I did 60,000 miles a year two years in a row in an old Chrysler minivan. And that was the only van I had. That was a tough putt for a single guy to be driving around a minivan when I wasn't out selling stuff.
Host: So literally selling out of your van.
Elliott Hill: I literally--I sold--I had samples with me, I'd call, make appointments, show up at the sporting good store, and present the line. And made some unbelievable relationships with people that, even to this day, I still keep in touch with a few of those retailers. There's one in particular up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, DuPree Sports that I still keep in touch with.
Host: The Jordan III had come out about that time when you started. Easy sell for these shoes, including Jordans? Was it an easy sell for these people to buy from you?
Elliott Hill: Well, the part that left out--I was actually selling apparel. So you want to talk about--you want to try to sell neon and lycra to people in Oklahoma and Texas? I had to work hard. We had two other reps selling footwear in Oklahoma, and I had the apparel. So I grew up on the apparel side of the business. And then, ultimately, I worked on the footwear side, I worked in sales management, sales leadership. And there was a point when I was leading sales globally as well. So sales was a big part of my grounding at Nike, first 10 years in my career.
Host: When did the point come when you got to meet Mr. Phil Knight? Was that later on in life?
Elliott Hill: Well, yeah, it was certainly later in my career. He was present. He always has been present throughout my career, and even to this day. We don't talk about Nike, we talk about conference realignment these days. I've spent a lot of time with him over the last couple years talking about conference realignment--but I saw him more as the leader early in my career, and it wasn't until the late--call it 10 years into my career before I think he knew who I was. I was working on--I'd taken over all of our--I had moved into product, so I was helping create product for the NBA, NFL, NHL, and all of our college football programs. And we had what's now known as Kansas-gate--we were late delivering uniforms to the University of Kansas. Phil got a personal phone call, which then I got a personal phone call, and that was the first introduction to Mr. Knight, for me personally.
Host: I assume he needed something done quickly.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. And as every university does, I think all you ever want to do is design your uniforms, place your order, and you expect them to show up on time. And the reality is, we didn't. So we had to own it. We had to fix it. And yeah, it was an embarrassing moment, I think--for Nike, but for Phil in particular, that we didn't deliver those uniforms. But again, we made right, and I think we did a tremendous job from there on forward about making certain that we put the athlete and the teams first.
Host: Surely. And there's a picture over your right shoulder of you at your retirement in 2020, of Mr. Knight.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. He surprised me--Covid got in the way. So I retired June 1 of 2020. It was already planned, I told him in March of 19 so they could work through succession planning. I literally turned my computer into a tech person in a dark room and walked away.
Host: They couldn't give you your computer?
Elliott Hill: Well, they swept my computer and gave it back to me. And then fast forward, the new CEO, John Donohoe, came back and said, Hey, we want to do a going away party for you. And I said no, and he kept coming back. And in the end, I ultimately said yes last December, but rather than do a big party, because I felt too much time had passed, let's just keep it to John's leadership team. And so we had a little get together dinner, and he surprised me and showed up.
Host: Fantastic. All right, since you brought up this the professional sports you're working in, NBA and NHL, some of those things you just mentioned, there's a couple names I have to ask you about. They're synonymous with their sports. Clearly--first time you met Michael Jordan?
Elliott Hill: Oh. First--so I'd met him a few times, just more in passing, but I had worked my way in--Oh, shoot, dates all blend--around 2010 I was leading--I was the General Manager, Vice President, General Manager, overseeing our North America Division, which was the largest division in the entire company--and the Jordan Brand reported to us. The President of the Jordan Brand reported to me. And so we started having quarterly meetings with him. And so that's when I really got to know him, was right around then--well--when I got to see him and interact with him. But there were, trust me, there were moments throughout his career, my career, that they were defining moments for him, and they were also defining moments for me as well.
Host: Surely. We all know him as the competitor that he is on the court. Could you tell us a little about him off the court and how he was behind the scenes?
Elliott Hill: He's as competitive off the court as he is on the court. He cares deeply about his brand, his business, his people. He's competitive. He challenged us, he pushed us to be better, to make better product, to make better advertising campaigns, to have better talent on his team. I'll share a quick story. We were trying to talk him into taking the business global, and there was a guy that was the President at the time, guy named Keith Houlemard, and we were presented to him, and Michael was a little worried about taking the brand global and losing the focus on North America and his revenue. And we finally--I paused and said, Michael, we got to do this. This is what we do, and you have to trust us. He stopped me, he leaned forward, and he said, Elliot, you know what size shoe I wear? Yeah, you wear a 13. He goes, Good, because I'm going to leave this shoe, and I want you to think about--I want you to put it on your desk, I want you to think about that shoe. If our revenue goes back, I'm going to come and stuff that up your rear. That just shows you his competitiveness. But it was mainly said in jest, but I got the point. It's that he believed in us, he was going to take a risk, but ultimately, and this is what I think made him great, he holds his teammates accountable. He was going to hold us accountable.
Host: That's fantastic. Most of us who know the Nike story, or fans of Nike, have seen the movie Air. Just came out, fantastic representation. I don't know how all of it was maybe true or not, but Sonny Vaccaro, obviously, is a big player with Michael and how that all happened for Nike. Any thoughts on Sonny that you can share?
