Ducks Unlimited Podcast

JOIN US AT THE 2026 DUCKS UNLIMITED EXPO! July 31 - August 2 at the RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER in Memphis, TN 

Learn how a speaker built for the outdoors became one of the most recognizable brands in hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.

Recorded live at Ducks Unlimited’s 89th National Convention, Jimbo Robinson sits down with Turtlebox CEO Russell Laeding and newly inducted Ducks Unlimited President Dr. Rex Schulz for a conversation about entrepreneurship, conservation, outdoor culture, and the future of both organizations.

Russell shares the unlikely origin story of Turtlebox, which started when four friends built a rugged speaker in a garage for use on the Texas coast. The discussion explores how the company grew into a nationally recognized outdoor brand while staying rooted in community, relationships, and active outdoor lifestyles. Along the way, the group discusses golf, duck hunting, youth sports, conservation, mentorship, and why the best outdoor memories are often about people rather than the hunt itself.

Topics Covered:
  • How Turtlebox was started by four friends in a garage
  • Why outdoor experiences drive the company’s mission
  • The connection between conservation and outdoor recreation
  • How growing up around Ducks Unlimited shaped Russell’s life
  • Dr. Rex Schulz’s vision as Ducks Unlimited’s 48th President
  • The importance of mentorship and the next generation

Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcast
Send feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org

SPONSORS:

Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:
Whether you’re winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

Creators and Guests

Host
Jimbo Robinson
DUPodcast Co-Host

What is Ducks Unlimited Podcast?

Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.

Jimbo Robinson:

We all have the stories of when the CD went out the window.

Rex Schulz:

The floor

Russell Laeding:

was broken. That's right. Right?

Rex Schulz:

I can tell you. You mean cassettes?

Russell Laeding:

I was about to say

Jimbo Robinson:

it wasn't a CD. Yeah.

Rex Schulz:

I was gonna say.

Jimbo Robinson:

I had the doctor Dre album. I was in the eighth grade, and that's my stepdad got ahold of that CD, and it it

Russell Laeding:

I don't

Jimbo Robinson:

know how far it went out the window driving down the road.

VO:

You're tuned in to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Conserving wetlands, restoring habitat, and working to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. From field tested hunting insights to the biggest conservation wins across North America, this is your front row seat to wetlands conservation in action. The DU Podcast is proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're wrapping up a hunt with your best friend or kicking back with your crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

Jimbo Robinson:

Welcome back to another episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast here in Tampa, Florida from Ducks Unlimited's eighty ninth national convention. And I am your host today, Jimbo Robinson. And alongside me, I have the newest president, hot off the press, Ducks Unlimited's forty eighth president, doctor Rex Schulz, and Russell Lading, the CEO of TurtleBox. I couldn't be in any better presence than anybody else at this convention. That's a fact.

Jimbo Robinson:

Because everybody wants your time as president now. They wanna get their agenda checked. Right? Their their what they've got. And who doesn't wanna party with the TurtleBox?

Jimbo Robinson:

I mean So

Russell Laeding:

Well, Jimbo, thanks for having us. This is gonna be great.

Jimbo Robinson:

It is.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. Appreciate it. This this is one of my first official duties as the new president for Ducks Unlimited as the forty eighth president since 1937. What an honor and a privilege to be here and be with you. He's a good friend of mine.

Jimbo Robinson:

I know. It is, and it's it's watching you this morning was so cool. It truly was just watching the story and everybody say the things about you, and they get out there. And I noted though, called me, I said, He's getting rid of ties. I was so excited when you came out for your remarks. Was like, He doesn't have a tie on. We're finally gonna get rid of the most ancient thing in the history of the world in ties. And then I saw you come out and hit golf balls, and I was like, that's why. And then when you came out, lady, you had a tie, and I was I was so bummed.

Russell Laeding:

I gotta I gotta I gotta jump in here. Look. I grew up early in my career in menswear. Do not get rid of the ties. Oh. Yeah. In in in my background, it was known as neckwear. That that tells you I was actually in the industry. It it's one of the last remaining things we have that keeps us decent, so stick with it, Rex.

Rex Schulz:

I would argue from as a physician that it's one of the the dirtiest things that physicians have on because they're highly contaminated when they wear them around. And and so the first thing I did when I became the president of my group was we didn't have to wear ties to work every day. So

Jimbo Robinson:

Yes. There's a chance.

Rex Schulz:

But I'm a pathologist, and so and actually had a a good partner of mine that wore a Hawaiian shirt every day. And I had to actually get the CEO to give me permission to allow him to do that because I was I was concerned that, you know, short sleeve Hawaiian shirt every day.

Jimbo Robinson:

Alright. Well Yep. I like to do a fun episode when I have the honor to host called the flock shot. Spray and pray, quick questions, quick answers. Sure.

Jimbo Robinson:

So here we go. Coffee drinker. No. Doctor Pepper. Nice.

Jimbo Robinson:

Black or with little cream?

Russell Laeding:

Depends on the day, but I'm I'm it it I'm all over the place.

Jimbo Robinson:

Okay.

Russell Laeding:

But I cannot imagine going a day without coffee. Alright. I really I really can't. I I suppose I should say good for you, Rex, but I'm not sure.

Jimbo Robinson:

No. I'm not coffee either.

Rex Schulz:

So I I couldn't go a day without Doctor Pepper.

Jimbo Robinson:

Favorite color Gatorade?

Russell Laeding:

Oh, goodness. Blue. Do you know the flavor? I think it's glacier freeze, if I recall.

Jimbo Robinson:

Bing bing bing. Did I get it? Bing bing. Yes. You did.

Jimbo Robinson:

No. Orange. Oh, and that is orange flavor. Mine's white. Glacier cherry.

Jimbo Robinson:

White's a good one.

Russell Laeding:

It's it's a it's a top

Jimbo Robinson:

rated for me. Yeah. Yeah.

Rex Schulz:

So the old guard have the old the old traditional colors.

Jimbo Robinson:

Yes. It was just red, yellow, and red, yellow, and orange. Yeah. And Costco still sells that pack for for you. Wiser card.

Russell Laeding:

And it's a good topic. We're in Florida. Absolutely. Yeah. Home of Gatorade.

Russell Laeding:

First car. '72 GMC pickup, the Sierra Grande model. The the fuel gauge was broken, but it was, you know, of course, a single cab, so you could hear the the gas sloshing behind you. And when you stopped hearing the sloshing, you'd better get to the to the gas station quickly.

Rex Schulz:

78 Ford f one fifty.

Jimbo Robinson:

Do you want it back?

Russell Laeding:

Oh, there's no question. I'd I've I've got that regret several times over. I learned to drive on a '78 Land Cruiser. It was a four speed, no power steering. That's what my dad used as our duck truck.

Russell Laeding:

And, man, if there's you know? I think you probably sold it for $4,000.

Jimbo Robinson:

Mhmm.

Russell Laeding:

You know? I would probably pay $400,000 to get that thing back, but I would I would love to have the GMC back too.

Rex Schulz:

I paid $4,000 for it, and you couldn't give it to me.

Jimbo Robinson:

Wow. Mine was an '87 GMC Jimmy diesel, and I'd give anything to have it back.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. Yep. You don't hear the Jimmy much anymore.

Jimbo Robinson:

No. No. That's a good one, though. It was a great car. Think it was a custom.

