Mike Speetzen, Polaris CEO

Join host Jared Christie, Polaris Adventures Content Manager, as he sits down with Polaris CEO Mike Speetzen to discuss Polaris Adventures and to celebrate a major milestone. 

Book your next adventure @ www.adventures.polaris.com 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Polaris Adventures podcast. I'm your host, Jared Christie. My guest today needs no introduction. He's the chief executive officer of Polaris, and I'm thrilled to have him on the show. Please welcome Mike Speetson. Mike, how are you? I'm good, Jared. Thanks for having me. This is uh my first podcast. Looking forward to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

That's awesome. Well, earlier this year, I featured a podcast from one of our outfitters in Arizona, and I understand you like to spend a little time out west. Why is Arizona such a special place for you and a great place to ride?

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Well, I moved to Arizona in 1997 and quickly met my wife. Uh, we have four daughters who were all born in Arizona and we lived there for quite a long time. Uh her parents, my parents, my brother, her sister, everybody's down in Arizona. So we have a lot of uh family connections. We still uh own property in the northern part of Arizona, which is where we do a lot of riding. I have three pro bars sitting up in the garage there. So it's always got a special place for us, and I think we'll probably eventually retire there at some point in time.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Oh my gosh. I didn't realize it was uh such a connection.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah. Gosh.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Well, last time you were out that direction, you made a little side trip, I understand, over to California to check out our race team at King of the Hammers. Was that your first time to KOH? And what was that experience like?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, it was my first time to KOH. It was actually my first time going to one of our races. Um my wife went with me. Uh my second daughter and her fiance uh went along. Uh it was spectacular. Um, I mean, first of all, our race team is an amazing group of of guys, um, not just the uh the racers, but the guys that were behind the scenes making it all happen. I know the KOH rock race was something that the team was really working hard to to to win at uh and to see them be so successful and just the genuine uh happiness across the team was really neat to see. I've been around this stuff ever since I was a kid, and it's just a a way of life, and you know, I love it, and it's really what I've tried to encourage with my my daughters and with my granddaughter is you know, get outside and don't get tied to the TV or the couch.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Well, this summer will be your tenth year at Polaris and the last four as CEO. As I walk around the offices here at Polaris, I see plenty of awards for people who have five, ten, or more years of time here. Just curious, does the CEO get a 10-year award or plaque or trophy or something? I hope I do. I hope I do.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Um The fact that we have so many people that have long-term service here, I think just speaks to the the culture and you know what a fun business this is.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

We get you a cake or balloons later on today.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Hey, as long as I got my job, I'm good.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

As long as my passcode works when it comes to here, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

I'm good to go.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

The same here. So, four years as the CEO, did you grow up thinking one day I'm gonna be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company? No.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

No. Times when I was growing up, I thought I was gonna be an architect. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. Um, but I mean it's it's been a it's been a unique experience. I do think being in finance gave me a unique purview. And um, you know, I think when you combine that with a love of the business and what you do, it's easy to see yourself move into a role like this. Um, you know, because I I had so much visibility into strategy of the company and and the things that were going on, and I had a pretty strong opinion. And, you know, I'm a I'm a huge user of the products. I mean, you know, we we just came out of uh a couple days of reviews on snowmobiles, ranger, razor. And, you know, I think it can be challenging for the guys at times, but I think they appreciate the fact that I I can talk about these things because I'm out using them all the time, and they get more than enough feedback from me when something isn't going well. But um, I love everything that that we do and make, and you know, I'm passionate about it, and that makes uh that makes this job even that much more fun.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Do you remember your first time on a Polaris machine?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

You know, it's funny. Um I don't. I do remember my daughter's the the first product was uh a youth ATV. Uh my brother and sister-in-law are huge Polaris fans, they've been for decades, and uh we used to go over to their place and they had a lot of property, and and I can remember our girls out zipping around on a bunch of the the youth ATVs, and that's probably one of my best memories.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Polaris was founded and still is headquartered here in Minnesota, so we have a strong employee base here, but we're also a global company and have employees all over the world. As you roam the halls here in our Minnesota offices or travel and visit other sites in the U.S. and around the globe, what does the Polaris brand mean to Polaris employees?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

