In this Famous Friday episode, Evan Carmichael delivers a motivational talk about how to achieve entrepreneurial goals by modeling the success of proven figures. He uses Phil Knight’s founding story of Nike as a concrete example. Knight’s business plan began as a university assignment to create a shoe company, identifying an opportunity to import high‑quality, low‑cost Japanese shoes to challenge Adidas. After graduation, despite lacking experience, connections, and capital, Knight acted on his plan: he traveled to Japan, negotiated with suppliers, and launched Nike with just $500 of his own money and $500 from partner Bill Bowerman, paying a student $35 for the iconic swoosh logo. Carmichael highlights the lesson that many people create business plans but never execute them, citing excuses about experience and resources. He urges viewers to stop day‑dreaming, start small, engage customers, and take incremental steps toward their goals, emphasizing belief and action as the path to building the next Nike. The video ends with a call to subscribe to the channel and sign up for Carmichael’s newsletter, followed by a brief testimonial from Jason J. Ros Fonseca praising the newsletter.
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Welcome to another Famous Friday. I believe that the fastest way to accomplish any goal is to model success. Find someone who's already gone out and achieved the goal that you want to accomplish. Model what worked for them and apply it to your business. So today we're going to learn from Phil Knight. Phil Knight is the founder of a company called Nike. Now when he started this business, it was just an idea. He was assigned— he was a university student— he was assigned with a project. And the project was come up with a business idea in a market that you know and create a report on it, write a little business plan for it. And he was a track runner, he loved running, and so he thought, "I'm gonna make a business plan around shoes." Adidas had a stranglehold on the market and he figured there was an opportunity to go to Japan and get some high-quality shoes that are made at a low cost and import them into the United States. And that was the crux of his business plan and he submitted it as part of his course. And when he graduated, he felt like, "You know, that was a really good idea. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I could be an entrepreneur." And he decided to act on his business plan, not just let that sit as something that was marked and graded and helped him graduate and he got whatever mark he got on it, but this could actually be something that I do in my life. And he didn't have the connections, he didn't have the experience, he wasn't a businessman, he didn't have a lot of capital resources, but he decided he was going to take it upon himself to try this business idea. And so he flew to Japan and he started meeting with companies and he started lining up potential deals and he started working with potential suppliers and he started Nike. And Nike began with $500 from him and $500 from his partner Bill Bowerman. And that was the start of Nike. They paid $35 to a local university student to help them design their logo, which was the Nike swoosh, and they were in business. This is a really important lesson because how many of you have designed a business plan, have written it down, or come up with something in your head, but then you don't act on it? And you may tell yourself a story like, "I don't have the experience, I don't have the connections, I don't have the contacts, you know, I don't know what I'm doing, I can never get this thing off the ground." If you want to start your business, then you need to start. You need to believe in yourself. You gotta stop daydreaming, Stop just writing business plans, stop thinking about notes of what you're gonna do, and actually start! And start small! It doesn't have to cost you a lot of money. Start small, start talking to customers, start making some connections, start getting some experience, and every day move one step closer to getting your goal actually happen. And if you do that, then you might build the next Nike. Belief. You guys like this video? You want to see more? You can subscribe to the channel by clicking below. Thank you so much. I'll see you soon. Every week I share my best information to help you fuel your business forward in my newsletter. Check it out below. Hi, I'm Jason J. Ros Fonseca of RiseOnline.com, and I want to say Evan Carmichael's newsletter is consistent, fun, inspiring, and it's the only newsletter I prioritize and look forward to. Period.