Jimbo Robinson:

My grandfather, I think he had it built to I know he had it built to pull his his little camper. But then when the when the Suburban 2500 HD Suburban came out, and I don't remember what year it was, they got rid of that, and so they kept it for me. That was awesome. That's a good one. It was.

Jimbo Robinson:

First shotgun. It's a good story.

Russell Laeding:

My dad was a a local Ducks Unlimited chairman. He ran the chapter just outside of Lake Fork in Texas, and he would give us a handful of raffle tickets to throw in the buckets, and I won my first shotgun at a Ducks Unlimited event as a seven year old, and it was a single shot. I don't even remember the brand. H and R? Probably H and R.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. That's a theme today. Yeah. And but, you know, for a seven year old to win a a 20 gauge single shot, it's it's the perfect gun to start with.

Jimbo Robinson:

So You and Ken Eubanks need to talk. CDO, rather. He that's exactly what he'd said. Same thing. Well Connie must be teaching y'all.

Russell Laeding:

I'm I'm introducing Ken tomorrow at at as the keynote speaker, so I'll ask him ahead of time. I've known Ken for fifteen years.

Jimbo Robinson:

Put it out there. Both of y'all. H and R 20 gauge single shots.

Russell Laeding:

I had no idea.

Rex Schulz:

My my first real hunting gun was an eight seventy field grade with a 26 inch barrel with an improved cylinder.

Jimbo Robinson:

Like most normal Americans.

Rex Schulz:

Right. An eight seventy.

Jimbo Robinson:

An eight seventy. Right? Youth. I had a youth eight seventy. It was my first gun.

Jimbo Robinson:

We still keep it in the family. Was a 20 gauge, though.

Rex Schulz:

But And mine was 12.

Jimbo Robinson:

I know. I got a Browning BPS. It was my first 12.

Russell Laeding:

That first 12 was a was a Bunnelli. Goodness. I think it would have been in, like, '92. Is that the m 90 model? It was it was pretty Super Black Eagle, and I still have that gun.

Russell Laeding:

Really? Yeah. That is awesome. Yep. Now I did graduate to an automatic 20 gauge in between that was a Beretta, and I do not have that.

Jimbo Robinson:

The Benelli guys that were here two days ago would would love to hear that. I've told

Russell Laeding:

them that story before.

Jimbo Robinson:

There you go. Yeah. They have some they they they have some cool stuff coming.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. It's out. They have a really cool president's gun.

Jimbo Robinson:

Talked about that earlier today. We gave I know it's gonna be tomorrow night. It's it's here.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. It's here. I have not seen it yet put together. I have pictures of it. So my president's gun is a Benelli, and I wanted to use old school camel.

Rex Schulz:

I wanted to be a waterfowl exclusive. I wanted to be a duck hunting gun. That's who I am. That's what I wanted. So we're gonna use for fundraising coming from the president.

Rex Schulz:

It's a limited run. Run of 50.

Jimbo Robinson:

50. Yep. First one will be sold tomorrow night.

Russell Laeding:

It'll be a 12 gauge, presumably. Yeah.

Jimbo Robinson:

Yes. And something that that his predecessor, Bob Spurr, our chairman of the board, started, and and that that tradition is gonna be awesome. It's gonna do really well. And I challenged Ken earlier. I'll just give you the same challenge.

Jimbo Robinson:

You know, these exclusive things make a lot of money for Ducks Unlimited. We would be more we would be more than happy to do it. We will buy them. We'll use them,

Rex Schulz:

and they will be well received in the event system and and in many places, right, All through the organization, throughout the organization.

Russell Laeding:

Well, I've got an idea for you. You guys ran this story in one of the last magazine magazine issues about about Stephanie. And I read that story, and I handed the article off to our director of marketing, and I said, we really need to connect with her and do something on a TurtleBox, because she's she grew up, you know, an hour from where our office is. So apparently, I'm gonna gonna get an introduction later today, and maybe that'll be our president's TurtleBox.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. There you go. We could talk about it. Yeah. Let's talk Absolutely.

Rex Schulz:

About

Jimbo Robinson:

Well, you know, TurtleBox, it was really funny. So last week, I brought my kids down to the beach. My in laws live in in Panama City. It took me back to my high school days, and this is a TurtleBox story. But when I was in high school, whether the radio in the boat worked was kind of how the day was gonna be, and we never knew.

Jimbo Robinson:

We had an old nineteen ninety nine four winds boat in Anderson, South Carolina on Lake Hartwell. We never knew if the radio was gonna work or not. It was just kind of, hey. Which way the bow boat bounced on the trailer to get there? TurtleBox and others have changed that entire landscape.

Jimbo Robinson:

You can have music everywhere you go. Indestructible music.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. The thing we say around the office is why would you ever cut a hole in your boat for a speaker whenever you could bring a TurtleBox and then just take it with you when you're done?

Jimbo Robinson:

So last week, we were in the War Eagle, my duck boat, out in West Bay, and we had the Ranger. And it played, you know, music the entire time on a on a boat that the only electronic is the motor hooked up to the to the battery.

Russell Laeding:

That's great. That's that's why we exist. You just you know, that's the perfect use case.

Jimbo Robinson:

The kids get to be the DJ, and we listen to everything from silent treatment and Justin Bieber to my son's favorite music and Austin Williams and Sam Hunt and everything in between.

Russell Laeding:

I have a 13 year old daughter, and I'm gonna I'm gonna warn you right now, that exercise gets less enjoyable as they as they age closer to high school. Their music choices don't

Jimbo Robinson:

It's not enjoyable now. Yeah. With clean versions. Yeah. And I had to explain this to my son, and I'm sure you we all have the stories of when the CD went out the window or was broken.

Russell Laeding:

That's right.

Rex Schulz:

Right? I did. I did. I can tell you. You mean cassettes?

Russell Laeding:

I was about to say

Jimbo Robinson:

it wasn't Yeah.

Rex Schulz:

I was gonna say.

Jimbo Robinson:

I had the Doctor. Dre album. I was in the eighth grade, and that's my stepdad got ahold of that CD, and it it I don't know how far it went out the window driving down the road, but it went.

Russell Laeding:

Oh, yeah. I have an older brother. Our version of that was NWA. Oh, yeah. And dad walked in, and it didn't it didn't go so well.

Russell Laeding:

No. No.

Jimbo Robinson:

But, you know, back up to to where TurtleBox began. Right? It began with what was the vision? What was the when they started I mean, because there was a lot of waterproof speakers. Right?

Jimbo Robinson:

And and Carlton asked you. He asked you a great question when you came in earlier. What why why buy a TurtleBox? And you sold him indestructible. But what was the legacy?

Jimbo Robinson:

What was the vision of TurtleBox when it started?

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. There were four friends in Houston. I've known those guys for all of my adult life, so I was around with them. I was not in the batch because I got married, and they didn't. But as the story goes, you know, life wasn't going so well.

Russell Laeding:

They all moved in together. They it was post 2008, so the economy was really struggling. Their businesses weren't doing really well. Their careers weren't taking off, and all of their girlfriends had broken up with them, and they had no money. So that's the that's the backdrop to the story.

Russell Laeding:

The second part is they then went and bought a sailboat. And you might ask, well, if they had no money, how did they buy a sailboat? Well, the whole sailboat, I think, was $5,000, you know, for an old Ranger boat. Took it out on the Galveston Bay and realized very quickly that they needed music, and they bought some of the other product out on the market, and it just wouldn't either hold up to the rigor of being on saltwater or it wasn't loud enough in the in the waves. And so they they drove to West Marine one day and bought a few components, ordered some batteries on Amazon, had a few beers, went in their garage, and glued together the first TurtleBox.

