A Glimpse Behind the Mask
“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” — Batman
Super Heroic CEO and Co-Founder Jason Mayden is no stranger to adversity. As the prolific designer behind a number of Nike Jordan’s iconic shoes, it might be assumed that things have come easily to him in recent years. And while Mayden does indeed consider himself blessed in many ways, nothing could be further from the truth.
Amidst serious health issues afflicting his family and the ensuing financial difficulties, Mayden began to question his ultimate purpose in life and whether or not he was doing justice to the principles he held dear. As he continued to reflect on the legacy he wanted to leave, Mayden came to the conclusion that his personal and professional goals needed to align. Although successful ventures were never out of reach, Mayden couldn’t ignore the intense impact of the recent health concerns his family had dealt with. As a result, Mayden felt a strong compulsion to empower youth to take their health and futures into their own hands — a mission that, despite being deemed impossible by others, gave Mayden both clarity and conviction.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Mayden embarked on what he describes as the most challenging year of his life — through faith and unyielding determination, Super Heroic was born.
“Life doesn’t give us purpose. We give life purpose.” — The Flash
Harshal Sisodia — Super Heroic’s CMO and Co-Founder — happened to be facing his own life-changing health issues around the same time. A massive heart attack during his tenure as Nike’s Global Digital Brand Director forced Sisodia to take leave from work and reevaluate the direction his life and career were heading in.
As Sisodia contemplated his next steps, he recognized that the consequences of serious illnesses and health scares were two-fold in situations such as his. The thought of having almost left his son behind was devastating; equally jarring was the thought that younger generations simply weren’t being given the tools or the opportunity to take control of their own health. Sisodia’s heart attack and newfound perspective catalyzed a radical shift in his attitude and goals, and he knew he had to address this deficiency in society once he was back on his feet. In a serendipitous turn of events, Sisodia received a life-changing call from Mayden during which he was invited to be a part of Super Heroic and join the mission. Sisodia felt that fate had led him to this moment; he accepted Mayden’s invitation and never looked back.
“This life isn’t for us,” says Sisodia. “It’s for setting up our children, and the next generation, for success. That’s what Super Heroic is really about.”
“Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us.” — Superman
Through careful observation and research, Mayden and Sisodia recognized that in recent years, the power of play has been stifled by an overabundance of technology and other equally sedentary forms of recreation, negatively affecting both the physical and cognitive health of kids everywhere. They realized that a lack of play severely restricts a child’s imagination, suppressing the ability to discover and express his or her authentic self. “Creativity is the connective tissue between where we want to go and where we currently are,” says Mayden. Without the ability to start self-actualizing at a young age, children may have more difficulty finding the confidence to set and reach goals for themselves.
The danger that lies in the inability to be oneself is that dreams go unrealized. Since children are some of the most impressionable members of our society, allowing them to be unbridled and unapologetic in their self-expression is a crucial factor in their developmental health.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” — Spiderman
Play is universal, an inherent impulse in the behavior of every child, shaping the way they view the world and their place in it. As with any superpower, the true strength lies in the hero who wields it. Super Heroic aims to provide children with a tool that empowers them to play hard, dream big, embrace their authentic selves and uncover their own unique superpowers, one shoe at a time.
Mayden and Sisodia’s life experiences and unique perspectives serve as the foundation upon which they’ve built both a product and a philosophy. Together, they have worked tirelessly to reenergize the notion of active play and redefine the potential every child has to be a super hero in their own story.