You know, I I think it it's it's a very personal personal brand. Um, when I stepped into this job in in 2021, the the thing that as I sat down and I remember Steve Eastman, who uh just recently retired, uh we sat around talking about how do we refocus the company. And he said, we got to bring the passion back, we got to bring the excitement. We've we were becoming a corporation, we're not Polaris. And he was 100% right. Uh and I think it helped that we got some of the things out of the business that were distracting us. We got refocused on winning and having fun, um, moving away from playing defense and getting on offense. Um and so when I when I talk to people, it's a very personable, personal brand. Um you know, it's not just a place people work. First of all, most people have an ownership in the company. Um, the second is a lot of the employees are are customers or users of the product, and that makes all the difference in the world because you know, on the weekend when they're not sitting in the office or you know, on conference calls and all that kind of stuff, they're they're in a ranger or a razor on an ATV or riding an Indian motorcycle or driving a slingshot. And that keeps them connected. So, you know, it's it's more than just you know a job that you go to, it's it's part of their lives and it's very personal.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yeah, you were kind of that passion also means so much to our customers. Why is Polaris so special to them?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

You know, it it's interesting because I've had to stop wearing anything Polaris when I fly. Um used to be really cool, but then it got to a point where it's like I'd kind of like to just get from point A to point B. But you know, it's just funny to see how people are passionate and they're passionate about everything, whether it's a snowmobile or a ranger. Um and I think it's because it becomes an extension of their life, and it is either helping them have a ton of fun. You know, snowmobilers are probably some of the most passionate, followed by the Razor, uh, the Razor folks. But even on the ranger side, you know, they become such an integral part of what people are doing that have a ranch or a farm. And, you know, my parents for a while had 25 acres of of essentially horse land down in Texas. And, you know, obviously when I started working for the company, they got rid of the Kawasaki mule and got a ranger. Um, and it was just interesting to see how passionate my more so my dad than my mom became about that because it made everything in his life easier. You know, he had a North Star, he was able to drive out to the pastures, he was, you know, pulling trailers around the property, it was accomplishing everything, and it became an extension of who he was and what he needed to get done. And, you know, that just that creates a passion with people. And and I think when you create the halo of how I think cool the company is, uh, the things that we do, the tie-in we have with our local communities, all those things make it such a a neat and inspiring brand.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

If you're standing at the uh the gate at the Minneapolis St. Paul airport in Polaris gear, you might not make your flight.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, that's true. That's true. And what's funny is even if you have climb stuff on, they there's enough of them that know.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Well, I hear you're pretty popular with some of our customers and often get wedding invites and baby announcements. Is that true? And what's that like?

SPEAKER_01 8:15

It is true. I I brought this up probably two years ago. I even brought it up in a uh dealer meeting uh because I was trying to drive home how passionate our customers are. Um, my my assistant Julie Law was actually out of the office on well-deserved vacation and some mail had stacked up, and I just picked it up and I was, you know, just randomly talking to somebody and start opening. And I was like, these are wedding invitations, baby announcements, showers, you you name it. Uh and I when she got back, I said, Well, what is all this? And she goes, Oh, yeah, we get tons of these. Um great. It's so great. I mean, it's you know, and I'm sure people were obviously looking to see if we'll give them something for free. Um, but but I also think, you know, it's it's pretty genuine because a lot of times they include a picture. Uh, and some of these people are sending wedding announcements out with, you know, him and her in front of a razor or you know, a snowmobile. And I think it just it gets back to the point I was making earlier. It's part of their lives. You know, it's it's it's I don't want to draw a parallel to a dog or anything like that, but it it becomes part of who they are and it defines them. Uh it's how they get together with their friends and their family. And you know, I think that's there's not many brands that can claim that kind of status.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Aaron Powell Well, you mentioned this earlier, but your own Polaris family is growing. You have four daughters and now a granddaughter. How are you bringing them up in the writing culture? You talked about them being on Polaris machines for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

You know, when we can get the family together, we try and center it around whether it's being out on a on a Polaris boat or, you know, people taking turns riding the slingshot around in YZ, or, you know, if we happen to be in Arizona getting up and spending some time uh riding, uh, it's really important. My granddaughter's only two, so it's a little bit more challenging, but I will tell you that we have the uh the razor, the pink razor uh studio parago um uh camped out in in our garage waiting for her to be big enough. And you know, I've I've gotten her in it and driven it around in terms of using my hand as the accelerator. Uh so I'm looking forward to when she can get on some of the youth products and and spend time on it. And you know, I think it's just it's a neat way to to bring the family together.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