Russell Laeding:

And it was only for them. They had no intention of ever starting a business or doing any sort of mass production whatsoever. That was their speaker. And they would they were avid outdoorsmen and very active and young and single in life, and so they were either canoeing the Houston Bayou out on the Galveston Bay in their sailboat, duck hunting all over the state of Texas, and they would take the speaker with them. Well, sure enough, you go to a lodge or the marina or the beach, and people would say, what is that thing?

Russell Laeding:

You know? It it calls attention to itself because it's experiential. It's loud. You know? Mhmm.

Russell Laeding:

And they would just say that's the the speaker we made in our garage. Well, enough people asked that question where they figured out, maybe there's something here. So they made 50 of them in their garage, still all from store bought components, sold all 50 over the holidays, and received tremendous feedback about it and decided to go into business. And that's that's kind of the story. So four guys in a garage, down on their luck, glued together a TurtleBox, and none of them are engineers.

Russell Laeding:

None of them have much technical capabilities other than you know, it's I'm glad you you asked about the first car. All of them in high school were the guys that were gutting audio out of their cars and putting in better stuff. You know? There was a trend there for probably ten or fifteen years, mid eighties to, you know, late nineties where everybody did that. Right?

Russell Laeding:

And and they were a part of that group. So they had enough working knowledge of audio, but they are by no means trained. They're they're finance majors and oil and gas guys.

Rex Schulz:

Very interesting. Welcome to the Old Timer Minute, sponsored by Old Timer Knives.

Old Timer:

Oh, man. There was this one time. I don't think we killed more than four birds this day, but but there was one that mattered more than the other three. We rode a boat in as far as it would take us, and we pushed it the rest of the way. Look.

Old Timer:

The boat didn't take much water to float, but when you put a couple fellows in there who were grown, it weighs it down pretty well. It was misting. It was hazy the entire morning. Couldn't see far at all, but a couple hours after shooting time, this this lost goose flew in and had us just kinda doing a double take, we just weren't expecting to see a speck in that area. Not then, we do now, but back then, we didn't.

Old Timer:

We didn't know any better. And luckily, I bought a spec call to learn a couple months before that, and I let out a few, man, pretty pretty rough clucks, and and I let out. I said, shoot him. And at eight and five yards, five yards, the this sucker cut a flip in the air. And I've never done that again, not in that way, and I don't know if I ever will, but we were in shock and disbelief, and it's it's something I'll never forget.

Old Timer:

And that's been your Old Timer Minute brought to you by Old Timer, built for generations.

Rex Schulz:

Visit the oldtimer.com. So, TurtleBox, tell me a little more about that because I see in the golfing world, and some places don't allow it, but some places really do. And they're out there on the golf carts too.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. I mean, look. There's our entire business strategy is just to endear ourselves to active outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts, and you do that through sponsorships, being a part of events, signing ambassadors with like minded people. Right? So very grassroots oriented in everything that we do.

Russell Laeding:

And sometimes we will target those communities because they are like us, or we have a, you know, a sense that they would enjoy the product. So first communities that really took off were duck hunting and saltwater fly fishing. You know? The fly anglers on the Texas Coast really loved the product because it could stand up to the the saltwater. Other communities pull us in, and golf was one of those.

Russell Laeding:

We we found that a lot of guys who own skiffs on the Texas Coast, no surprise, also liked to golf on the weekends or played you know, had were Little League coaches. And so turtle boxes start showing up in these other communities just because people like them, and golf was one of those. They were taking our our large original speaker and putting it in the basket of the golf cart, And, you know, the guys recognized that, and they said, look, let's draw them in as another community to focus on, and one thing led to another. And we built a product that was smaller, more portable, more suited for golf, and that's that's what the Ranger was. And, you know, it it one thing leads to another.

Russell Laeding:

Scottie Scheffler was impressed by the product. We ran into him at an event not that dissimilar from this. It was a charity event, and we got a chance to spend a few minutes with him. And he said, hey. I'd I'd love to do something with you guys, which for the founders was, you know, they're pinching themselves.

Russell Laeding:

Scottie's other other, you know, other sponsors are Nike, Rolex, and TailorMade. Right? I mean, TurtleBox doesn't go with that group.

Rex Schulz:

He's only the number one golfer in the world.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. Only way to go in the world.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. So Other than that.

Russell Laeding:

And then, of course, when Scottie gets involved, then the whole thing starts to go much faster. But it's been a ton of fun, and he is a he is a wonderful person just like he is on TV. Like, couldn't be a nicer guy, and he's a great hang.

Jimbo Robinson:

I think his arrest was probably the oddest, craziest thing because that's all everybody says the same thing about him. He's an amazing guy. He's so down to earth. And then when that happened, it was like it brought a different side to Scottie, and it opened the eyes of the world to who he was. I I think it did.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. I mean, he was concerned about it, but he was trying to do the right thing. He's trying to do his job. I mean, that was just, you know, all that crazy circumstances. But the guy went out after being arrested and went out and shot a great round.

Rex Schulz:

And and he just he I I see that as a great ambassador for you. If you got him involved with you, that is great.

Russell Laeding:

Well, and he's

Jimbo Robinson:

he's amazing. Very he's a a very his faith is very strong. And I think that having a guy, ambassadors and and and influencers in today's world, that have a strong faith base is huge. And family. Absolutely.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. There's no question. And and just purely from a business standpoint, imagine how much that lowers our risk. You know? When when we know that he's a values oriented guy, and he puts it on display for the whole world, Scotty's not gonna screw up.

Russell Laeding:

You know? But he could not be a better partner for us and and a great guy just to hang out with.

Jimbo Robinson:

You mentioned the baseball world, golf world for him. Baseball world is a huge part of my life. My nine year old or 10 year old son, excuse me, just turned 10 last week or on Monday, Tuesday, Tuesday this week. And so I spend a lot of time at the ball fields. We travel.

Jimbo Robinson:

We play travel baseball. We play all over the South. And and when he was seven, when he was six, he played on a on a on a travel team that played local travel ball. Oxford, Mississippi was the longest travel we did. And this lady was coming to the games playing walkout music, and that was my that was my first intro to walkout music.

Jimbo Robinson:

And she had this mega speaker, and I was like, what is she doing? And then she plays it, and then I'm watching her and she walks it back to the car. It's like five guys loading it into the back of the and I'm like, has she never heard of a TurtleBox? And so I I couldn't stand it after, like, the third tournament. I was like, hey, look.

Jimbo Robinson:

Your speaker is loud and it's really big, but I have a TurtleBox that I would gladly bring and you could just hook up to and play walkout music. And so I've been so ever since then, like, they're playing this weekend. I'm not going, but the TurtleBox, my TurtleBox, it used to be the the Gen two, will go. And and then when the Grande came out, now the the Grande white one goes. And but, I mean, I've had numerous people tell me because it had a huge Ducks Unlimited logo on the back and had stickers all over it.

Jimbo Robinson:

And I've had numerous people say, man, my husband bought me a TurtleBox just to bring to the games because it was so easy and portable, and they're everywhere. It's they're everywhere.

