What if the part of your story you avoid is the very part that makes you stand out. In this episode of Create A Rare Experience, Joe Hamilton shares a core principle behind how Vortex grew from zero to the #1 sport optics brand in the world. Vortex was born out of a retailer.

What if balance isn’t the goal? In this episode, Joe Hamilton shares the story that reshaped how he approaches work and people, and why the chase for work life balance leaves so many of us unfulfilled. The average adult spends 90,000 hours of their lives at work, and for years, Joe treated those hours as something to get through. Life started on Fridays. Sundays felt heavy. Then a simple moment with his father, the founder of Vortex, reframed what those hours were supposed to be. What if work isn’t separate from life at all? What if it’s all just life, and the real opportunity is learning to make those 90,000 hours meaningful by how we show up for the people around us? In this episode of Create A Rare Experience, Joe opens up about the mindset he had to unlearn, the example his father set, and what helped him reclaim those 90,000 hours through human connection. In this episode: • Why the idea of work life balance is misleading • How to see work as part of a rich, connected life • What it takes to reclaim the 90,000 hours most people overlook • The lesson Joe learned from his father about serving people, not transactions

Most people chase quick wins. At Vortex, momentum was built one small push at a time. In this episode of Create A Rare Experience with Joe Hamilton, Joe unpacks the Flywheel Effect - the principle that transformed Vortex from a tent in the back of a trade show into the number one sport optics brand in the world. He shares how real progress isn’t found in bursts…it’s built in layers. Through consistency, not intensity. Through doing what you say you’ll do, long after the excitement fades.

If connection creates momentum, how do you make sure you don’t miss the moments that matter? In this episode of Create A Rare Experience with Joe Hamilton, Joe shares the story behind Radar Up - a principle his mom taught him long before Vortex became the number one sport optics brand in the world. It’s about learning to see what others don’t. To notice the small bids for connection that are happening all around you to lean in before the moment passes. Through real stories about handwritten notes, doorways, and one unexpected coffee shop encounter, Joe reminds us that the smallest acts of awareness can create ripples of connection that spread far beyond what we see.

In a transactional world, Joe Hamilton makes a bold claim: the most human company wins. As businesses race toward AI, automation, and efficiency, CARE leans into something timeless: people. This first episode of Create A Rare Experience explores why connection, not efficiency, is the ultimate differentiator. Joe shares how focusing on Connection > Transaction built deep loyalty, unstoppable momentum, and a brand customers believe in.