Origin Story

𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗡𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸. 𝗛𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻…
Mid-80s. No internet. No Amazon. No overnight anything.

Just a guy in a small Wild Birds Unlimited store, surrounded by seed bags and feeder poles, trying to help his customers bring birds into their backyard.

That guy was my dad.

His customers kept asking the same thing:
“Dan, I’ve got birds at the feeder, but I can’t see them up close. You got any binoculars?”

At the time, bird stores didn’t sell optics. If you wanted binoculars, you went to a camera shop or an electronics store. And if the clerk knew what binoculars were, it was probably because he just sold you a VCR.

So, my dad did what he always did. He tried to help. He sent customers to those places.

Until one day, he asked a better question:
Why am I sending them…and their money, somewhere else?

So he started calling the big binocular brands, thinking they’d jump at the opportunity.

They laughed him off.
“No way I’m sending a rep out there, sorry.”

Slammed doors. One after another.

But if you knew my dad, you’d know this:
Telling him no is a great way to get him interested.

So he drove to American TV, bought 12 pairs of binoculars off the retail shelf, and brought them back to his store. Priced them exactly one dollar over what he paid.

The display wasn’t fancy, just a case likely sandwiched between some suet cakes and a birdbath that still smelled like burlap fresh from the truck.

A few weeks later, the case was empty.

He called the manufacturers back.
“Hey, remember me? That guy you laughed off the phone?
I just sold 12 pairs. Here’s the proof.
Still think we can’t sell binoculars?”😏

That was the moment the door cracked open.

The margins weren’t great.
But he wasn't thinking short term.
He was playing the long game.

And that experiment, born out of curiosity and customer service, was the first domino that eventually led to Vortex.

He always just found a way.
Through Vietnam.
Through dental school.
Through selling his practice at 38 with three young boys and starting from scratch.
Through every slammed door, every unknown, every obstacle in his way.

He built one of the largest Wild Birds Unlimited stores in the country.
Then Eagle Optics, one of the biggest independent optics retailers in America.
And finally, Vortex, the largest sport optics brand in the world.

And somehow, he did it all while being a rock-solid husband, father, grandfather, friend, and leader.
He never chased attention. He chased what mattered.
And he made sure everyone around him felt seen, heard, and valued along the way.

He looked out for his team and treated every customer like an old friend.
And above all, he loved and still loves his family.

He led with heart, grit, humility…and a kind of clarity that can only come from a life grounded in faith.

He didn’t just build a business.
He built a foundation we’ve been building on ever since.