Elliott Hill: Here's what I'd say: The movie was directly correct, but not factually correct. My opinion--I'm going to probably take some heat for this one--I think Rob Strasser probably deserved a bit more credit than he received in the movie. And I think the character I was most disappointed in was probably Phil Knight.
Host: Ben Affleck's character, right.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. And let me say this. Phil is eccentric, but he is strategic, he is thoughtful with his words. And he one thing--he's not comedic relief, which--like, he would have never walked into the boardroom like he did in the show and go, Oh, sorry I'm late, I'm a very busy businessman. Like, that's just not something he would do or say. And so, I don't know, that was the one that I'd say I was most disa--those two would be the most--I felt like didn't get enough credit as they deserved. But overall, of course I loved the movie. And in the end, it was--you have to keep telling yourself, It's Hollywood. And they have stories to tell, and that's what they're trying to do, is entertain, and again, for the most part, I think it was directionally correct, and I really enjoyed the movie.
Host: Thank you. One of the other founders of the company, Bill Bowerman--I don't know exactly when he passed away, but any connection to him or time with him?
Elliott Hill: Yeah. Well, my wife, her grandfather and Bill Bowerman were close friends. I don't know if you knew that. Bob Newland was the local high school track coach while Bill Bowerman was obviously the track coach--in Eugene, at the University of Oregon. And the Bowermans and the Newlands, the two couples, were the ones that started All-Comers meets. And when the whole running boom took off, and the families ran these All-Comers meet. Bob Newland won 10 straight state championships in track, and obviously Bill Bowerman had a storied career at University of Oregon. And so I got to know him through Bob Newland. In fact, he was at Bob's memorial service that took place in Hayward Field, the track field. And Bill was there. And, yeah, I didn't work closely with him--he had already moved on, but Bob Newland ran the sports--at the time, it was our Research Center, our R&D center was based in Eugene--and he ran the R&D center after he retired from being a coach, and worked for Bill. So yeah, our families were intertwined with the Bowermans. And again, great people and relentlessly self critical and always pushing us to be better.
Host: Absolutely, absolutely. And obviously, Steve Prefontaine came about through that relationship there. And he passed away a long time before you ever came to Nike, but what an amazing story that is, in itself. Is there anything there that--can you discuss anything?
Elliott Hill: Oh, there's all--I have so many memories that go through--yes, he'd passed before I had joined, but he was clearly the heart and soul of the company. I mean, Phil and others at the time, when I was young, that were leading the company, made sure that we knew that he was the heart and the soul of the company, and it was his competitive spirit and competitive response, and his desire to always be better that I think helped shape the culture of Nike, internally. We were athletes, in a sense, being led by a founder who was a coach and an athlete himself and it was always about being relentlessly self-critical, trying to get better. There was a competitive response that was always there, this competitiveness to the culture. There was a youthfulness and an irreverence, which I think--if you think about pre the mustache, the hair--that helped define who we were as a company and our culture. So yeah, I think he was--he, Phil, Bill were all incredibly important to shaping the company and the culture and the vision for it.
Host: I love that Pre's legacy carries on even to this day. Most people, young people, don't know who that is, but he certainly carries so much esteem with Nike.
Elliott Hill: Well, Nike sponsors the Pre meet--Prefontaine meet--every May, right around the time when he passed. And it's a way to, every year, celebrate him. And I used it, when I was a leader at Nike, to take employees there. To put them on a bus and drive, take a day off from work, to drive from Portland to Eugene, where the company was founded in track and field, and to celebrate Pre and to celebrate all the history and the heritage of Nike. And I think it's an important way to keep his memory alive. And if you're not there when the meet's going on, there's a place called Pre-rock, where he passed--I don't know if you've heard of that. There's a memorial there for him that's--it's really moving--if you show up there--to see the things that people that he inspires leaves behind on his behalf. Could be a medal that some kid won and left behind, or an entry bib that they leave. It's really beautiful. Flowers. It's beautiful. And most of the time we go to Eugene, we try to swing by there.
Host: Right. Wonderful, wonderful. Your second year at the job, 1989, a young guy by the name of Bo Jackson comes on board with Nike--one of my favorite athletes, but I think he shared as much in the Pre show. What can you tell us about Bo Jackson?
Elliott Hill: Well, again, I think everybody knows of who he is as an athlete, and he was clearly a special athlete--superhuman--to be able to play two sports at a high level. And if you go back to high school, all the way back, he ran track too. I don't know if you know, he was a decathlete. And you know he was so far ahead, he only had to compete--in one of the decathlons he entered, he didn't have to run the final event, which is the mile, to win. So it just shows you the type of athlete is. But I think as great of an athlete as he is, to me, he also is a great human being. He is a person--he might not remember your name, he doesn't forget a face. He is always engaging, asking questions about you versus--and he is approachable, he is funny, and he's just a really great human being and a wonderful ambassador for Nike, even to this to this day.
Host: That's nice to hear, actually.
