Original subtitles

Just the point as it relates to individual success is paramount. You

can't be a CEO of a company unless you've got intense discipline.

I know that my responsibility every day, I've got to wake up thinking about how

I'm going to make this business better.

every day. And I got to go to bed thinking about how I'm going to make

business better every day. And so that focus and that discipline to stay

on one thing. And it doesn't matter what it is. You know, you can look at

anybody who's accomplished,

you know, regardless of the goal.

It's, you know, they don't let anything get in their way.

They don't let anything get in their way.

The American dream to me is just being able to say, you know what, I can do

this. If I really, really put my mind to it, if I really work hard, I can make

this happen.

And I think that's the beauty of where we live. I mean, we're not perfect as a

country, but I'm going to tell you this, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

Stevens water level recorders have been manufactured by Leupold and Stevens

since 1911.

Elmer Larson, hydrographic department foreman seen here, has helped build them

all since 1917.

They're a remarkable instrument devised to record on paper the level of a liquid

and its fluctuations.

A float is suspended from a pulley by a beaded line or perforated tape, beaded

or punched so that it will not flip.

The pulley is connected to a marking pen through a set of gears in a circlet of

linked chain.

As the float moves up and down, the marking pen is moved back and forth in

direct proportion.

The graphed paper under the stylus point is moved at the same time by a clock

motor set at a constant speed, thus providing a permanent record of the rise

fall of the liquid below, the amount, and the exact time it took place.

This is the Stevens recorder in its simplest terms.

So a brief history of Leupold and Stevens is fifth -generation family

So we're 116 years old, founded by Fred Leupold, who was an immigrant from

Germany, came here, settled in Portland, started an engineering company, and he

ended up with a partner named J .C. Stevens. So that's where you get Leupold

Stevens, who was a brilliant inventor.

And they had a successful company.

And then, you know, years down the line, Marcus Leupold, who's Fred Leupold's

son, was working at the company, and he was out hunting here in Oregon,

Blacktail, and his rifle scope bogged up, which is really easy to do in Oregon

weather, as you can imagine, and he said, I can do it better, and that

the whole idea of us really, you know, evolving to being a rifle scope

manufacturing company.

And so he did the typical thing you see great entrepreneurs do. He worked

mornings and nights and figured out how to make this scope better than...

anyone else and that was really the beginning of what we do today

well

this is this is a pretty cool little cut out here of a photocopy but it

It's the oldest Leupold ad that we can find from 1947, highlighting our

planesman rifle scope. The crosshair was made from Black Widow spider web silk,

so it was laid into the reticle holder.

And you can imagine the sub -assembly process with putting the different parts

together. But in one corner of the assembly area, there was a guy with a

terrarium that would simply have a wrangle of different Black Widow

extract the silk and then they would lay that into the reticle holder and that

would hold up to recoil because that tensile strength of the Black Widow

spiderweb silk is really strong.

And we've come a long way in technology since having just a simple fixed two and

a half power riflescope back then.

When I look through these photos, there's a tremendous sense of pride and

able to look back on what my ancestors and other Leupold and Stevens employees

have been able to accomplish over the years and know that we're building on a

legacy that was proven with great craftsmanship, machining capability, and

all the knowledge from all these products that have lasted over the

be able to highlight and just have the sense of pride that's there when you

some of these scopes are still out in the field and being used on rifles to

day. It doesn't matter if it's 10 years old or 70 years old. It's a Leupold

scope, and it's going to be lasted on your rifles with whatever punishment

it gets put through.

Generally, when we talk about optics, we're just talking about something that

enhances a sight picture.

Whether it's a binocular or a rifle scope, what am I trying to look at, and

do I make it so that I can see that better?

Better, clearer, make it look closer, larger.

So in terms of optics, that's what I think of when someone says, what are

optics?

Yeah, so at a basic level, a rifle scope work, you've got an objective lens

up in the front.

And then you've got the main tube, which is this part that I'm drawing here.

In the middle of that main tube, you have kind of your adjustments. And these

are the things that we use to sight in.

As you come back, there is a power selector ring here that lets you zoom

three power to nine power.

And then it comes back to kind of an eyepiece back here. And so you've got

extra piece, an eyepiece. And so the image...

The light comes in the front, it goes through the scope in here, and then it

comes back to, you know, your eyeball back here.

You know, probably the most difficult part of the job is taking a highly

design and engineering task and making it very simple to

use in the field.

So how do we take all of these things that we've known, we as a company, over

the last 115 years plus years and make it very, very simple.

We live this stuff day in, day out, eat, sleep, breathe, optics.

And for the people that want to get away and have that one week in camp or the

200 days a year for the professional guide, how do you make that as simple

straightforward as possible? That probably is the most difficult part.

It's also the most fun.

One thing I'm most proud of is that we made a product, an optic, that

allows you to go wherever you want.

I know our product's going to perform in any situation.

And, yeah, we have a gold ring guarantee, and we guarantee our product

okay? But you know what?

I want to make sure that you never have to use that guarantee.

And so we have to make a rugged, clear optic that when you're on the top of the

mountain or you're in Kazakhstan, that no matter where you are, that it's going

to work, right? Because FedEx doesn't show up there.

And they just won't. So, okay, you know, this is a different kind of beast than

just, oh, shoot, you know, my iPhone broke. I can get a new one. That's a

different thing because... When you're up there and you're in the middle of

nowhere, it has to work. It has to perform.

And I think that's something that we deliver, and I'm really, really proud of

that.

You know, growing up, I didn't really grow up in an outdoor family, so I

have that experience, but I've always been drawn to the outdoors and nature.

It's just a place to go to recharge and to get away from all the craziness of

life.