How fun. And this is probably my most difficult question, like asking which is your favorite child. But do you have a favorite product you like to ride or maybe a specific model?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yeah, I I I do. It's it's the it's the Razor Pro R. Um, you know, we started out, we had Razor XPs at our uh place, then we went to Pro XP, and then uh we had a couple of uh we've got three uh Pro Rs that we had uh the Pro Armor guys do some work on. Um they're just fun. I mean, for where we live, um we can get to literally hundreds of miles of of trails and forestry roads. Um all of our vehicles are four seaters because it gives us the opportunity to to get everybody out or we take a lot of family and friends out uh with us. I'd have to say that's my favorite. That's not to say I don't ride all the other stuff, but those tend to probably carry a little special place in my heart.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Well, as you know, there's a ton of great work going on inside the walls of Polaris. We could highlight a number of them, but one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the podcast was to chat about Polaris Adventures because recently we passed a fairly big milestone with two million Polaris adventure rides. What does two million rides mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 11:50

It's pretty cool to see what that has turned into. And I think it's helped us accomplish a lot of the things we were looking to do. I mean, you know, I think it's 70 or 80 percent of the people who come into a Polaris Adventures are pretty new to Power Sports. And the whole aim was get them on our vehicles and get them that makes them a customer. And maybe they only buy a t-shirt or a hat or they do rentals through our operators, but we do know that some of these people are eventually going to come in and buy vehicles, and that was the whole intent.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Adventures has outfitters all over the country, as you mentioned. Great places to ride on the dirt, snow, the water, and on-road. I'm sure you've had a chance to visit a few of them.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, I um I've actually been to uh the operator we have up in Sedona uh a couple times. The first time uh was still pretty early on uh when we had created adventures, and I took my uh my wife, my oldest daughter, uh, and my in-laws, and uh it was quite the experience. Um and it was interesting to spend time talking to the guy who runs uh the or owns the operation. You know, he told me that prior to Players Adventures, he was running razors that would have 60 or 70,000 miles on them. I can't even imagine that kind of mileage on a Razor. Well, with the Players Adventures model, suddenly he was running current-year models that were beautiful, and I think a much better reflection of our brand. And you know, you get a lot of tourists going through an area like Sedona, and you know, when people are on vacation and they want to go do something, whether they're leaving a hotel to go do an adventures ride or they're doing it because it's it's near their home and it's something they can do with their family and friends. It's it's pretty neat to see that come to life.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, we have adventures locations in almost all 50 states, and we hope to check off that milestone at some point in the future. What do you see for the future of Polaris Adventures?

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Well, I mean, I think you know, we just recently evolved the the operator model, uh, and it's turning out to be, I think, even more successful than than the team had anticipated. And I think that's gonna give us uh a unique opportunity to continue to expand. I think finding a way uh to convert more of the people who come in and rent into to owners is probably the next phase of this. Uh we intentionally stayed back from being more aggressive because we just didn't want people to view us as this was just purely a marketing mechanism to try and drive ownership. And, you know, ultimately we obviously do want to drive that higher than it is today. But um, you know, I think making sure that that we look at uh the current markets that we're in, we've got to make sure we got the best operators. And then I think the international play is something that we'll continue to look hard at. Um I went to the Polaris Adventures that we have down outside of uh Cabo, down in uh Mexico. We went there, I think, two years ago. Um beautiful country down there, huge opportunities, the expansion we've made in New Zealand. I think there's just, you know, we're gonna have to be a lot more surgical, but it really does give us a unique opportunity to leverage.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

I've been to that location down in Mexico, and that ride out near the cliff there is something else, isn't it? Yeah, it's beautiful. Last question, and it's it's one of my favorites. Is there a place, doesn't have to be an adventures location, that you haven't been to or ridden that you'd like to go one day?

SPEAKER_01 15:08

I would love to go ride in Utah. Surprisingly, I have not ridden in Utah, uh, which is which is probably one of the better riding areas. Um, but I would love to go razor riding in Utah.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

It's funny you say that because when people ask me the question, I tell them my favorite state to ride in is Utah.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Yeah. Okay, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

It's it's like riding in a national park, the whole state.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah. I mean, you have just so many locations, especially in south-southwest Utah, in and around the national parks that are down that are just spectacular. And you just you're just looking left, looking right, rubber necking all day long, it feels like.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. So that's that's on my list. So I don't know if I'll get to it this year, but definitely in the year.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Well, I know an outfit or two out there, so we'll get you out there. Well, Mike, thank you so much for being on the Adventures podcast, and I wish you, your family, and the entire Polaris organization the best in this year.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Well, thanks for having me, and I enjoyed the conversation, and let's go, Polaris.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

That's right. Be sure to like and follow the Polaris Adventures podcast wherever you listen to your podcast, and we will talk to you again soon. Remember, every adventure counts.