Rex Schulz:

I've heard that it is penetrated every friends in the Chicagoland area talk about their young people and their family that are playing, and they have their walk up music, which is really cool. Now I would have loved to have that when I was playing Little

Jimbo Robinson:

League. Absolutely. Well, that's that's

Russell Laeding:

the point I was gonna make. I mean, you know, every kid imagines that moment and imagines a song that would be played in that moment. And we weren't the first ones to do it, but certainly, we've amplified that moment for a lot of folks because our product's more portable. Right? It's easier it's easier to do.

Russell Laeding:

But

Jimbo Robinson:

oh, yeah. I mean Y'all did something with Perfect Game at one point, didn't you?

Russell Laeding:

We still do. Yeah. We have we have a partnership with Perfect Game for that for that very reason. Right? I mean, it's a the baseball community is is also wonderful.

Russell Laeding:

I grew up as a baseball player and and love the sport. I was involved in the baseball business for a few years with a sporting goods retailer, and a lot of things about youth baseball are getting bigger and more professional, and probably to a degree that drives you crazy because you spend every weekend there now, But the walk up music moment is one that's just about perfect because it's it's no harm. You're not playing music the entire game, and every single kid, no matter if he's batting first, fourth, or ninth, gets a chance to feel like he's about to smash one out when that music goes on.

Jimbo Robinson:

And and we could talk about Little League Baseball all day and the pros and cons of of perfect game and and the rap it's getting. And I always laugh because from a marketing mind, people that get mad at a company like Perfect Game that's making money off kids, shame on you. Like, do I agree with everything? No. But it's marketing genius, and they understand.

Jimbo Robinson:

They've taken algorithms just like I mean, I think when I think of influencers and companies that have absolutely knocked it out of the park on social media, TurtleBox is numb TurtleBox and Yeti to me are top two. And, I mean, just with what what y'all do on social media and the type of material you put out, it's top of the order. But what Perfect Game has done is they've dived into emotional feelings of of families. Right? Little Tommy's got six home runs, now his stats are all on the it's it's kinda like, again, the gin system in golf.

Jimbo Robinson:

Right? It's kinda like putting those scores in and being able to see all what your buddies are doing. It's no longer about having the higher handicap. Everybody wants to be good because everybody can see your scores. Now unless you're you know, don't put any scores in.

Jimbo Robinson:

But

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. I mean, I I think there's there's probably a lot of folks on both sides of the argument on whether or not youth sports have, have gotten too big too fast, and and I'll reserve any opinion on that other than to say, you know, it probably depends on the family and the kid, and, you know, as long as you manage it well, it it

Rex Schulz:

probably You're back gonna balance.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. It will it will be fine. On top of that, I will say Perfect Game as an organization has been wonderful to work with. You know? So from one person's vantage point, it's a good company.

Jimbo Robinson:

Yeah. Tony Harper does a lot of of that. He's he's great. And and to watch TurtleBox out there multiply, and and what's really funny is there's a mom on our team. And and so we have a grande, and she keeps saying, are you ever gonna get me a stand for it?

Jimbo Robinson:

And I'm like, one of these days, I will get the stand for it because now they don't want you hanging stuff on fences. Yeah. You know? And so because they don't want the everybody that's hanging the game changers up there at whatever. But now they're on they're right there behind home plate, but there's also two of them, two Rangers in the dugout so that the other boys in the dugout get to enjoy it just as much as is and it's it's crazy to see teams have three and four

Russell Laeding:

of those. It's a lot of fun because, you know, you can can turn on party mode, and they they all sync together. Right? And so we did we did a 120 at our office once just to see, you know, what that was like. We lined them up in the out in the parking lot, and it is a needless to say, it's a it's a ton of fun.

Jimbo Robinson:

So Rex knows this, but so we do a snow goose hunt every year. And Sloan

Russell Laeding:

Float Ground. Yep.

Jimbo Robinson:

He couldn't make it this year. He was invited, but we have turtle boxes or our is what we use on snow goose hunting for our electronic calls. And so we have four grandes to take the four corners of the blind, and then we have six more out in the field, and they work it's it's incredible.

Russell Laeding:

Well, the only reason that we came out with a white TurtleBox was for that reason. Yep. We we found that a few goose guides, I think in Oklahoma, if I remember, were using them for this, and we thought, well, we should come out with a white version because, you know, they're all wearing white anyway.

Jimbo Robinson:

And that that we I'll throw it out there. Set it out there, and then the conditions for it are perfect. No. It's muddy, wet. Doesn't matter.

Russell Laeding:

That's a great use case. Right now, we're we're trying to kick ice fishing into gear, you know, because as we move up towards Chicago and Minnesota and Wisconsin, you know, it's the perfect use case, you know, because it's it's gonna be cold. It's gonna be you're gonna be somewhat miserable naturally, and you'll see us start to lean into ice fishing for the same reason.

Rex Schulz:

Oh, very cool. The snow goose, that's really interesting because they're they they go to great extremes to figure out how to entice a flock to land, and using that is a great method to outside of the traditional ways that you're I hadn't heard about that. That's really cool.

Russell Laeding:

It's interesting, though. I'll tell you. When I was in high school, we were out pond hopping, and and we drove past, I think, a winter wheat field, and we saw a ton of snow geese out there. And we didn't own any decoys, any any goose decoys. So we we went to Walmart and got about 50 plastic Walmart bags, you know, the little plastic, you know, just the stuff that they'll bag your groceries in.

Russell Laeding:

And we got 50 wooden stakes and just stapled them on there, and it picked up the wind perfectly. You guys have seen these before, and all of those geese came in. We had a great day. So it's amazing. You're right, because I've I've done, you know, big goose hunts too.

Russell Laeding:

The extremes you have to go to sometimes when you are tiny to them, you know, and they're, you know, way up high to get them to come in. Sometimes you just put Walmart bags on a stake, and here they come.

Jimbo Robinson:

That's like the that's what that's what that's that's a grandfather story if I've ever heard one.

Russell Laeding:

It's it's a true one.

Jimbo Robinson:

It is. I know. But that's the stories my grandfather tells me.

Rex Schulz:

And Yeah. The old white socks were that way. They're, like, some plastic things that you that you actually stapled to wooden doll rods. You know, he brought up a

Jimbo Robinson:

good point, walkout songs. There were some good walkout songs today. I think you could take that to another level, Ratchford.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. Maybe. Mine was a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll by ACDC. Awesome.

Russell Laeding:

ACDC has to rank, if not number one, at the very tip top of, like, walkout music artists.

Jimbo Robinson:

Right? Guns N' Roses. Yeah. ACDC. You can

Rex Schulz:

take good cuts. Had two song two ACDC songs. And but, also, it was welcome to the jungle by Guns N' Roses.

Jimbo Robinson:

For Carleton.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. Carleton. That was

Jimbo Robinson:

But, you know, it's interesting because, like, what I think is a cool walkout song to the kids is not. Right? And and my son and I have the walkout song debate. I wanna change my walkout song. And I am I'm not superstitious at all.

Jimbo Robinson:

And I'm like, buddy, you're you're smashing the ball right now. We don't need to change it. And so his is it is a mashed remix by Big Timers and Jelly Roll. Yeah. I don't know.

Jimbo Robinson:

I can't even remember what it is, but it's like, I'm so fly, and then it says what's the next part? I can't remember. Only talk to God when I need a favor, I think is his next part. It's a cool thing. He loves it.

Jimbo Robinson:

Doesn't matter. He's been smashing the baseball lately, but he's done a lot of different things. There's a there's a DJ out there, DJ Beatty, who has written thousands of baseball songs for baseball and softball, and they're all clean, very good songs. So that was one of his for a long time was Drop Bombs. But it's but there's a lot of kids that have funny ones, and and it is.

