Sports have a way of unifying, challenging, stretching, and pushing us to achieve the impossible.  As people it is human nature to take the path of least resistance.  I truly believe people won’t change until their challenged, I hope April story challenges you the way it challenged me.

There are times in life when someone or something inspires you to greatness, in this case it is April Holmes Paralympics Gold Medalist.  I found April when I was doing a search for Dwyane Wade and his new footwear deal with Brand Jordan.

Note: This is a great brand story.  April is the first woman of Brand Jordan and a great personal branding story who is truly living her passion and a purpose driven life. For more incite to her story check out her Brand Jordan video and follow her on Twitter (@AprilHolmes).

Lebron, originally uploaded by mwklawit.

I am a witness. I watched Lebron James put on a scoring display as he hit 48 points, the last 25 points, and 29 out of the last 30 points on my beloved Pistons in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It got me to thinking about the branding of athletes, but not just any athletes, Nike athletes. How much is a Nike athlete worth? Six of the top ten highest paid athletes are Nike athletes: Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Michael Jordan (who no longer plays basketball), Kobe Bryant, and Lance Armstrong. Nike pays their athletes unreal amounts of money, so that their unreal performances are captured and inked in history with the swoosh.

What comes to mind when you see the swoosh? Tiger winning his first Masters, Jordan winning his 6th world championship against Utah scoring over Byron Russell in the closing seconds, Kobe hitting 81 points on Toronto, or Lance Armstrong winning his 6th Tour De France. Is it the shoes? Do they make you perform better? Do you feel different? What imprint comes to mind when you think of Nike - dominance, victory, or power? Consumers spend unreal amounts of money for a piece of these athletes, their moments, and what they represent (athletically). Do the athletes make the brand value or does the value of the brand make the athlete?