Elliott Hill: And he's playful. That's another thing that I love about him. And I think--like I had the opportunity, the fortunate opportunity, to share a stage with him once in Memphis, Tennessee, where I started. And this is within the last call it, five years of my career, and he played for the chicks there, the Memphis Chicks--I don't know if you--so there's a love for Bo, not only for who he became, but because he spent time in Memphis. And we shared a stage, and I walked out, and he just--it was so funny how he ripped me, but in a playful way, and it was a way to, I think, disarm me. I came right back at him. I won't bore everybody here with the story, but it was funny. He was funny. I think I gave him a good shot back, but you should have seen the audience. They were like, Okay, these are just two regular guys. Yeah, he's a superstar, and I'm the leader, but we had fun up on stage together. Anyway, I think that is a great example of reinforcing Nike's culture about this youthfulness and irreverence, and he helped--he embodied that. So, wonderful human.
Host: As a younger guy, growing up with sports heroes, like most sports athletes do, did you get to meet any of these--are any of these guys heroes of yours that you got to meet finally? Or is it just happened to be somebody you got to work with, and they became these people.
Elliott Hill: Oh, Jordan and Bo--especially because I was so far down in the organization in the late 80s, and they were at the peaks of their career. They were heroes, no question. No question. And I made a ton of money off of them selling Bo Knows t-shirts, and Air Jordan t-shirts. So not only were they heroes to me as athletes, but they helped pay off my school loans as a sales rep. So yeah, they were heroes, and then I got to know them. Probably the first athlete that was truly a hero that I got to know was Tony Dorsett. And I, as we said earlier, went to work for the Cowboys, and he was at the tail end of his career. And he and I somehow bonded and had a really wonderful relationship. And I had many, many stories about him being a really kind human being to me. And so that would probably be the first person I'd say was an athlete that was a hero that then became a friend--would be Tony Dorsett.
Host: That's neat. Any connection to Mike Tyson or Wayne Gretzky--any of those guys?
Elliott Hill: No, Tyson--we never really went the boxing route. We did--I shouldn't say that. We had Manny Pacquiao. But Tyson, no. Gretzky was a part of our world for a while. I didn't work that closely with him, but Charles Barkley would be one. And again, I'm going way back into the memory bank. I should probably come forward and talk about LeBron and some make a little more relevant for our audience.
Host: Tell us about Barkley, please.
Elliott Hill: Well, again, Barkley--I think, to be a Nike athlete, especially one that back then, that we put out there and advertised, they had to have not only--there was an it factor to them. Beyond just being a great athlete, a great performer, and someone that people aspired to be like on the court, on the fields, on the track, there was an irreverence to him. And again, what you see on TV today is who he is. He lets it go. You watch him on TNT, that's just who he is. And he was that way internally when he showed up for meetings, when he was on stage, he was that guy that was useful, irreverent, fun, and inspirational. But again, a tremendous, tremendous human being as well.
Host: You mentioned LeBron. Let's go down that list.
Elliott Hill: LeBron--you want to talk about--it's not just him, his entire team. Very business oriented, cares about the brand, the Lebron brand, the product, the positioning, the stories, pushes us, challenges us to be better. And what I would say about LeBron is, and again, I have only--I interacted with him in some product meetings and then had an opportunity to be on stage with him once, he--you don't have to say a lot to him. And I still remember walking from our meeting to the theater where we were going to go on stage--I just gave him a really quick brief on what we were about to walk into, literally, and he was good. And then we walked in on stage, he flipped it, and he was super special in his ability to remember what I communicated--here's what you're walking into, here's who we're going to talk to, here's the message we want to deliver--and his ability to make sure that he put exclamation points on those messages that we were trying to deliver. He's really, really talented.
Host: That's really interesting. And you're talking about these guys, these superstars, that are involved in the in the day to day, more or less, or the decision making for their brands. I would not have thought that. I would have thought that some of those big guys just say, Nike, you've signed me now take care of it. Sounds like that's not the case.
Elliott Hill: No, and especially if you go back--I'll come back to today in a moment, but no, I think the athletes that have really, I think, stood the test of time, they cared about not only the product that they wore to help them compete, because they want a great product, innovative product, good looking product, beautiful product, coveted product, but they also then cared about how they would be in position and an athlete. And if you think about before social media, athletes needed Nike to build their brand--and pause for a moment on that one. Think about that. So people wanted to be a part--athletes wanted to be a part of Nike because they had an opportunity, because Nike would help showcase them and build their brand. Today, they want Nike. They don't have to have Nike. They can build their brand through social media and whatnot. But again, LeBron was early enough that before social media really took off, that he had already established a relationship--and yeah, we had two meetings a year with the athletes and their teams to review product that they would--and how we would dress them for the year, launch new colors, etc, etc, and the stories that we were going to tell. And they absolutely had input. Some were more into it than others, but that was a big part of the process. It was this whole idea of taking athlete insights and translating it into innovative product, emotional storytelling. And that's what we did.
Host: You might not be able to tell me or may not want to tell me, but any athletes that were just a pain in the ass?
Elliott Hill: I don't know if I want to say that on the air. I think--here's what I'll say. Like anything in life, the answer to that question is Absolutely. There are some athletes that were super challenging to work with, whether it's because they weren't clear about what they wanted, or what they wanted but Nike didn't want, but yeah, there's no question that there--for every Jordan and Barkley and LeBron, there was another athlete that didn't quite work out. How's that?
Host: That's fair, that's fair.
Elliott Hill: I'm gonna be a politician and not answer that.