Jimbo Robinson:

It's it's inspire it's it would be fun.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. I feel a social media post coming on where we, you know, entice our our followers to give us their their favorite bands and favorite songs of all time for walk up. That's good.

VO:

Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey after these messages.

Jimbo Robinson:

Where do you see TurtleBox? And this is this is gonna be a YETI reference. Right? When YETI when when when everybody thought they're at the peak. Right?

Jimbo Robinson:

They're they're you cannot make a cooler any other way. Everybody owns a cooler. Everybody owns a speaker. How many TurtleBox speakers does one family need? Where does TurtleBox where do you see TurtleBox in five years?

Jimbo Robinson:

Where do you think you're going? And you can't and I know there's could be a teaser out there mixed in this kind of a trick question for the audience. But, you know, with with y'all's partnership with Ducks Unlimited and what the amount of money that and I it would be awesome to figure that out one day, but the amount of money that Ducks Unlimited has raised off a TurtleBox, you should be extremely proud of how many acres of of of wetlands and and conservation we've been able to do with that money. And I don't even know what it is, but it is way up there.

Russell Laeding:

Well, thank you for saying that. And, you know, it brings us a ton of pride. I mean, again, I already mentioned earlier, I grew up as a DU kid. My dad was a a local chairman, and so I grew up around banquets and and raising money in in our hometown. And he cared deeply about conservation and making sure that there were ducks for us to shoot when we grew up.

Russell Laeding:

And so couldn't be happier or more proud with the fact that we've had an impact on that as a company, and and you guys have been great partners to us too. You know, as far as it relates to our future, I think we'll stay fairly music focused. There's a few reasons why. One, you know, especially with now that we have the technology like party mode, when we when you have one speaker, right, there's a lot you can do with it. But for every new use case that we have, say, for example, with a Ranger, which is perfect for golf, remember, it it syncs back up to your existing ecosystem.

Russell Laeding:

So as we continue to cover out other music related use cases, which we will and we're about to, you know, there's there's absolutely no reason for you not to buy another speaker because unlike a cooler, for example, it adds on to the ecosystem that you already have. By the way, we love YETI. We are inspired by YETI. We are close with their executive team. Matt Ratchford has been a good friend of the brand.

Russell Laeding:

Ryan and Roy Cedars, the founders, been very good friends to our founders and mentoring them on business. So that is not a shot at Yeti by any stretch. It's a wonderful brand with a very bright future. Second thing I would tell you as it relates to music, and this is this is a true a true fact. If you ask no matter which country you go to, you ask them what matters most in life, what makes life better, right, Music is in the top three in every country in the world.

Russell Laeding:

Right? You might imagine probably one and two would be family and health, maybe your faith. Right? Art probably gets lumped in with music. It could be music and art.

Russell Laeding:

But it it really impacts people's lives in a very positive way, and it takes all shapes and forms, of course. But we have no reason to believe that our product or our brand is limited to Texas or The Gulf Coast or to duck hunters, or for that matter, even to people who live active outdoor lifestyles. We we think it's a product that will be across the globe someday, and you'll see us take it there. We get folks all the time from Australia call us asking, when can we buy your product in Australia? For example, the same thing is true in Canada.

Russell Laeding:

And so, you know, our our our long long term, you know, do we feel like we have the, you know, the permission to move beyond portable Bluetooth audio? Sure. We think we do. But we also think there's a long runway within within music.

Rex Schulz:

Your your penetrance is not there's opportunity still inside of what you're saying within the the Continental United States and other markets that you just have not had to reach into yet.

Russell Laeding:

Oh, there's no

Rex Schulz:

question. You know, I could see rural communities, ag. You know? I mean, there's all you know, there's still parties that go on, you know, in a machine shed, you know, and hanging out. Right?

Russell Laeding:

Well, like, I'll give you I'll give you an example. I mentioned duck hunters and and saltwater fly anglers as being early adopters of the product. One right now that we're focused on because they are pulling us in is the CrossFit community. We hear time and time again matter of fact, Ken Eubanks was the first person to tell me this. He has a home gym in his garage.

Russell Laeding:

Right? Ken is the most fit human alive that I've ever met.

Jimbo Robinson:

He makes White look good.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. He does. And he goes you know, whenever I came over, he called me, and he goes, hey, man. I've got a couple in my gym. These things are great.

Russell Laeding:

But, you know, you think about how many people are in the fitness and training community that aren't, they've never duck hunted in their life. They have they have no desire to go fishing, but the product is perfect for what it is that they do. One, often they're, you know, naturally in a reasonably rugged environment, because a lot of times their garage gym spills out into their driveway. Right? And two, a lot of that fitness and training happens in a group setting, which means shared music experience drives people forward.

Russell Laeding:

And so that's a really good example of a community that is well outside of our center, but absolutely, we can enhance their experience just like we we did with duck hunters.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. I wanna go back to I'm gonna ask a question here.

VO:

Go.

Rex Schulz:

I wanna go back to your your father and the importance of of Ducks Unlimited and the local banquet and being involved with that. And I wanna just I I want you to kinda expand upon that a little bit because I think that's really meaningful and impactful.

Russell Laeding:

Well, I'll I'll tell you a little bit about it. It would have been the mid eighties. I grew up in a town called Sulphur Springs in Texas. It is right next to Lake Fork, which is a famous bass lake. And, you know, my dad did not grow up a duck hunter, and but as my brother and I aged to a point where he really wanted to find things that we could do together, he picked up the hobby.

Russell Laeding:

And he's he's a guy that when he picks up a hobby, he goes, you know, way overboard every single time. I could I could tell you all of them. And and I mean, right now, his his thing is pipe smoking. He probably has 200 pipes, you know, and these are custom made pipes from all over the world, and this is just that guy. But he decided, you know, look.

Russell Laeding:

Let's start a local DU chapter. There there had been one like in the fifties in my hometown, but it had been dormant for over twenty five years. And when he started it, you know, it was interesting. A lot of the merch that they would have, he had to purposefully make deer oriented because in the town, nobody duck hunted. Right?

Russell Laeding:

And so if he wanted to attract people to the banquet, he had to say, hey. We're gonna care we're gonna have whether it be rifles to give away. A lot of the artwork will be deer oriented. It was just a way to get folks who lived in Silver Springs interested in the banquet. I mean, if you didn't know any better, you would think that the whole thing revolved around deer because that's how he, you know, got people going.

Russell Laeding:

And then over time, of course, it stuck, and and then duck hunting grew in popularity. I I mentioned Lake Fork because that's where we hunted most, and it was a famous bass lake. And most mornings when we would hunt, we were the only people on the whole lake who would be hunting. And, you know, at about 7AM, you would see a bass boat, and often they'd go straight through our decoys. You know?

Russell Laeding:

Mean, they didn't definitely didn't expect

Rex Schulz:

it. They didn't expect anybody out

Russell Laeding:

there to spread. A, they didn't care, and b, they were really surprised by it. You know? They're like, wait a minute. Why is someone duck hunting in the best bass lake in The United States?

Russell Laeding:

I had a chance to share that story with Johnny Morris not long ago, because the bass that he kept in the Springfield Bass Pro shop from, I think, 1984 on that was the world record bass came from that lake. It's a famous bass called Ethel, and she was 17. And he got such a kick out of that story, a, that I knew who Ethel was, and b, that all the all the bass boats came through our decoys. But no. I mean, and and as you guys might imagine, it's not a big town.

