133: Dave Polivy- Building E-commerce and serving the Outdoor Community
Dave Polivy from Tahoe Mountain Sports is one busy guy. in addition to leading the team at Tahoe Mtn Sports he’s also involved at the Federal, State and local level of politics. Dave tells us about his work with The OIA, the Corp group getting an office of recreation established in California, running for Town Council in Truckee CA and more.
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It started with my family, especially my dad. My Dad was a sailor and a skier and so I kinda grew up on sailboats in the summertime and hanging out by the ocean. And then winter time we'd had up to Vermont and go skiing and do all of that and sort of, that kind of started me out in the outdoors.
I started backcountry skiing in high school because I had been skiing my whole life. But I kinda got bored Alpine skiing. I tried ski racing and growing up in Connecticut, ski racing basically means that you go to school all day. Then you go to your little ski hills, about a half an hour away from the house at about 8:00 at night and like negative 20 degree temperatures. So I ended up telemarking, which then led me into the backcountry and started heading into the backcountry in the adirondacks, which was where we started going. So that's kind of where I started. And then I got to take a NOLS course when I was 18 and that sort of sealed the deal.
Things we talked about
Truckee Town Council
OIA Recreation Advisory Council
Advice, tips
I would really tell people to just do their homework. These days I think there's so much out there and one of the best ways, and I've done this with a few folks here locally, is just go and talk to people. don't believe everything that you read. I worked with our salesforce sometimes at my store and I enjoy it because it really gets me in touch with the customer. You know the famous line from any customer is well my friend told me to buy this. Let's say they were talking about a pair of shoes and I say, oh yeah, well what size? What size? You got it, how's your arch, are they really high? And I'm like, yeah, your friend decides they're a size 12, are they a man or a woman, you know? There's so much chatter in our lives both online and in person and all I would say to somebody is, go talk to as many people as you possibly can. Brands and marketing people and industry people and store owners. No matter which part of the industry you're going to get into, make sure you get a good feel for what's going on out there and make sure you're going to bring something special. Make sure you're going to do something that's relevant. Don't just open a store for the sake of opening a store. Make sure you have a reason for wanting to do it and have a battle plan.
Other Outdoor Activities
Cycling
Running
Skiing
Disc Golf
Favorite Books/Apps
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869 by Stephen Ambrose
Best Gear Purchase under $100
Connect with Dave
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