Host: I think you nailed that one. No one's gonna be mad at you for that. Nike does a lot of things well, Elliot, no question about it. But one thing they are masterful at is branding. The swoosh--the infamous swoosh. Can we talk about that for a second? Because that swoosh in itself is a legendary brand. It stands alone. You don't even need words. It just--by itself, everybody knows. Can you tell us--is there any way you could describe the strategy behind something like that, and how one builds just a logo into something so massive?
Elliott Hill: Yeah--most companies have a strategic plan and a vision on where we're going. Where are we taking the company? What are the--Nike had that. But we also had what's called a brand plan. And the brand plan is not a marketing plan and an advertising plan--it is What do we want the brand to stand for and be known for? And of course, the swoosh became the mark that embodied all these things that we wanted to stand for, and we used, as leaders, and as an org--deep down in the organization--not only our strategic plan, to share with our our teammates here's where we're going, but here's what we want to stand for. And the swoosh became the embodiment of it. What's interesting--if you go back to the late 80s and early 90s, it had Nike still locked together with the swoosh--on apparel, for sure. I don't know if you remember that. I remember the first time--there was a guy named Steven Gomez who--he and his team that was running apparel--I was out in Beaverton working in apparel, we made the decision to take Nike away and just go with the swoosh. And it took some getting used to. It was controversial. But that was an evolution of the brand. Nike locked in with the swoosh to become the swoosh. And anyway, we spent a lot of time talking about the power of that brand, and how to manage that brand. How it shows up, how big it shows up, where it shows up. What's it stand for?
Host: And generally--this is a general question: Is the one of the strategies, Everything that Nike makes has a swoosh on it. Is that pretty simple in that strategy?
Elliott Hill: Yeah, and that it's almost like a signature. It's to say, Hey, this product's good enough to carry the swoosh. That's what you want consumers to think. And of course, the shirt you're wearing right now--I'll use that as an example. Nike has a relation--financial, not only a marketing relationship, but a financial relationship with TCU. And so a big part of that is we supply sideline product, like you're wearing, and you want exposure. And that's always been part of our--if you go all the way back to Prefontaine, we want shoes on athletes that are performing, or we want apparel on our coaches who are on the sidelines. And again, that is a way to authenticate the brand as being real, of sport, in the eyes of the consumer. And so yes, if it's a product that we're putting on an athlete, a coach, a trainer, a mana--whatever, it has a swoosh on it. And it's not only to say, Hey, this is great product, it's also for exposure.
Host: I love it. I was a little too early in the game, because when playing at TCU, we were Reebok originally, but later in the game, Nike combat uniforms came out. I think you had something to do with that. We were one of, I think 8 or 10 schools in the country--it was little TCU and all these bigs--all of a sudden, we had incredible gear.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. Well, I got, finally, to a position where I had a little bit of influence, and maybe relationships, more important than that, that I could go sit with people. And of course it bothered me to have TCU wearing Reebok. And I was fortunate enough to have some folks that believed in TCU. TCU was getting better and better, and decided it was time to sign them. And I think the beauty of someone like TCU, because we didn't have this deep history or heritage of a Texas or an Alabama or a USC, where Nike had these long standing relationships back all the way back to the 70s with those three schools. But you couldn't innovate. You can innovate in shoes, cleats--but you couldn't innovate in uniforms. You could just simply put a swoosh on it. And so the way we--I kind of pitched it to Nike, is, TCU doesn't have that history. And they will let us have some fun. They will let us design uniforms, and they will visually look different week to week, season to season. And it's a way for us to generate some interest for Nike and to maybe show new, innovative uniforms--the combat that you just described--with a team that, by the way, needed it. It was as good for TCU as it was for Nike. So I think it's been a really, really good relationship--Nike and TCU.
Host: You made a lot of young men happy when that thing came to be.
Elliott Hill: Well, mean, you think about some of the stuff we did, the Bloods--the red on the helmets and the insights that one of our designers came up with that the horn frog shoots blood so let's put some red--I still remember that uniform. I was super scared to show that one, because I was worried about what everyone else was going to think. But then there comes a point when we're not making the uniforms for the the alumni or the fans. We're making the uniforms for 18, 19, 20 year old kids. And then those 17, 16 year old recruits. That's who we're making them for. And the beauty is, we have a great partnership with TCU and Nike, and they enable those types of things to happen.
Host: I'm a little bit scared to ask you this question--I forgot to ask you when I was dropping all these names on you, but there's a story that I've heard over the years about Steph Curry and the miss that Nike went after him--do you know story? Can you--
Elliott Hill: Yeah. I wasn't there, so this isn't a first hand story, but it was time to renew his contract. He had a rookie contract, and what Nike typically would do--we called it--we always had a home game. So we brought athletes up when we wanted to sign them, like a Zion as an example, as a part of that. It was always on campus, at the Nike campus, because it's super impressive to see, and plus, we can control the environment and the way we position it. And I guess the short part of the story is, we didn't put our best foot forward. And that happens in business. We didn't call him Steph, we called him Steven, and--
Host: He didn't like that, I'm guessing?
Elliott Hill: No, he didn't like that. And we didn't change a name in the deck--I don't know if you heard that too. So there was another athlete's name in the deck that didn't--and so, didn't go over very well. And it's unfortunate, because he's a tremendous athlete, and he was a Nike athlete first. And it's unfortunate that that we lost him, because I think the two of us working together, us being Nike, I'm no longer there, I shouldn't say us, but Nike and Steph working together, I think would have been truly special.