So connected now as a society, which is good in some aspects, right? But in

others, it just seems like it's a never -ending cycle of...

and notifications and messages and things to check and things dinging at

bright lights. So kind of get back to the roots and, you know, it lets you

and not have things think for you.

My job here at Lukehold is to use the products in the field. It's to engage

the consumer, use the products alongside the consumer, to put products through

the wringer.

Long range shooting is a combination of science and art.

The marriage of those two things together is really intriguing to me and

draws me to the long range stuff.

So the first thing I'm really going to do is get the Kestrel booted up and make

sure I'm on the right gun. I have different gun profiles in the Kestrel.

But take a reading for the environment. So I put it to live and I'm going to

spin it around.

so it can get all the different temperature, barometric pressure,

altitude, all the things that play into your ballistics.

So once it kind of gets an update of the environment, I'm going to lock it back

in, and now I'm going to take a wind reading. So I'm going to go into the

and I'm going to capture my wind. So I feel like my wind's coming from

this way.

I'm going to point that up there.

Just take a couple seconds to get a reading.

End my capture.

So it's blowing about 2 miles per hour right now, but I have wind 1 and wind 2.

I'm going to knock wind 2 up to 5 so I have a bracket anywhere from 2 to 5

per hour.

And now we're good to go on our Kestrel settings.

Now we've just got to figure out how far we're going to shoot.

What I'm doing out here right now is testing the product in the field where

is going to be used.

We have all kinds of testing apparatus back at the facility, but nothing

replicates having it out here in the wilderness and shooting where our

are going to go shoot and go use the product.

So it's really important that I come out here, I use the product.

And I deliver feedback back to the team about what's working, what's not

working, what we can improve on, those kinds of things.

I think it's just being genuine about the product and the lifestyle, right?

Living the lifestyle.

It's very apparent, I think, when you go up and you talk to the loophole people,

be it me, could be people on the hunting side, whatever it is, they're one of

you. They're a consumer. They're buying all the same other stuff that you're

doing. They're out there scouting all the time or they're shooting matches or,

you know, they go on a hunt all the time.

We love it. And that's just, you can't replicate that passion.

And it's non -negotiable. Like, to be on a loophole team out there.

especially sales and marketing, you have to be passionate about the lifestyle.

One of the things that makes me most proud to lead this company is we give

individuals the opportunity to get outdoors.

A lot more folks that are spending time indoors and maybe on the iPhone screen

or something like that.

a legit issue that we have less people getting outside.

I think if you look at mental health, people who get outside, I think you can

prove, are going to have a clearer, more focused, better outlook on life. I

think there's data to prove that.

You know, if we can help in any way to get people outside, get them to enjoy

outdoors and get them to go achieve some goals that maybe they thought they

couldn't, then I think we're helping in a small way to solve that.

I left the island when I was nine.

My father figured it was a good idea to come to the United States for a better

life and education.

So my father left in the early 70s to the United States by himself.

Worked and spent money for the three oldest to come and

help him.

work and save money to spend for my mother and myself.

There's a total of eight of us.

I'm very proud of my dad for bringing us here to the United States so we can

have a better life.

Working at Leupold brought me a different perspective of how to help

That's something that I learned is that A lot of people, I had people helping me

when I first came to the United States.

So I try to give that when I work at Leopold.

We have people that come that English is a second language.

I understand what it feels like not to fully speak the language.

And I'm very passionate.

That is my goal, to help people to be successful.

We're in assembly.

This is the black line, one of the lines that I run.

It's very important that each team member know what they're doing.

Understanding the work instruction is a very important thing.

So that's one of the things that we work with the individual person, trying to

make sure that they understand what their job is in each station.

They all know each station here. They work each station.

So we're able to move around like every two or four hours, move people around so

they can get a little break from what they've been doing for the first two or

four hours every day.

We have a good team here.

Everybody helps each other.

We don't just sit and wait.

Like she said, everybody's up and about and they help each other out. And that's

why this team is very successful.

It was a risk for me when I became a lead.

At first, I didn't want to become a lead because I know I have a lot of

responsibility at home.

And I didn't know if I can stay focused when I'm here at work, you know, because

I have so much responsibility outside of work.

But my boss pushed me. She believed in me. She said, you can do both.

When you're at work, you focus at work. When you're at home.

You focus at home with your kids and your family.

And that's one thing I love about this company is it's family -oriented.

Everybody helps each other out.

I love how this product is made in the United States.

I have a great passion for that.

I'm very proud of this country, and I'm proud of what I do.

And I come in every day. I'm ready.

Give it all my best with my team.

And I have a wonderful team that supports me and stand right behind me

me make it happen.

The American dream, freedom.

I have the freedom to choose what I want to be.

I have freedom to do things that I want.

And that's why I love this country, because I have the freedom.

To me, coming out of a guide camp and I was going to be an elementary school

teacher, I never would have envisioned being here.

And this company has allowed that because if you work hard and you want to

part of something bigger, you can be. And to me, that is the American dream,

being able to build a success for yourself and for your family and a

all in an environment that is loving and caring.

The American dream, it just means that you have the freedom to kind of make

own destiny.

I'm first generation, born in the U .S. of my family, trying to have a better

life and build that American dream.

It really makes me proud to be American and embrace that freedom.

The reason that we make all of our rifle scopes here

I don't know what else to say except it's in our DNA. It's just in the core

this company, of the craftsmen that work here, of what we're about, of this

American heritage, the family heritage that we have.

There isn't another option.

We have folks here that actually can take the product and go out every single

day and either shoot at our range or go out and hunt. I mean, it's just a

different thing when you have people who love and care about the product making

it. And so I tell our team all the time, it is not about being the biggest, it's

about being the best.

If we do that, we're going to do just fine.