Russell Laeding:

There was about 14,000 people there, and my dad was a local business owner. And so his shop kinda became the place where everybody came to talk about hunting and to talk about duck hunting, and so it was great. I worked there in high school, and it became just the real hub of the community for all things hunting, all things duck hunting, and ultimately, all things conservation. It was really cool. And

Rex Schulz:

and that's an example of how Ducks Unlimited works because you find your niche wherever that might be if selling and and looking at products that are for deer hunting in an area that's deer hunting, but you're still supporting conservation overall in the bigger picture. So that's that's amazing and finding the product that works there. And so that's why TurtleBox works so well in our event system because we could place it in so many different parts of The United States. I think there there's a getting penetrance. You're probably getting penetrance you're somewhat maybe unaware of because of the utilization that we have in our event system.

Russell Laeding:

So Oh, there's no there's no question. You guys have been an exponential multiplier for us for that very reason, and you help us reach to a lot of places that we otherwise wouldn't be able to reach. I was talking to a couple of folks on your board from Wisconsin, all of whom have TurtleBox as well. Our brand has almost no presence there right now. Right?

Russell Laeding:

But if you know the Great Lakes, so Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Chicago, I mean, there's water everywhere. Right? And there's it's an avid outdoor consumer. Right? So our product will be perfect once we once we get there.

Russell Laeding:

So the fact that you guys, through your banquet system, allow us to start getting brand awareness in places where we need it is incredibly helpful.

Rex Schulz:

So win win partnerships are the very best. No question. So thank you.

Russell Laeding:

Alright. Well, look. It's it's a wonderful organization. I could tell you, you know, 500 duck hunting stories, and many of which have Ducks Unlimited connected to them. You know?

Russell Laeding:

In in all candor, there was a large portion of my adult life where I didn't duck hunt much. I took on different hobbies, fishing being one of them. I had kids, and I was knee deep in a career. And it was interesting during that time frame, and I think a lot of folks are like this, I still consider myself a duck hunter. You know?

Russell Laeding:

It was so important to the formation of our values and the way it connected our family that it's in my DNA. Right? So I not hunt for thirty years, and I would still consider myself a duck hunter. The whole house is surrounded by decoys. You know, when I think My dad was a tough guy sometimes, and he still is.

Russell Laeding:

Not the easiest guy always to get along with. But, man, when we were in that that blind, and he was drinking coffee and smoking a pipe with our lab, there was no question. Right? I knew he cared deeply about us. Right?

Russell Laeding:

And that goes forever. Right? And so you guys are fostering those moments. There's no question about it. And, you know, nothing brings me more joy than to hear how rapidly the organization's growing, because as the org grows and the donations grow and the interests grow, you guys are just gonna be able to foster more and more and more of those moments.

Russell Laeding:

It goes really deep. It's it's way way way bigger than, you know, is this piece of property conserved, or, you know, did we increase the population of cannabis back?

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. So there's there's both. There's there's human dimension benefits beyond just the conservation delivery model. Right? So we are creating culture and allowing culture to be fostered, and and that's really impactful for me as well.

Rex Schulz:

That's one of my whys that I talked about from the stage this morning. Why do you do what you do? And and one of that is is to have waterfowling opportunities for my son and the future generations that follow me. And so I think that's really important, and you just kinda shared that. So And,

Jimbo Robinson:

you know, Ducks Unlimited and TurtleBox, I don't know when the partnership began, but the first time I was introduced to TurtleBox was at Ducks in Texas year one. And they had a booth, and it's very similar to the booth they have now. I don't think much has changed in in the in the show booth.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. That's by design. Allowed.

Jimbo Robinson:

Yeah. Right? And I remember that too. And we bought every TurtleBox they had. Like, the regional directors went, and when it was over, they bought I mean, they cleaned out the trailer.

Jimbo Robinson:

I believe they were all in a trailer. My memory slipped me on that, but they bought them all. And that's kind of that was the that was our beginning. But it was interesting that you talked about Wisconsin because when Shen was first getting their name out, and I know that they they sell a lot of TurtleBoxes in in their store They do. In Memphis and in Stuttgart.

Jimbo Robinson:

But when they were get first getting started, I was really good friends with with the owners, and and I was, you know, using the waiters in my events. And I was we were putting together the what is now a there's a massive dealings with with our event system now. But in its infancy, I was I had a pair of waiters. I was taking them to events. I'd put them up.

Jimbo Robinson:

We'd raffle them off or auction them off, and and that was the only place people could feel them and touch them was at DU event. And so I sat down with the owners, and we were like I was like, we can take this nationwide, but you need to send the RDs, a pair of waiters, let them take them to the events, and everybody can feel them and touch them that's going to an Ducks Unlimited event. This is how many people, 500,000 people come to our events. A lot of them are duck hunters, and they were getting sales. They could almost tell you where the where the waiters were on certain nights because they would get sales in areas that they didn't have a presence.

Jimbo Robinson:

Right. And a lot of it was up north.

Rex Schulz:

So they weren't winners. They were just seeing the product. Right.

Jimbo Robinson:

Right. You

Rex Schulz:

know, just getting touch feel. Right?

Jimbo Robinson:

It was a DTC model, and they were and they were so you could feel them and touch them and put your foot in a boot. And and

Rex Schulz:

And I'm sure you're getting penetrance that way too. So it's not just a winner taking the product out. So you're seeing it. They're getting exposure to it. So the 300 people that are there, only one of them is going out or two or three or whatever, however new are given maybe their incentive

Jimbo Robinson:

prices. But,

Rex Schulz:

yeah, I think that's a great again, it's a win win for us. Right?

Russell Laeding:

Well, it's critically important for us because, you know, our product very very naturally I mean, I guess pun intended here, it speaks for itself. Right? Hold on. There you go. But but the point is it's experiential.

Russell Laeding:

Right? And there's no better marketing, you guys know this, than word-of-mouth. You know, there's there's nothing that Meta or Google could ever do to touch whenever your friend who's having a crawfish boil, you know, puts a TurtleBox on. You're like, man, what is that thing? And so for us to be able to partner with Ducks Unlimited and help people have that experiences or have that experience in in in Michigan and Minnesota and Wisconsin and South Carolina and California, Yeah.

Russell Laeding:

It's great marketing for the brand, and we really feel like it it makes people's lives better. So it's it's been a great partnership. It's worked, I think, in both ways.

Jimbo Robinson:

To the owners and to yourself, the founders and and to yourself, what does conservation really mean to a company like TurtleBox and to the employees? And and that's one been one thing that that we've kind of honed in on lately with with growing our contributors and our and our membership, but is not only having a company that the owners and and the founders and and the executive levels understand DU, but having everybody that works there kind of understand that this is a greater a larger partnership than just DU selling these TurtleBoxes. What does it mean to to the people and and to to you guys at at TurtleBox to to have that conservation be a part of what y'all do?

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. You know, I'll tell you, it actually doesn't start with conservation. It starts with culture. Right? And what our founders believe is that the world badly needs people to live active outdoor lifestyles together.

Russell Laeding:

Right? Those are the the key components of it, that they're active, they're outdoor, and they're they're together. You think about the world that we're in now where everything is so digital, right, and we are so isolated by virtue of the technology, they they believe that the antidote to that is people being outside active together. So it really starts with that, and the product could be anything. I mean, it just happened to be the speaker.