Host: Let's talk about Nike campus, since you just mentioned it. Nike University--how intricate were you in that development and what's the story there?
Elliott Hill: I wasn't personally involved in designing and developing, but fortunate--I think I might be the only guy that ever moved from our original offices that you saw on Air--the movie Air--just office park offices into this the campus, is what we call it, in Beaverton. And I also did the same thing, because I lived and worked in Europe for five years, and I went from the same sort of setup into a campus environment over there. The theory, or the philosophy, and this is, I think, more Phil Knight genius than anything, was that he wanted to create a university type setting. And so as you approach the campus, there's a welcome center, just as you would at a university. There is a student center, just as you would have--that included a bar, literally, it was a bar, a cafeteria, a place to get your hair cut, a place to drop off your dry cleaning. There's an Alumni Center. There was a daycare center. And then, of course, all the places that we worked, including a fitness center. And we had a full on--and still do--Nike does intramural program. Departments playing each other in flag football, basketball, co-ed softball, tennis ladder, going down the list. So yeah, it very much has a college feel to it. And again, not only in Beaverton, but the same thing happens in the campus in Amsterdam, which is responsible for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and then also over in China.
Host: We've talked about this over the years--you've worked really, really hard in your career at Nike. Was it--silly question--was it fun to be going this hard all the time for that long a period. Did you enjoy the--as hard as it was?
Elliott Hill: Loved it. I loved every day. Here's what I'd say: I went to Nike because I loved athletes, teams, sports, products, marketing. And I stayed because of the people and the culture. And I loved going to work and being with my teammates. And I say that--I call them teammates, it felt like a team. Felt like we had a unified sense of purpose. We were keeping score. We were winning and losing. I love competing. And I got to do it in a place with products that I cared about, with athletes that I cared about. And I had some incredible, incredible experiences that I wouldn't have had if I had not worked for Nike. So, yeah, I worked hard--the last 10 years of my career I was working 60+ hours a week, I was on a international flight at least once a quarter, if not twice a quarter, but I never minded it.
Host: I think a lot of people, in life, can empathize with the team environment you're speaking on. It's nice to hear coming from someone like you, and the team perspective.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. And again, I go back to--the company was founded by a coach and an athlete. And I think team came first. It's not about I or me, it's about we and us. If we win, I win. Period. So the people that succeeded at Nike understood that. It's about the team. Number one. Number two, we were athletes, and we were always trying to get better. We would run an ad, launch a shoe, we'd immediately go, We could have done this, this, this and this better. We were relentless and self critical. Number three, we like to compete, and compete and win. We'd compete internally with each other, in a fun way, in a productive way. We'd compete externally as well with our competitors. And then we did it in a youthful, fun, irreverent way. And I think it's those four things--I think helped define the culture, the sense of purpose, and help, frankly, drive me every single day. And we did it with teammates that cared. The person to do my left and my right made me better. Hopefully I made them better.
Host: I imagine so. There's a few lucky people out there that have been privileged to see the innovation labs at Nike, on that campus. Can you tell us a little about that, and what goes on there? There's things there that are future forward, looking forward.
Elliott Hill: Yes, no doubt. And it's continued to evolve over the years. And most recently opened up a very large Innovation Lab. It's named after Lebron James. So every building at Nike is named after an athlete. And then within that building, there are references to that athlete. Every meeting room is named after something to do with that athlete. There's memorabilia, etc, etc. So the innovation lab is named after LeBron James. And it is, I think, I would--I believe the most advanced R&D lab in sports anywhere in the world. Sensors on basketball courts, track--and it's not just the physical structure, it's the people inside of it, from scientists to biomechanics--you go down the list, physiology majors. It's pretty--just scientists, let's just say that, that are studying human performance and potential and trying to help athletes reach their full potential. Lighter, faster, stronger. Whether it's product, shoes, apparel, etc. It's super impressive.
Host: It's fair to say, though, we haven't even--we have reached the end of human development--is there more to go? Because we've gotten--everything's gotten bigger better for a long time now. Is there more to go?
Elliott Hill: Well, yeah, I think as long as--I mean, just a couple weeks ago, two athletes ran sub 44--3:44 miles. So, yeah, I think the human body continues through, whether it's nutrition, training, etc, are common--mental, psychology, all of those things, along with the right apparel and footwear, etc., I think athletes will continue to to get better. And I don't think you have to look any further than what Nike did with Eliud Kipchoge, helping him run that sub two marathon. A lighter shoe that's faster, that has spring, that reduces 4%, so, yeah, I think--as long as Nike's around, I'll say this--I think you're going to see athletes continue to have better performances.
Host: Yes. Throughout your career, you've been able to go and see and be part of a lot of big moments in sports history, big games. Can you share with us some of your favorites?
Elliott Hill: Love the Olympics, both winter and summer. There's the Michael Johnson gold shoe, Carl Lewis, I mean, so, so fortunate.
Host: What do you remember about the Michael Johnson gold shoe moment?
