I was born on November 3, 1900, in the small town of Herzogenaurach, Germany
My mother ran her own laundry service where my older brothers and sister would help when we could.
We became known as the town's "laundry boys"
But that never bothered me because I was always distracted by my father's work
A few years earlier, he had to close his family's textile business
and was forced to work in a local factory as a shoe cobbler
It was difficult to see his family business gone, but if it wasn't for that,
I wouldn't have created one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Since I can remember, I've always had a strong love for sports and it was something I was great at.
Not just one or two sports either.
Track and field, skiing, soccer, football, boxing.
I loved everything about every sport, but I was also bothered by the same thing in every sport.
The shoes.
Keep in mind this was 1918 and back then shoes were just shoes.
To me, it seemed wrong using the same shoe for sprinting and soccer as each sport was different.
So, I set out to revolutionize the sports world
by creating professional specialized sports shoes that would improve performance.
Unfortunately my visions were halted when World War I broke out
and I was drafted into the war.
I wasn't even 18 yet when I got drafted.
It was something that changed how I would live the rest of my life
and promised myself to never waste another minute on something I didn't fully believe in.
So the moment I got back I converted my mother's washroom into a shoe workshop.
And along with my close friend we built our own machinery
from a bicycle since Germany was in an economic depression.
It was one of the most difficult times in my life
not knowing if what I was doing was right,
whether I'd succeed or if my ideas would work or amount to anything.
But this was what I believed in and it was what I was meant to do.
One of our first shoes would be used for track.
I experimented with many different types of materials ranging from kangaroo leather to shark skin.
But in the end, I settled on cowhide
and attached nails that we hand filed down into spikes to the bottom of the shoe.
When I showed people many thought it was funny or a fluke claiming it didn't work.
I ignored their words believing in the product and continued my work.
Fortunately my older brother saw the potential and joined me
as he was skilled in business and marketing.
We created the Dassler Brothers Sport Shoe Factory.
In 1936 at the German Olympic Games,
my brother and I saw the perfect opportunity to show the world that our shoes were what athletes needed
We would equip athletes from all around the world with our shoes to be seen on the world stage
Showing our shoes worked,
many of our athletes would go on to win their events and positively praising our footwear
Our shoes reached the world stage when American Jesse Owens won
4 gold medals in track with our spiked shoes.
The entire sporting world had never seen such shoes before and orders began to pour in.
But just as we opened new factories and began expanding
World War II broke out changing everything.
In order to keep the business alive, we were pressured to join the National Workers Party
or risk losing everything and putting over 100 employees out of work.
I was deeply saddened by everything.
What mattered to me most had always been sports and it's ability to bring people of
all colors and nationalities together.
Not wars that tore families and people apart.
My brother and I were drafted, but unlike my brother, I was released early in order to run the business.
We tried to manage our split through letters but my brother felt I wasn't handling the business well
and we began fighting more often.
Eventually, after his return from the war, we decided to split ways never speaking to each again.
He would become one of my biggest rivals with his own company,
Puma
With the United States looking to help the German economy recover after the war,
they provide me with leftover war materials so I could continue my work.
I had a workforce, materials, my innovative spirit, but was missing a name for my shoes.
I wanted to name it with the first 2 letters of my first name and the first 3 letters of my last,
but that was already taken
So when registering, I decided to add an 'I' in between.
officially naming my sports shoe company, Adidas.
It was fitting since my nickname was already 'Adi' anyway.
For my logo, I remembered I had created a football shoe with 3 stripes on the side added for stability.
I thought it was the perfect symbol showing our innovative spirit as a trademark for our products
and that later became the famous 3 stripes
For the next few years, we continued to develop new technologies always trying new ideas.
Even speaking with orthopedics and working directly with athletes hearing their needs,
what adjustments they liked or didn't
I think this is what set us apart from all other competing companies.
We listened to what the people wanted and together, we made ideas into realities bettering all sports.
People like Muhammad Ali and creating legendary boxing boots
or the revolutionary Stan Smith tennis shoes that would later become a fashion icon
showed the world that one shoe doesn't fit all.
It was always about the shoes and the people who play the sport.
The athletic competition, the trade, and part of the lifestyle
The way it brought people together, creating winners and losers and then witnessing those who lost triumph
and became greater pioneers of our time.
It is our simple belief that shoes are more than just tools
They are the embodiment of entire generations as a symbol of ingenuity but most of all
the determination never to give up.
My name is Adolf "Adi" Dassler
and I created the sportswear company
Adidas