Just Do It Together

Lake Oswego’s Molly Martin, 13, helps design a new Nike shoe to fit her life experiences battling cancer

By Rebecca Randall

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 22, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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The she met with designer Nuria Hansen and developer Brian Mitchell.

“With Molly we had two meetings trying to understand the story behind her – her character and what she’s all about,” said Hansen. “The first impression was that she was a little shy at the beginning but she opened up really fast and was very engaged and energetic and vibrant. Right away we had a good connection because of her dedication to the project. She was really into it. She was very excited about the whole thing.”

Hansen and Mitchell took Molly to visit Nike’s materials library.

“Most of the time that’s fun for the child to see the variety of colors, materials, trims, laces, etc., and start choosing the materials for the shoe,” said Hansen.

For example, Molly’s final shoe design has faded color – an effect that hadn’t occurred to Molly.

Above all, though, Molly wanted a shoe that sells. The money raised from the sale of the shoes goes back to Doernbecher. That is another reason Molly chose to make her personal details subtle – she thought it might have more universal appeal that way.

After the initial meeting, “the designer and developer have a few weeks to digest the information and make it into something that is what is the child’s vision,” said Hansen. “Then we meet again with the child and get feedback.

“You can see (her personality) in the very vibrant color choice, the sporty colors and also there’s a color fade in the shoe that to me represent her love of sport and movement and energy,” said Hansen.

Molly visited Nike offices five times during the process and exchanged e-mails with Hansen and Mitchell throughout the effort. The end result was definitely better than her initial ideas, she said.

Also, each shoe comes with a baller ID band that says “Just do it together.”

The shoe’s impact

Nike and Doernbecher unveiled the shoes at an auction hosted by Weiden + Kennedy in September.

All six new shoes, which include Air Jordans, a skate shoe and an Air Force I, were auctioned off along with other Nike collector items. “I told (the audience) I wouldn’t go for less than $10,000 for my shoe,” said Molly. Her shoe sold for $12,000, and the auction raised a total of $300,000 in live and silent auctions, ticket sales and merchandise.

The shoes will be released for general sale at Nike stores across the country this holiday season and sales are expected to reach $1 million.

The project was a positive, thoughtful experience for all involved.

Hansen counts herself as lucky to have been selected to participate, “It’s great because it’s very inspiring to get a perspective through her. She’s a teenager so she just brings you back to where you were as a 13 year old. The fun, the joy, the crazy colors, loving sports, friends and family. That part is just fun to observe and to be a part of it as well.”

Molly was likewise inspired by Hansen and now wants to become a Nike designer.

“She came one afternoon and just shadowed me at work and she had a lot of fun with it,” said Hansen. “She’s someone who likes to learn and expand her horizons and at the same time she’s fun loving.”

For Molly, “it gave her something to think about and just get away from everyday being sick,” said Nanette.

Molly also got to speak to Nike store managers about the program as they prepare to launch the line in their stores.

“She had a lot of them in tears,” said Nanette. “One man asked, ‘What advice you would give to a kid who gets diagnosed with a brain tumor?’”

Molly replied, “Just keep telling yourself that you’re amazing.”

After the formal questions ended, the man came up to talk to Molly and told her that his daughter was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. She will have the same surgeon who performed Molly’s surgery.

She signed an autograph for his daughter.

“It was pretty cool,” said Molly.

All six pairs of shoes will be available at Nike Town on Nov. 14. To see the styles, visit http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/ab

out/dchf/fundraising/nike.cfm .

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