Elliott Hill: Oh, it was Atlanta, 96. And I knew it was coming, because I was inside. And I was fortunate to be there with some customers. And to see him get out on the track and then--that takes some--think about that for a minute. That takes some courage to--I'm going to walk out--confidence and courage to--I'm going to walk out with gold shoes to compete. And not only compete but to win. I mean those are those moments--by the way, that's not only an athlete defining moment, a sport defining moment, but that is a Nike defining moment when things like that happen. Kathy Freeman, at the 2000 Olympics, and her coming out in the suit and winning it with the weight of the country on her shoulders. I could keep going. Again, so blessed. World Cups, NBA Finals. I was at the flu game. There's a story behind that. But I'd say the one that was most fun for me, and--was I was living in Europe during the Lance Armstrong Tour de France era, and I got to personally ride in some stages of the tour--obviously in the morning before the tour started. Got to interact with Lance, got to ride in team cars, Champs-Elysees, up in the mountains. And I'd say that was my primary highlight of my career. Just because it's personal to me. I love--I still ride bikes. And so to be able to be in a car in the middle of the event--it's like sitting Center Court at Wimbledon. You're in a car, racing down the side of a mountain. It was pretty special.
Host: Still good standing with Lance?
Elliott Hill: Yeah, I still keep in touch with Lance, for sure. He's moving back to Austin. There's some folks at Nike that don't, but I do. yI think he's, in his own ways, apologized for his actions, and I think he's trying to move forward. And so, yeah, I still keep in touch with him.
Host: Well, you mentioned the Jordan flu game there. You said there was a story there, right? Is that what you're referring to?
Elliott Hill: Yeah, I don't know--if you go back to the 25th anniversary, which was recently--I'm going to try to figure out how to make this short. It's on nba.com, Darren Rovell did a piece on it. I was in Dallas working with the Mavericks, trying to redesign their uniforms, hopped on a plane--I was sitting, having--USA Today, all realized we were flying back to Portland through Salt Lake, and there was a game that night. Called the NBA. No cell phone at the time. Called the NBA, they said, Check when you land. Land, run. They had four tickets for us. There was just three of us, myself and two designers. So I immediately run to what was called the crown room at the time, which is now the sky club--Delta--and I walked into this woman. I said, Hey, today's your lucky day. I said, we've got the Bulls tonight playing the Utah Jazz. There are three of us, and we have four tickets. If you can change our ticket to tomorrow, you get to go to the game with us. She starts clicking on the deal, because we couldn't--at the time, we were so low we couldn't submit a change in the airfare. We'd get in trouble. She goes, I can do this, but I don't want you to take me. I want you to take my son. And so I hit it--she hits it. I said, Absolutely. And as soon as she hits it, she goes into Mama Bear mode. She goes, Okay, here's what we're going to do. You're going to meet me at this place, dut dut dut dut dut. So we take this kid--12, 13--and we find out--there's debate between myself and the other two--I thought we found out before, but the kid's father had committed suicide. And so, of course, we showed him a great time. We take him back to his mom afterwards, and that was it. We all go on our own way. So I'm telling this story 23 years later to a friend of mine. He goes, You got to find the kid. I was like, How the hell do you find this kid? So I started--I always fly through Salt Lake--I told you this is a long story. I'll try to make it short. I get into the car with this guy that they were driving me from one airplane to the other, and I said, Hey, I told him the story. And he goes, I think I know this person. I go, Well, here's my number. Couldn't connect. Next time, did it again. I just kept doing it. And finally, someone--I land, I connect through Salt Lake, tell the story, hand my number, and this woman says, I think I know her. Phone rings. Salt Lake City. It's Mary. So, chatted for a long time, and then found out about her son, Chase. I'd forgotten their names--and as soon as she said her name, we started talking, and I have since gone to meet them in Salt Lake. Wonderful human beings. Chase has a beautiful family. He has his masters. Utah fans, so we're going to get to play them, the Horned Frogs. He's a big Utes fan. And yeah, so anyway, we told that story, and Darren Rovell--I don't know if you know who Darren Rovell is--he's a reporter, he collects tickets from famous games, and Chase sold his ticket recently to Darren Rovell to raise funds for his kids' college education. So anyway, there you go.
Host: What a great story. Wow. And his name is Chase, you said.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. Chase and Mary. I won't say their last name, just in case they don't want to. But wonderful people, and we remain in touch with each other, and certainly right now during football season, we'll text. Like I said, he's a big Utah fan.
Host: That's incredible. What a moment in time. Elliot. 2006, you won a Community Leadership Award from Nike for doing good deeds--this one not included, I don't believe, but you're doing a lot of good work. I know you as a good dude, but that's an incredible accomplishment. Your company honors you for doing something for the community. Can you tell us about that?
Elliott Hill: Well I just--so here's--without getting into that award specifically, here's what I'd say: I've had people invest in me my entire life, whether it's my mother, mentors, whoever--and I'm a big believer, as is my wife and my family, in giving back. And so I've tried to be active in my community, wherever I've lived, whether it's the church or nonprofits, etc--we try to focus on education and sports, and so that's what I'd say, is that my wife and I are always involved in one to three different nonprofit organizations, whether we sit on the board or we give financially, we help tell their story, or whatever. And in the case of Nike, it was Big Brothers, Big Sisters Mentorship. And there was others that I did, but that would be one of them.
Host: Is your mother still alive?