Russell Laeding:

Their core belief is is what I just mentioned. And that to really have that culture reinforced, it starts with the the founders and their vision. To move it beyond that, you have to get to our team. Right? And so they treat our team, including including myself, in a way that really encourages us to live active outdoor lifestyles together.

Russell Laeding:

Right? So there's there's all sorts of benefits that come with that when you work for TurtleBox. But then you you go beyond our team, and we want the same thing for the end users. Right? We want those folks to use a product that encourages them to do that.

Russell Laeding:

And, you know, so if you care about those things, you get to conservation pretty stinking quickly. Right? Because there will be no way to live active outdoor lifestyles together if there's no place outside to be active together. Right? And so I would love to sit here and tell you, look, it starts with conservation.

Russell Laeding:

It doesn't. It doesn't. But you get to conservation really quickly. It makes the rest of it possible.

Rex Schulz:

Yep. So there's a direct connection to conservation. Mhmm.

Russell Laeding:

There's no question.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. We also embrace that outdoor active lifestyle. Right? That's why Together. Right.

Jimbo Robinson:

It's why we duck hunt.

Rex Schulz:

And we and that's why we like to do that because nothing against deer hunting, but you're there by yourself in a tree. You can't hardly you can't talk. You can't hardly do anything. But when we're duck hunting, when I'm duck hunting with Jimbo and he's, you know, he's fanning away, I it's just so much fun to watch him miss.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. Look. I mean Spraying and praying. Yeah. I mean, I love to freshwater fly fish.

Russell Laeding:

Right? That is typically something where you're it's it's it's poetic. Right? You're typically alone, and and there's other reasons to do it. But there's no question when it comes to camaraderie.

Russell Laeding:

Duck hunting has no no peer. You're in a you're in a blind. There's the lead up. There's the pursuit. There's the celebration on the backside.

Russell Laeding:

Right? And, man, with duck hunting I mean, I'm sure you guys feel the same way. When I think about growing up duck hunting, the first thing that comes to mind is being in a blind with my dad riding our dog. If I move pretty quickly past that, I'll tell you a quick story. On the way to Lake Fork, there was a guy that was my dad's best hunting buddy, and he didn't have any sons.

Russell Laeding:

And so we would often stop. He had a little dairy in a small dairy house, and we would stop at his house and pick him up to go to Lake Fork to hunt. And I can smell the coffee in his house now. I can smell the dairy now, as I recall this. He was from Boston, so he was a big Red Sox fan and a Bruins fan.

Russell Laeding:

And he was a dairy farmer, so he drove around town in a f one fifty with a lab with her head out the window. Just this kind of guy that was a man's man and just gentle and kind. But I never forget, we would stop at his house, and his wife would make us hot chocolate. Right? And I probably, at this point, 11 years old.

Russell Laeding:

And we would sit there, and my dad would have a cup of coffee with him while I getting his gear together, and I'd have that hot chocolate. You could have stopped right there. Right? Like, that could have been the end of the day, and we would have been really happy. And so, you know, that that that moment before the hunt, and certainly the moments after the hunt where we really shine, our product does, that's real culture building.

Russell Laeding:

There's no question. Right? And there's not many things or sports or even hunting related activities that have the depth of that, from my vantage point, that duck hunting does.

Rex Schulz:

Absolutely. Like getting stuck with Jimbo on the way to the field because he made a wrong turn or, you know, I mean, things like that. You know?

Jimbo Robinson:

These are all real stories. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or about to run out of gas.

Jimbo Robinson:

Yeah.

Russell Laeding:

The misadventure is a part of it for sure.

Rex Schulz:

Oh, yeah. Like, he's like, oh, where's the closest gas station? Yeah. I think I know where it is, but I don't know. I can't remember how to get there now from

Jimbo Robinson:

It was bizarre. Crazy morning. We made it. But it was the stories of, like, he's saying. Yeah.

Jimbo Robinson:

You We

Rex Schulz:

don't remember the hunt, but we remember that. He'll he'll probably remember that like that.

Jimbo Robinson:

We almost ran out of gas, and and and his you know, my son looks up to the Rexes and the Toms and the Jims and and all of these, you know, wiser gentlemen in the club because he sees what one day he hopes he's doing at at there. It's the same thing you're telling him. He'll remember that story, and he knows that gas station now. We passed it 15 more times this season, but he remembers that gas station, that story, and it'll always be a a feel good moment for him and a memory, like you're saying. Like, it's not it it wasn't the rest of it.

Jimbo Robinson:

It was the fun and the memorable times leading up to it.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. That's my question. Because you heard you heard Jimbo calling me on the phone like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna make it. You know? What are we gonna you know, we're we're working out alternative plans on how to make sure we get to to the field to hunt.

Rex Schulz:

Mhmm.

Russell Laeding:

Well, Jimbo asked me the question, what's the future of TurtleBox? I I I would it feels like the right moment to ask Rex the same thing about Ducks Unlimited. I mean, he he's now the president as of this morning. Right? What what's the future hold, Rex?

Rex Schulz:

Well, we're gonna continue on where we are for sure. So we will remain duck duck centric. I like to use that term. We won't lose who brought us to the dance. We will continue to look outside for opportunities everywhere we possibly can to make a difference.

Rex Schulz:

We we I wanna continue the volunteer staff relationship. That's a really important thing for me. These are big picture things. They're not, like, aspirational goals necessarily. I wanna grow our leadership that we have opportunities, continue to grow that.

Rex Schulz:

I want I wanna have a strength in our bench, succession planning. I'm gonna lean into something I'm calling science, technology, and innovation. I think there's there's opportunities inside of there for growth. You know, applying those new technologies innovatively is gonna be with innovation is gonna be the most maybe one of the more important things we're gonna be able to do in the near future. And with that, I think that's gonna set us up for the next leg up.

Rex Schulz:

Right? Because sometimes we've had we've been on a great growth curve. Sometimes you gotta consolidate a little bit with continued growth, get that consolidation, and then I see another another growth phase, another another opportunity for us to grow. And And I think that that's gonna that's where I'm trying to lead the organization to with amazing volunteers. The 32,000 volunteers strong are 825 great staff members that we work with and we have these great relationships with.

Rex Schulz:

That are just as committed and dedicated as as the volunteers. So that's why we're gonna that's why we're gonna be able to do that, have that next growth phase that that we're looking at. And we're looking you know, we have aspirational goals of a million members and contributors. You know, we're around the 725 to 735,000. We're gonna we wanna be a half $1,000,000,000 business.

Rex Schulz:

We wanna continue to do the million acres, but we're gonna be more focused on inside that million acres, what are the most impactful part of that million acres. So that's that's my soapbox for a little bit here.

Russell Laeding:

Not to put you on the spot, but DU is almost 90 years old. How how does it feel to take over? Like, to think back on the guys and and and the and the women that contributed over the years to get to this to this point. How how does that feel?

Rex Schulz:

It's it's amazing because, well, there's lots of pressure, and and and I and I put that on myself because I feel the obligation. But when I was on the stage this morning when I when I was sworn in, there was many of the past presidents that are friends of mine that they were the leaders, the ones that I looked at when I first came on, and it was really impactful for me to have them there. I I know one past president that drove fourteen hours to be here because he doesn't fly anymore, and he wanted to be here because I came on when he was president, when I came on the board. So that that family, you talk about that. I I feel a great obligation to him to be able to assure that I'm gonna continue this carrying this torch.

