Vortex Optics

Ever tried to manage a fish?... Yeah…me neither. But years ago, I read a story about a guy who did. When asked how you even manage a fish, he said: “You don’t. You manage the environment they're in.” That’s leadership. You can’t force creativity, passion, or culture any more than you can tell a fish how to swim. But you can create an environment where those things thrive. That’s what we aim for around here - where people can take their work seriously, but not themselves too seriously. Case in point: our annual “Fall Is Here” video series. Every year, our team blends hunting season obsession with The Office-style humor…and the result is always something special. It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s proof that when you build the right environment, great people will do great (and sometimes hilarious) things. 🎬 Fall is officially here. --- 💬What’s one thing you’ve done to create an environment where your team thrives?

Ever tried to manage a fish?... Yeah…me neither. But years ago, I read a story about a guy who did. When asked how you even manage a fish, he said: “You don’t. You manage the environment they're in.” That’s leadership. You can’t force creativity, passion, or culture any more than you can tell a fish how to swim. But you can create an environment where those things thrive. That’s what we aim for around here - where people can take their work seriously, but not themselves too seriously. Case in point: our annual “Fall Is Here” video series. Every year, our team blends hunting season obsession with The Office-style humor…and the result is always something special. It’s fun. It’s creative. It’s proof that when you build the right environment, great people will do great (and sometimes hilarious) things. 🎬 Fall is officially here. --- 💬What’s one thing you’ve done to create an environment where your team thrives?

He didn’t walk in with a résumé. He walked in with a sketch... A high school kid named Karsen - quiet, local, curious - had spent a day job shadowing our marketing team. Almost a year later, he came back – this time with two hand drawn hat designs. Scribbled notes in the margins. Color codes. Rope placement. Every detail mapped out like it mattered. Because to him, it did. Then he left them at the front desk with Robin. That could’ve been the end of it. But that’s not how CARE works. Emily Hofstetter, our Art Director, took one look at the drawings and that creative spark hit. “Let’s bring this to life.” She pulled in our Apparel Team.  Brandon Schroeder to hunt down the right colorways. Gina Brown started cutting ropes off other hats - literally taking them apart - to stitch together something that didn’t exist anywhere else. Sometimes you just need to break the script…and follow that feeling. When Karsen came back to HQ, we handed him a 1-of-1 hat, built exactly to his specs. He couldn’t stop smiling.  Neither could we. And suddenly, that baby blue hat wasn’t just a design anymore. It was a story. A spark of connection that can’t be measured in units or margins… only meaning. Because that hat was 1-of-1. Just like Karsen. Just like every customer. You see, when you treat people like they’re 1-of-1, it’s no longer just a transaction… it’s now a story worth telling. You don’t scale by chasing scale. You scale by creating something so human, so personal, that people can’t help but share it. CARE - Creating A Rare Experience does the scaling for you. So to Emily, Brandon, and Gina…thank you for reminding us what real CARE looks like. One student. One idea. One hat. One unforgettable reminder that every story worth telling starts with someone worth caring about. Story > Scale. Story → Scale. ---- Let’s prove it. 💬Comment “hat” and share this post - together, we’ll make Karsen’s story the one that scales.

The CARE Movement is here... A movement where we take what’s been fueling Vortex for years - Create A Rare Experience - and open it up to leaders and brands everywhere. It’s about loyalty, service, and connection that outlasts transactions. The journey starts now... You in? 🦬

Halfway through the show and I was getting crushed... My wife, Susan, and I were in Champaign, Illinois, working a small show. Not exactly the Super Bowl of hunting expos, but a gritty little arena where you shook every hand, looked people in the eye, and earned every single sale. I had the sales background. I was the competitive one. I expected to dominate. Instead, Susan, kind, soft-spoken, gentle, was outselling me five to one. After watching customer after customer leave her table with a purchase, I finally asked, “What are you doing?” She shrugged. “I just keep telling them about the VIP Warranty.” “That’s it?” “That’s it.” I frowned. “I don’t want people thinking our gear breaks. We make great stuff.” She smiled, a little sass in her voice. “You keep talking specs and features. I keep it simple. VIP Warranty. That’s why I have all the sales, and you have 20%.” This was over 15 years ago, early in our journey, and I still wasn’t convinced. A few weeks later, I flew out to Utah for a retailer meeting. While there, I was introduced to John, one of the top Vortex salesman in the country. Big, friendly, part Santa Claus, part Grizzly Adams. “What’s your secret?” I asked. He let the silence sit, then grinned. “Joe, I just keep telling them about that VIP Warranty.” I laughed. “Are you serious? That’s it?” “That’s it. Keep it simple. Stick to the warranty. Let them know you have their back and the rest takes care of itself.” I flew home shaking my head. Two people. Two states. Same answer. And me, the so-called "sales guy", still not fully convinced. Around that time, I was reading Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. There was a section on “𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀” - the simple but powerful idea that instead of chasing new answers, you look closely at what’s already working and double down. The 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 finally hit me: the most valuable things are often hiding in plain sight. They’re working so well we take them for granted, instead of mining them for gold. That thought followed me back into the office. I sat in my cubicle and looked around, our catalog, counter mats, product boxes. Flipping through page after page. Nothing about the VIP Warranty. Our Bright Spot was sitting right there, and we were barely even talking about it. So we went to work. We put the VIP Warranty everywhere, ads, boxes, videos, dealer displays. And we told real stories, like the guy whose dog chewed up his binoculars. He mailed them in. We replaced them. No questions asked. And here's the thing: People didn’t think our gear was weak. Instead, they trusted us even more. When we poured focus into telling our customers' VIP Warranty stories, it became rocket fuel for our growth. --- So let me ask you this: 💡What’s the 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 you already know works…but haven’t doubled down on yet?