Elliott Hill: No, my mom passed. I talked her into moving out to Portland, Oregon, and she lived out in Oregon. And then my sister and brother in law followed. But yeah, she passed away about eight years ago. She's passed on All Saints Day. Typical mom. Good Catholic. She wanted to go on All Saints Day, not on Halloween. So anyway.
Host: I just have to ask. Did--throughout your life, did your father ever come back into the picture? Is that a fair question?
Elliott Hill: Yes. Absolutely. So he was a part of my life in terms of birthdays and Christmas and those sort of things. This is the part--I haven't told this story. So what happened was, my father was gay. There's a drop the bomb right now. And I think now, knowing what I know, he passed away in 2000--I think he was leaving me alone to allow me--that's what I'd like to think--to become who I was going to become without having that--you think about Austin, Texas in the 60s and the 70s, that was--it's a pretty tough putt for a young boy. And so, to fast forward, the older I got, obviously--and I didn't talk about it. No one did. My mom, my sister, we kind of kept it in the family. But fast forward, and he and I reconciled, yes, and became a part of our life. And again, he passed away, and I'll tell you this, I flew home for his funeral, and when I walked out of the church, my five high school buddies were sitting there waiting for me. And we had never talked about it. 2000. Think about that. I'm 37 years old. And we went and got a beer, and when'd you first figured out? When'd you first figure it out? They all knew, but we just didn't talk about it. But anyway, yes, the short answer is we reconciled. And he, I think, was at peace with it, and so was I.
Host: Recently, you and your wife did something really amazing. Maybe some of it was against your better wishes, but you had a public auction, sold 30 years of memorabilia online.
Elliott Hill: Yeah, I was a collector of all things memorabilia. The one thing I did keep is my ticket collection, which I'll never get rid of. But anyway. Because I think those are moments that I remember, and I'd rather remember experiences versus things, shoes, whatever, jerseys. But yeah, I had a collection. It was up in the attic. We pulled it out of the attic, and we were trying to figure out what to do with it, and we had this idea, why not have an auction and donate the money to charity? And the charity we decided would be a scholarship in my mother in law's name, who was a lifelong educator in the City of Portland. And it was to enable kids that go to this school called St Andrew Nativity, and there's a story there on St Andrew Nativity, to enable them to, if they wish, to go to Central Catholic High School, which is where my wife was on the board, became the first female Board Chair--allow kids to do that. And so that started this crazy, Okay, we're going to auction. My wife and I put some matching funds up. We had an unbelievable anonymous donor that came in and matched and--long story short, raised $2.25mn in about eight months. And now, it's contributing over $100,000 a year to kids to go to school.
Host: So great, so great.
Elliott Hill: And it's a great--I think—and now in hindsight, I think it was a moment for me to sort of close the chapter on Nike by getting--I don't, by not getting rid of, but taking all these moments, creating something good out of it, and then turn the page and go on to the next chapter.
Host: Tell the part when you had a little regret.
Elliott Hill: Well, I said something to my wife. There were a couple items, one being 1984 Nike launched the Air Force One. And I had a pair of white and purple Air Force Ones with a TCU strap on them, and I had some regrets about--but the catalog had already been published, and we were going live with the auction. And then the other ones were--there were three jerseys from the year that the Bulls won their first championship. I still had them, team issue, in their actual sizes, in the wrapper. Had a red Jordan jersey, I had a white--actually, it was a white Jordan jersey, a red Pippen Jersey, and a black Rodman jersey. And I had a bit of remorse. And so myself and the auctioneer--he's doing the auction stuff, and I'm telling the stories--and so the purple shoes come up, I tell the story--starts bidding, but I don't see who's bidding. Same thing with the jerseys. I don't see who's bidding, but they weren't cheap. I found out--it was my wife who was bidding on them, and she ended up buying them back. So we ended up matching our match, the money that we contributed. But anyway, yeah, so still have those two items. And my tickets.
Host: That's awesome. Do you have any best success stories in your career that you can share? I mean, do you have one pivotal, or a couple pivotal moments that you consider your greatest successes? You've had a lot--
Elliott Hill: So there are--throw my family in there. I'm super proud of them. And I think my wife deserves a lot of credit, because I, like I said earlier, I worked a lot of hours. But I'm super proud of our family and how we interact with one another, who our kids have become as individuals. The relationship my wife and I have, 30+ years, and we're still best friends. The thing that I think of when it comes to Nike--I immediately go to people first. And it's not worth telling names and stories, but watching people around me grow, develop, and be successful, and know that I had a, hopefully, a role in identifying and helping develop those individuals into who they became. And then, from a sort of me perspective, leadership perspective, there were two jobs in particular where I put my name on the map. And again, it's--I think it's less relevant about the specific story for everybody on the call here, but one of them was I did a job that everybody thought I was crazy--and on paper it was crazy for me to do--but Nike asked me to do it. And I was a good teammate, and so I said yes. And I went and did it, and helped turn around a business with a--help reshape the vision for that business, reshaped the team and the dynamics on that team, and we delivered results. And there's no question Nike took a chance on me doing that role. I took a chance on Nike doing that role. And there's no question in my mind, it was that role that put me on the map and helped really, I think, accelerate my my career.
Host: Nice, nice. Any regrets throughout your time? The good, the bad, right?
