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Nice Kicks: What is your specific role/job title at Nike currently?
Jason Mayden: I?m the Director of Innovation for Digital Sports. We just launched the Nike+ FuelBand. That?s the world that I?m in now. In the director role, I?m always helping to set strategies and set a direction with the rest of the leadership team. At the core of it, it?s really about mentorship, coaching and making sure the employees underneath me get proper guidance and advice. I?m always looking out for the person who can take my job someday.
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Nice Kicks: What is the best part about working with professional athletes and being responsible for their respective performance wear?
Jason Mayden: The best part is the ability to dream. The way I work with the athletes is a bit different from how others work with them. I really spend time trying to have them know me rather than me trying to know them. They have so many people trying to get into their world, and they have enough friends. What they need are people to do their jobs, execute and give them the best product on court. I just do my job. I?m not a person that?s partying and kicking it. What they see from me is consistency, my work ethic, my family values, my faith and the fact that I ?under-promise? and ?over-deliver?. I don?t try to force a friendship. Sometimes it?s just a work relationship and sometimes we?re friends. In the best cases, we?re friends and co-workers like the relationship I have with Chris Paul. Even though I?m not with Jordan Brand now, we still talk to this day. Once the trust is there, it?s a blessing.
Nice Kicks: Personally, what has been your biggest accomplishment so far in this industry?
Jason Mayden: It?s the amount of people I?ve been able to help get in this industry. I can?t take credit for anything I?ve done because people have given me opportunities and God has blessed me. I feel proud of the fact that I?m not a person that?s waiting till I get to the top to reach my hand back and help. I?m doing it along the way. I?m proud of all the young folks, minorities and women who have gotten into this industry because we fought or advocated on their behalf and have helped them succeed. I would say that matters to me more than the projects I?ve worked on.
Nice Kicks: Who are your top five, favorite African American athletes and why?
Jason Mayden: Michael Jordan ? What I liked about him was his confidence, man. It wasn?t the athleticism. It was the way he took the court. It was the way he embraced being a black man. He didn?t have to talk about it. Everybody saw it. MJ cares, too. When I went away to Stanford, he was one of the first ones to comment on me getting into Stanford. He encouraged me to keep going and supported me. He comes from a great family with great values.
Jim Brown ? When he played lacrosse, he redefined that game to the point where they had to implement rules. I also always think of that image of Bill Russell, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali in Harlem. You know, when Muhammad Ali declared that he wasn?t going into the military draft because of religious reasons. The fact that Jim Brown was the first to throw his hands up and say, ?Look, I?m standing by my brother? was big to me.
Nike+ FuelBandMuhammad Ali ? He ran his mouth a lot, which I didn?t like, but I was a damn big fan of how skillful he was. People often talk about his punching power, his combos and the rope-a-dope, but what they fail to really give him credit on was his methodical thinking. Ali broke people down into small chunks. He understood the pace and rhythm of a fight. He optimized his abilities against that rhythm, more so than any other athlete that I?ve ever seen.
Jesse Owens ? I have archival photos of Jesse that I bought off of eBay. Jesse Owens is a midwestern guy. I like him because of what he did in the Olympics in front of Hitler. Like, how dare he do what he did in front of Hitler at the Olympics? He showed up at a time where black men couldn?t even vote, and he showed up and showed out. Not only did he destroy everyone in track and field, but he also shattered world records.
Joe Louis ? Having spent time in Detroit and going past that Joe Louis fist downtown, it reminds you of the strength of that man. He held the city on his back. I still remember hearing stories about what it was like to be in Chicago and Harlem as a black person when he won the World Heavyweight Championship. It was on the radio and people were dancing in the streets and crying. That was a big moment.
With all five of those characters, it was something about the way they fought through adversity and stereotypes. That just amplifies the black race.
