Create a Rare Experience with Joe Hamilton

Penn State Wrestling has won 13 of the last 15 national championships, building one of the most dominant programs in college sports. But the story behind that success goes far beyond wrestling.
In this episode, Joe sits down with Clay Steadman, General Manager of Penn State Wrestling and a former wrestler who experienced the arrival of legendary coach Cael Sanderson firsthand.
Clay shares how Sanderson transformed the program's culture, why that experience changed the direction of his own life, and what makes Penn State such a special place for the athletes and coaches who are part of it.
They get into:
•    Why Sanderson was willing to lose some of his best wrestlers to establish a new standard
•    How Penn State replaced wrestling's traditional "embrace the suck" mentality with fun, gratitude, and excellence
•    Why the coaching staff has stayed together despite opportunities to lead other programs
•    How Penn State continues to attract top athletes in an era increasingly driven by NIL money
Penn State's success speaks for itself, but what really stands out is the impact this program has on the people who are part of it. It's a powerful example of what it means to Create A Rare Experience, and how that impact can last long after the wins and championships.
 

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

A kids’ binocular was never supposed to be a big product for Vortex. It started with two employees paying attention to something our customers cared deeply about: their kids.

In this episode, Joe breaks down the story behind the Vortex Bantam and how a simple idea to create meaningful gifts for customers grew into something much bigger. Less than three years later, Vortex has given away roughly 4,000 Bantams to create rare experiences and sold more than 110,000.

But the numbers aren’t really the point. The story illustrates a principle anyone can use: make what’s important to the people you serve important to you.

Joe gets into:

• How two Vortex employees turned customer relationships into a product idea

• Why the best ideas often come from the people closest to the customer

• How specificity can make someone feel genuinely seen

• Why creating a rare experience doesn’t have to start with an ROI calculation

• What a binocular-shaped dog toy can teach us about paying attention

The Bantam started as a way to create a memorable moment for a customer and their kid. What followed is a pretty good example of what can happen when you stop focusing on what matters to you and start paying attention to what matters to them.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

Most companies say they put the customer first. The real test is how easy they make it for that customer to actually do business with them.

In this episode, Joe shares the story behind About You, Vortex’s first core value, and how a lesson from his dad helped shape the way Vortex approaches the customer experience to this day. The idea is simple: understand what life looks like from the customer’s side and work backwards from there.

That thinking shows up everywhere, from answering the phone with a real person and removing unnecessary hoops from the VIP Warranty to designing complicated products that are easy to use. Sometimes it even means taking an order written on a napkin because asking the customer to fill out another form only makes their life harder.

Joe gets into:

• Why most “customer-first” companies aren’t actually customer-first
• How friction quietly drives customers away
• What it means to build your business backwards from the customer
• Why making things easier can become a real competitive advantage
• What Vortex learned from Amazon, Chick-fil-A, Tesla, Pink’s and Apple

Vortex entered the optics industry about 100 years late. Joe shares why he believes making it easy to do business with us is a big part of how we caught up and eventually became the market leader.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

Brandon Downer and Carter Smith had the jobs they thought they were supposed to want. Then they got laid off, started cleaning windows, and began questioning a lot of what they had been taught about work, success, and service.

Today, Pink’s Window Services is growing across the country by doing things that sound almost too simple: show up on time, do what you say you’re going to do, answer the phone, and treat people like they matter. In this episode, Brandon and Carter join Joe to talk about how Pink’s got started and why building the business forced them to get over themselves and rethink what meaningful work actually looks like.

They get into:

• Why some of the most important jobs are the ones we’ve been taught to look down on

• What happened when they stopped being embarrassed to call themselves window cleaners

• Why the customer’s preference should trump your process

• Hiring for hospitality instead of experience

• Why humility and “self-forgetfulness” are a competitive advantage •

 How putting service first became the engine behind Pink’s growth

This one is funny, honest, and full of simple ideas that apply whether you’re cleaning windows, leading a team, or building a business. Because the work doesn’t have to look impressive to matter.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

The Milwaukee Brewers™ are the smallest market in baseball. They do not have the highest payroll yet they keep winning.

In this episode, Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger joins Joe to talk about what’s behind that success and why it goes far beyond what happens on the field.

Rick shares how the Brewers have built a team-first culture where egos get checked at the door, talented people are expected to make everyone around them better, and no player is good enough to justify becoming a poisonous influence on the clubhouse.

They also get into:

It’s a conversation about baseball, but even more about what happens when talented people put the team ahead of themselves.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

The NEW podcast studio is in full effect.  In this special listener Q&A, the Vortex Nation and CARE podcast teams join forces to answer your best hunting, shooting, CARE, and just-for-fun questions. A .308 SUPER update to the best beef jerky flavor and more, the guys tackle your hard-hitting questions and have fun doing it!

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

In this episode, Joe explores Return on Rare, the final stop on the CARE flywheel.

From Vortex’s preschool and growing product lineup to its campus in Wisconsin, many of the things people see today are the result of something much less visible: years of serving customers, dealers, and teammates one interaction at a time.

Joe shares why growth, profit, and new opportunities are rarely the starting point. More often, they’re the result of creating rare experiences and a commitment to serving others over the long haul.

Growth wasn’t the goal. It followed years of showing up for people, one interaction at a time.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

Most leaders think their biggest job is finding and developing great people.

Joe argues there's something even harder—and often more important.

In this episode, he shares one of the most uncomfortable leadership lessons behind the culture at Vortex: why protecting your team sometimes means making the decision you've been avoiding.

Along the way, you'll learn:

If you're responsible for people, culture, or leadership, this conversation will challenge the way you think about protecting your team.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

Most people think great performance comes from focusing on performance.

What if that's backwards?

In this episode, Joe shares a lesson that has shaped his approach to leadership, sales, coaching, and public speaking: the best performances happen when you stop making it about yourself and start focusing on serving others.

Through stories from Vortex, a conversation with MBA students, and a football coaching moment he'll never forget, Joe explains why service isn't a weakness. It's often the very thing that unlocks your best work.

If you've ever felt the pressure to perform, this conversation is for you.

Because the people you're trying to reach can feel the difference.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram

Bob Burg has sold millions of books, but his biggest impact might be the way he changed how people think about success.

As co-author of The Go-Giver, Bob challenged the idea that business is about taking, negotiating, and keeping score. Instead, he built a philosophy around creating value, serving others, and building relationships that last.

In this conversation, Bob and Joe discuss:

• The story behind The Go-Giver

• Why "nice guys finish last" is a myth

• The difference between price and value

• Why nobody cares about your quota

• The hidden danger of transactional thinking

• The Law of Receptivity and why receiving is often harder than giving

• Why service is a strength, not a weakness

Joe also shares how discovering The Go-Giver changed the trajectory of his career and helped reinforce many of the principles that shaped Vortex.

If you're a business owner, leader, salesperson, or simply someone who wants to create more value in the lives of others, this conversation is packed with timeless ideas that are just as relevant today as when the book was first published.

Enjoy the conversation.

The CARE Movement is a roadmap for leaders who believe human connection is the brand.

This is your invitation to think differently and lead with heart.

Subscribe to the CARE Movement - where connection creates momentum.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn and Instagram