Rex Schulz:

So and it's those that have cut some of the hard hard ground before you, you know, and and you're on the shoulders of so many great leaders. And so I I I'm really, really fortunate, and I'm really honored and privileged to be and blessed to be at I wouldn't say at the helm, but helping lead helping lead with a great partner. Adam Putnam is a great partner for me. So I'm and the the future is bright. I think it's still very, very bright.

Rex Schulz:

So that's that's also reassuring. And I'm looking at Jimbo, and I'm looking at this young man here that that has the the when I first met him, I didn't think he could shave or drink into where he is now, and I see him where he's gonna be and what what's it gonna look like in fifteen years. And I know it's gonna be in good hands. That's really important too.

Jimbo Robinson:

It's what makes DU what it is. Like and and I don't want any of the volunteers or the staff to ever take for granted the power of this organization when two entities and inside of itself and a volunteer and a staff, when they work together to push this engine down, there is no stopping this this train. And he's right. The the future is extremely bright, and and I think that every time the health of of a local chapter is only as good as the next area chairman. And the ones that we see fail along the way are the ones that don't have new leaders or new ideas.

Jimbo Robinson:

And so the health of this organization a lot of times is led by that transition every two years to new ideas, new people on the board, people that have rolled off, people that stay on. And so it's incredible to see, and it always gets people extremely energized and fired up when you leave a session like this morning. And you're fired up and you're celebrating with the past, present, now chairman of the board, Bob Spurl, and then you get inspired to keep going when you hear what his message was this morning. And it's just hard for people to explain. And you gotta feel it, and you gotta see it, and nothing, like, caps it off than the energy tomorrow night at the auction.

Jimbo Robinson:

And and it it is you have to feel it, and you gotta be there. And hope you're gonna be there.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. And we're about to wrap up a really, really big campaign. You know? We had a very high aspirational goal. We're gonna kick it out.

Rex Schulz:

You know? It's amazing where we're gonna be, but we can't lose focus on that. And and and, ultimately, it's the end point. So what's what are you get what are you accomplishing? That million acres a a year over the last three years, that's really, really impressive.

Rex Schulz:

That's impactful. It's meaningful. You know, the the Prairies were facing drought over the last six years or so, whatever it was. That what we're doing up there, I think, is meaning making a big difference in the fall flights.

Russell Laeding:

Well, we're all excited about it. Congratulations on this morning. Was he right that you couldn't shave or drink whenever you first started?

Jimbo Robinson:

Close. When I first started yes. When I started in the continued path I am today, he is absolutely right, because I started a collegiate chapter when I was 19 at Wofford and continued my path. I never stopped, never left the organization. I was 20, 21, graduated from Wofford.

Jimbo Robinson:

The summer I graduated, I took a job in Memphis at our national headquarters, and the I I would say the rest is history.

Russell Laeding:

So so that makes it twenty two years then total?

Jimbo Robinson:

Mhmm. It'll be forty one in July. My kids remind me that all the time.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. We have volunteers with fifty years of experience in in being an active volunteer for fifty years, which is just amazing.

Russell Laeding:

That's amazing.

Rex Schulz:

Yeah. I mean, I started in 1993 when I was a resident. Now I I was only on a committee trying to figure this out. You know? I had a wise attending that told me that I was finishing up my residency, and he said, now it's your turn to give back.

Rex Schulz:

It's and it's your responsibility to figure that out. And I love duck hunting, and I thought, well, this And I I took his advice very seriously. And so that's when I first volunteered. But when I volunteered, I thought I was gonna go dig in a ditch, put up wood duck boxes. I really you know, that I mean, that's not an uncommon, you know, theme for some volunteerism from, you know, from the local level.

Rex Schulz:

But what I found out was, no, you're raising the money to feed the engine, that you're the fuel to actually deliver those those acres of of habitat. And so that was it. And, again, I think that's not an uncommon pathway for some people. Now I may be one of those really unique characteristics of having thinking that I was gonna dig in a ditch, and then I became the president of Ducks Unlimited. But I I feel that that that is impactful.

Rex Schulz:

That is important to me to to remember that.

Russell Laeding:

Yeah. Fifty years

Jimbo Robinson:

As we as we wrap this up, because he's gotta be on stage, I think, here in less than an hour. I know mine doesn't start till a little bit later, but I probably need to go check-in with make sure that my phone's blowing up. Our comms team is blowing me up. Apparently, they can't find something, and I'm not the only one that can find it, but I think I'm the only one that they all have my number. But I I I want I think the a theme today, and and Connie got to hear this earlier, but a theme today has been the next generation.

Jimbo Robinson:

Right? I know it means a lot to you and having your grandkids here and your kids here to watch that because there were people ahead of you, like you just said, presidents. But what is one advice you would give a younger person who wants to get into the outdoor industry or wants to make an impact? What what would that piece of advice be from you?

Russell Laeding:

I would say start anywhere and ask lots of questions. You know, I think a lot of young folks get really bent out of shape about how quickly their career progresses or what their title is. Man, I I have found that the folks that succeed the most in this space just wanna learn and and meet other folks that have a lot of knowledge to share. And if you take that mindset into it, you're gonna be great. Right?

Russell Laeding:

And so I would say try anything, learn a lot, ask lots of questions, and surround yourselves with people that you trust, and great things are gonna happen. And that's that's that that advice could be given to almost anybody in any career. Right? Not just in the outdoor space, but certainly here. It's a it's a tight knit community.

Russell Laeding:

There's a lot of folks that are willing to help. So if you take that mindset in, you're gonna be very successful.

Rex Schulz:

I'd say well, I'll parlay on that. I would say follow your heart. Besides for quit never quit learning. Always be questioning. Always look for something new and exciting.

Rex Schulz:

Keep keep that going. I think that's really important. I think continuing to learn is really important, and I I I appreciate you saying that. Not everybody thinks that way.

Jimbo Robinson:

Well, to both of you, but to you, man, on all from behalf of all of us at Ducks Unlimited, I can't tell you how much we love TurtleBox as a company, how much we love the partnership, and we never take these kind of partnerships for granted. And, you know, we're always willing to learn and and help you guys out, and and we hope that you would come to us with the same types of things. But thank you for being here. It means a lot to our volunteers. It means a lot to our staff to have you here with us at our convention.

Jimbo Robinson:

And, man, I just can't wait to to continue this and to see where we can go, and and I'm, you know, kind of excited about this exclusive presidential thing you may have coming Oh, we'll work on it for sure. I'm not gonna I won't tell them all, but and Rex, man, you're the busiest man now at DU besides maybe Adam Putnam, but thank you for taking, you know, an hour and a half and to spend with us on this Ducks Unlimited Podcast. I know it means the world to our listeners to to hear their fearless leader because you are. To all the members and all the volunteers and all the staff, you are our fearless leader, and and thank you for being here with us. And I can't wait to to ride this ride with you the next two years.

Rex Schulz:

Looking forward to it. Thank you. It's an honor and privilege to be part of it.

Jimbo Robinson:

Let's go. So to all of our listeners out there, thank you for taking the time again to listen to another episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. We will catch you on the next one. Watch out for geese.

VO:

That's a wrap for today's episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast brought to you by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. From post hunt unwinds to celebrations back at camp, Bird Dog delivers award winning flavor in every moment. Enjoy responsibly. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe, and check out ducks.org/dupodcast for more stories, science, and all things waterfowl. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited.

VO:

Until next time, stay fired up, stay focused, and stay tuned to the Ducks.