Adolf Dassler: The Leader Behind Brand Adidas Success
Adolf Dassler: His Early life of Adidas Founder Adolf Dassler was the youngest of the four siblings born in the German town of Herzogenaurach in 1900. His father, Christoph, worked as a tailor, and his mother, Pauline, ran the family laundry. Adolf finished high school and, at his father's request, began an apprenticeship as a baker. Although he completed this training, a life of bread making did not appeal to him, so he decided to learn the skills of shoemaking instead. Adolf's main interest outside of work was sports. He played and competed in a variety of sports, including track and field, football, boxing, ice hockey, skiing, and ski jumping, accompanied by his childhood friend Fritz Zehlein (the son of a local blacksmith, who plays an important role later in the story). Through his exposure to such a diverse range of sports, he made a key observation that would later serve as the foundation of his success: he noticed that all athletes wore essentially the same shoes. Wor...