The Moment I Realized My Dream and Discovered Impossible is Nothing

Impossible is Nothing.

Seriously.

I know that sounds extremely cliché coming from an adidas employee, but I cannot overstate that phrase. Have you ever had a dream that you were so passionate about, continuously worked so hard for, but genuinely believed would never come true?

I have.

But I kept thinking, “If impossible really is nothing and if I actually want this dream to come true, there really shouldn’t be a reason why it can’t.”

So, here I am.

My dream became a reality when I got a phone call (I missed the phone call actually because I was sleeping, but I immediately called the number back!) at 8:45am on May 6, 2022, when I was offered an internship position at the adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

I’ve been playing sports my entire life. From competitive softball, soccer, and volleyball, the one brand that was always by my side was adidas.

I remember lacing up my adidas cleats on the dewy, morning grass before my soccer provincials. Zipping up my adidas track suit jacket before warm-up in my last national volleyball game. Wearing my adidas t-shirt after cooling off from the heat during my softball World Series tournament.

The brand that’s never failed me, that’s pushed me to be my best, and inspired me to believe that if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything.

Alright, now let’s fast forward a bit.

When I entered university and was sitting in my introductory business class, I was told that there was the opportunity to work for adidas at their headquarters in Germany.

Now, when I tell you I could not believe this was an actual opportunity, I genuinely couldn’t. When I finally realized this was real, I knew from that moment on that my goal for my undergraduate degree was to work for adidas. I had no idea how I was going to make that happen.

The first time I applied to adidas was in October 2019, but unfortunately, I didn’t get an interview. I applied again in March 2020, but again, I did not get an interview.

During this time, COVID-19 was in full swing, so I took some time to reflect on why I might not be getting my chance. I realized that my experience was lacking and that if I wanted to stand out, I needed to fix that. So, I joined more clubs at my university and worked internships to try to help build my experience.

In March 2021, I applied again. No interview.

Surprisingly, this just made me more motivated, so I continued to build up my experience. My efforts started to pay off and I landed a vice president position in a club that represents our university in Western Canada’s largest business competition. This is the experience that really helped me gain the skills needed for the next round of applications.

February 2022 rolled around, and I decided to apply for an adidas position in Toronto. I spent hours prepping and networking for the application, and days working on my application video. This time felt different. I felt like I actually had a shot at getting a role.

I did not get an interview.

At this point, I thought that maybe my dream of working at adidas was just a dream. Something that I’ll only see when I close my eyes. Something that’s too far from reality to come true.

In the midst of my sadness, my friend pushed me to apply for a position at the adidas headquarters in Germany one last time. The place I’ve wanted to work for since my first year in university. For all it’s worth, I still believed that impossible was nothing.

So, I did it. I applied.

Something was different this time, though.

I got an interview.

I remember reading that email about 30 times because I kept thinking that maybe I was just imagining it all.

But it was real.

So, it was time to prep. I didn’t think it was possible to be this excited for an 11:30pm interview.

The interview ended, I said “danke”, then I went to sleep.

A week later, I got another email from adidas saying I made it to the next round of interviews – this time with the hiring managers.

At this point I was jumping around and screaming with excitement.

It was time for my final interview.

I logged onto Teams at 4:55am on May 3, 2022. And the rest was history.

Whatever your dream is, whether you’re close to reaching it, or thousands of miles away, take it from me to never give up.

If I didn’t apply to adidas this past year, I would never be where I am today. I would never have grown into the person I am today; I would have never experienced the opportunities I have. Nothing in life that’s worthwhile comes easy. The greatest accomplishments are the ones that take the longest to achieve.