Elliott Hill: Oh. Yeah, no, I think there--everybody has regrets. I think the regrets that I have are those--I tried to always be at home for my family when I--for those important moments. But you miss some. Just because of my job. I had a global job and I was traveling around the world. And I missed the father-daughter dance of freshman year in high school, and that's an important moment, and I missed it. But what I did do is, I called one of my buddies from TCU, a guy named Matt Minnis, who--because my daughter, I said, I can't go. I explained it to her. She was really mature about it. I said, but I want you to go. And who would you go with? And so she said, I want Uncle Matt to go. So he flew in to take her. And here's the regret--obviously, they had a good time. Yearbook comes out in May, and I'm flipping through the yearbook, and it's father-daughter dance. Picture: Matt and Peyton. And it says Peyton Hill and her father attend--I was like, Come on! But anyway, yeah, we have regrets. And again, I think all of them--most of them--are around, Did I do the right thing for my family--and my friends?
Host: Beautiful. Most inspirational people in your life?
Elliott Hill: Phil Knight. Period. Stop. Strategic, visionary, purposeful with his words, powerful with his words. When he speaks, people listen. I'd say he was the person I tried the hardest to make proud--in addition to my mom, of course. But yeah, no question. He's the person that inspired me, pushed me, challenged me--and not with his one on one words. We've had those, but it was about who he was and what he stood for. And he was a person I tried to emulate and be like.
Host: Beautiful. Is what he did, and what you guys did at Nike--is it able to be done again? Do you think, with the way the world is now, is there a way to do that again? Obviously nothing came easy, but--
Elliott Hill: I hope so. I mean, you think about when I left, there were 76,000 employees. And I don't know how many hundreds of thousands went through there. And I believe that Nike changed not only the world in inspiring athletes and people to get outside, moving, and active and all, but I think it changed a lot of--hundreds of thousands of people's lives. And so I hope that, for our kids' sake, and the next generation, that there continues to be this entrepreneurial spirit that turns into job creation, that turns into a culture, and a movement, and yeah--I hope it happens, and continues to happen. I think the world needs that. I think it's businesses like Nike that help make the world a better place. There's no question in my mind.
Host: Beautiful. You've done all these things in your life, and you're not even 60, yet. You're about to be 60. Real close.
Elliott Hill: Yeah. Turn 60 Monday, October 2.
Host: Well, happy early birthday.
Elliott Hill: Thank you, I appreciate it. My wife said, Hey, you want to have a party? And I said, No, but I have a baseball team I started. The Austin Moontowers. And the Moontowers are going to play Sunday night in Austin. We play the Austin Parakeets. And I asked Chris del Conte, he's a friend, he used to be at TCU, if we could play at Disch-Falk Field, which is the home field for University of Texas, because as a little boy, I used to take the bus there, me and my buddies, and we'd hop the fence and pretend we were UT baseball players out in the field, and so, the Moontowers are gonna play Sunday night at 630 at Disch-Falk Field. Then afterwards, we'll go have a few beers. Try to act like a little kid again.
Host: That's so cool. That's fantastic. And you definitely have the joy in life, I can tell. Before we get out of here, Elliot, what are you doing these days? You on a couple boards, I know.
Elliott Hill: I'll be honest. When I was coming out of Nike, I wasn't sure--I'd worked so hard, everything was about Nike or my family or my friends, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or be, but I quickly did what I did for business. I wrote myself a mission statement and a business plan. Two key words in my mission statement are trying to remain relevant and to create impact. Be impactful. And so I then decided to sit on a number of for-profit and not-for-profit boards as a way to give back. And so I sit on three for-profit boards, three not-for-profit boards, and invest and advise some small start companies in Austin as a way to give back. And it keeps me busy, and I think it helps keep me young. I like being around young people doing entrepreneurial things.
Host: You're not slowing down one bit. That's great. Last question for you, and I appreciate you being here. This has been a fascinating look in your life. I'm grateful you shared it. We always ask our guests, familial affairs aside--no wife, children, nothing family related--and you kind of answered this a little bit in a different indirect way, but familial affairs aside, what's the best day of your whole life? If you can answer that.
Elliott Hill: Wow. Best day of my whole life? Wow. Can people really pick one day?
Host: It's tough. They accidentally--they'll say something about their kids, or their wife, their marriage, but it's anything aside from family. It's a tough one, for sure.
Elliott Hill: I don't think I've ever been stumped on a question, but it's such an important question to think about that I don't want to just throw something out there. I can tell you the last time I cried was when TCU beat Michigan in... I don't know if I want to tie it to sports either. I don't know if I have an answer. It's not a good way to end, is it? I think standing out, being recognized by your peers is always a... you wonder if what you did matter. And my exit didn't go the way I wanted it to, from Nike, because of Covid, but they did have a brief Zoom going away, if you will. And had I known that that was going to be it, I would have spent a bit more time on it. I'm not a person that loves to listen to people talk about me, and so I kind of shut the Zoom call off pretty quickly. But I'd say that was meaningful, to hear from your teammates that what you did mattered. How's that?
Host: That's beautiful. Elliot Hill, thank you very much.
Elliott Hill: Thank you. Appreciate it.
Host: Thank you to Elliott Hill. See you next time.
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Wrap-up
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