Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has announced that it has hired Tiffany Beers, the engineer behind the self-lacing sneakers from Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE).
Beers updated her LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) profile revealing that she left Nike and has joined Tesla where she has been given the Staff Technical Program Manager position. Sneaker retailer Nice Kicks was among the first to notice the change and Fortune has confirmed that it is indeed true. Beers may not be that popular in the tech industry but she has definitely earned herself quite the reputation over the past few years. She was one of the engineers behind the Nike Mag, the self-lacing shoe and has been known for pushing the boundaries of athletic shoe technology.
Beers also held down a key position in the development of Kanye West’s Air Yeezy which adopted design cues from the 80s. She has thus become an icon in the sneaker industry and was also the technical lead in Nike HyperAdapt 1.0. She came up with the slogan, “a sneaker changes as the athlete changes.” This has been one of the key objectives of HyperAdapt. Her ability to think outside the box is probably one of the reasons Tesla hired her.
“It’s time for a different dance. Stretch Yourself. Take a risk,” read a fortune cookie note that she posted on Instagram.
The fortune cookie note was posted before Beers made the announcement of her career move from Nike to Tesla. It is currently not clear what she will be doing as the new staff technical program manager but it will only be a matter of time until her contribution at the electric vehicle manufacturer gets into the limelight. The move also raises a lot of questions as to what Tesla is planning in terms of innovation. It is not clear whether she will be working on already existing technology from Tesla or whether the company is planning to come up with something new.
Tesla stock closed the latest trading session on Monday at $355.40 after tanking by 0.14 percent compared to the value of the stock during the previous close.