Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, isn’t your traditional chief executive.

"The last thing we want," says Parker, "is to be a big dumb company that feels we can put a swoosh on something and people will buy that."

Since he took over in 2006, Nike’s annual revenue is up 60% and many attribute that growth to Parker’s management.

“I go out and seek ideas from lower parts of company, maybe a new designer fresh out of school,” said Parker. “Sometimes it’s good to see raw ideas at a basic level. I like to pull that out, put it in the spotlight, celebrate that ideas come from everywhere. There’s real value to show everyone in the company that you can make a difference.”

Parker, having been with the company since 1979, continues to fuel his passion for design. He sketches product designs to relax. His office is covered with artistic inspirations, many of which he bought from street artists throughout the world. And he is one third of the design collaboration HTM, which operates within Nike, but without deadlines or budgets and is often responsible for new products.

"It’s natural for people to be comfortable the way things are," Parker says. "My job, our job, is to not close the mind.”

Pictures of the Year International
Year: 2016
Place: First
Category: Multimedia Photographer of the Year

NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 2016
Place: Third
Category: Feature Multimedia Package

NPPA's Best of Photojournalism
Year: 2016
Place: Third
Category: Multimedia Portfolio

The goal of this production was to make a short film about Nike CEO Mark Parker for the Wall Street Journal Magazine’s fifth annual Innovator Awards.

Mark Parker is one of the most influential business leaders in the world. As such, he was unavailable for an interview. Additionally, it was important for the viewer to see just how many influential athletes have decided to work with Nike. Footage of those athletes is exorbitantly expensive and often complicated to acquire.

The Wall Street Journal Magazine identified Serena Williams, a long time Nike athlete, as the individual that might best be able to speak to Mark’s management style. Thankfully, she agreed. Finding visual assets of Nike’s athletes was a bit more complicated. Initially, MediaStorm and the WSJ Magazine tracked down broadcast video of important sports moments with Nike athletes. Much of that video was exorbitantly expensive. Thankfully, Nike offered some commercial work that they had the right to distribute. That and a series of still images licensed from Getty Images created the bulk of the visual experience.

The films were premiered at The Wall Street Journal Magazine’s fifth annual Innovator Awards on November 4, 2015 and were released online the following day.

With five global editions spanning 62 countries, WSJ. Magazine—which publishes 12 issues a year—is The Wall Street Journal's luxury-lifestyle publication dedicated to the power and passions of the Journal's readership.