Ron Roley

Ron Roley, class of 2004, recently joined Nike where he helps organize meetings and events worldwide. Working for the sports apparel giant is a smooth fit for the 41-year-old former athlete who had to earn money for his first pair of Nikes by picking up cans and bottles and turning them in for cash. The youngster from Madras, Oregon, said he "walked between Madras and Prineville picking up cans and bottles" and was finally able to buy his running shoes.

After graduation from high school Roley received a scholarship from George Fox University where he continued his running. A knee injury ended his career, but Roley found something to take its place.

"I fell in love with bicycling," he said.

Roley took his new-found sport seriously and dropped out of George Fox to train, joining the Olympic Development team in Colorado Springs. "It went from a far out dream to a practical chance," said Roley.

Although Roley didn't join the Olympics, the training started him on a 14-year-career bicycle racing. He competed with the US National Team in races across Europe and rode with a small professional racing team in Belgium and France for eight years, giving him an opportunity to travel extensively.

"It was a great experience," Roley said. "I didn't become famous, but I survived."

For most professional bicyclists in situations like Roley, retirement does not come with a huge bank account. In fact, for most of the time he was racing, he "lived cheap" and was able to keep racing thanks to the support of sponsors. One of those companies he worked with was Nike, where as an athlete he did product testing.

Roley next turned to a job in promotion and worked with a company in New Jersey where he represented professional public speakers. While working in New Jersey Roley met the woman who would become his wife, and the couple returned to Oregon. Finding a job was challenging, Roley said, because he never finished his bachelor's degree. He made the decision, nearly 20 years after dropping out, to return to college, and enrolled at Portland State. It was not always easy, but overcoming obstacles was something Roley was used to doing.

"I waited tables to put myself through school," he said.

After graduation he accepted a position with the Portland Art Museum, where he created a community-based research project for students as part of the department's research methods class: a win-win situation for both the museum and the students, who had an opportunity to gain "real world" experience.

Roley recently indulged his entrepreneurial spirit and began developing a product around his passion for wine. While traveling in Europe, Roley started collecting wine. When it came time to start "displaying" his wine, he realized the only wine tags he could find were cheap plastic models. Thinking there has to be a better way to make wine tags, Roley developed a prototype made of stainless steel. He created a new company, Atlas Wine Products International, LLC www.atlaswineproducts.com

Today the company has several different sizes and styles of wine tags that are sold online and soon, Roley says, the company hopes to sign a deal with a major retailer. His wife, Laura, runs the day-to-day operation of the company he founded.

Roley recently accepted a position at Nike that entails travelling the world, and running events featuring most famous athletes. In all ways, Roley says the job is even better than he dreamed. "I love it," he said.

He attributes his success, in part, to the fact that he returned to the fact that he returned to college and got his degree.

"The education did help," Roley said of his time in the Communication Department at PSU. Returning to classes after 20 years "gave me confidence" and helped him land his job at Nike. "It is a company that is so ahead of everything," said Roley. "It is a company that takes care of its employees." Ron Roley is thrilled to be one of those employees.

-- Tom Stevenson