The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains: How Jansport Makes It Happen

This is a great, easy read that will inspire you. If it doesn't motivate you to start your own company or climb mountains it will inspire you enough to get off of the couch and find ways to have more fun at your current job.

I was visiting my record label and the marketing guy had two books on his desk that he offered me. He had gotten them for free. One was on FUBU and one was this. I took this one. The cover art really is attractive enough alone. Skip tells the interesting story of how Jansport came to be. I had no idea they started the trend to use backpacks at school. Along with this story comes several stories of climbing different mountains. If this sounds disjointed, it kinda is. I think Skip has just looked back on his life and wrote about what he found he did that was most interesting. Found Jansport, climb some mountains, the end. Having said that, I went from having zero interest in the brand to reading the book in two days. I wasn't able to put the thing down. It's very interesting, simple to read and even a little inspiring. I felt like building backpacks and climbing mountains for weeks.

Skip Yowell writes about the evolution of JanSport as it morphs from an idea into an internationally known brand. Throughout, his identification of corporate principles as applied by JanSport easily applies to anyone hoping to create their own business in an authentic, personally meaningful and ethically responsible way. His advice derives from experience. It's a real-world, real-people success story that offers a guide for anyone who is interested in pursuing a long-shot dream.

Baby boomers who remember the sixties will enjoy this book. So will hikers, campers, students and anyone else who has ever used a JanSport backpack or tent. Skip reveals the serendipity story of how to succeed `without a business plan'.

I was a highschool classmate of Skip's but lost track of him till 13 years ago. I am amazing to see how far a person can go in a lifetime, how close they can stay to a dream and how he developed an idea/company into a houseold name. Skip was and still is a modest guy who built something truely worth boasting about and had many great adventures along the way. And as an "organizational person" I am glad to see his thoughts on customer service, communications and first hand knowledge of his market, its customers and the application of his product.