Not Anybody Can Be a Great Leader but a Great Leader Can Come From Anywhere – Stevan Popovich, Cycle Gear

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)

Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories Podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome adversity. As you listen today, let one idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Cotuspodi, and today's guest studied fine arts in college and once thought his career might follow a completely different creative path. Instead, he spent over 25 years building expertise in specialty retail.

Eventually leading the acquisition of a GPS and venture app for motorcyclists along the way. From Art School to the Wharton School of Business, from merchandising floors to the executive suite, his career has been a series of unlikely chapters that somehow all connect. His name is Stevin Popovich, and he serves as president and chief retail officer of Cycle Gear, the largest brick and mortar power sports retailer in the U.S.

Cycle Gear is part of the Komodo family of brands, which also includes RevZilla and JP Cycles, operating over 160 stores across 34 states with thousands of employees nationwide. Steven has been instrumental in the company's growth through strategic merchandising, product development, and MA. This is a conversation about what happens when you follow curiosity instead of a straight line. But before we get into all that good stuff,

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Get your free consultation today at adbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the president and chief retail officer of Cycle Gear, Stepan Popovich. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Stevan Popovich (02:33)

thank you for having me today. I appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti (02:36)

Steven, so you started out, you got a a BFA from Green Mountain College and then also studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design. So what in those early days were you imagining your life would look like when you were in art school?

Stevan Popovich (02:51)

I thought I was gonna be a photographer and graphic designer. my cousin was went to Drexel and studied graphic design and I was fascinated by it. And and that kind of set me off on the path of, you know, this creative exploration. I, you know, I took photography in school in eighth, ninth, tenth grade, and I kind of really felt passionate about the

Creative side. And then I, you know, I think is is, you know, I didn't really have a ton of direction. As you get into things in life, you realize, like, it's actually not always exciting. You're designing a flyer for a local, you know, tour guide company. And I think, I think I, you know, I had this idea that it was always going to be this fun, creative thing. And so for me, I I realized it wasn't, I wasn't as impassioned as I thought I would be about the kind of

operational aspects of it and photography, you know, you don't I think a lot of people don't realize like 90% of the time is in the dark room. and back then in ninety four, ninety five, I was like, man, this is not nearly as fun as going out and taking cool pictures like you see on National Geographic. And I think I I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. So I kind of, you know, it took a year to figure out what was the next steps and, you know, what would make me happy and and leverage the skills that I felt that I had at the time.

Anthony Codispoti (04:00)

And so how did that unfold? What got you into retail and specifically into the path of retail that you were in?

Stevan Popovich (04:07)

By chance. I I moved to Vermont. I was in Savannah my freshman year. I moved to Vermont where I wanted to kind of live more of a quiet, you know, country Vermont life. And I found this small college, Green Mountain College, which is no longer in existence. unfortunately, it was a great little liberal arts school, but I needed a job on the weekends and I I wanted to work in a bike and ski shop. I wanted free ski passes, I wanted free bicycle tubes, you know, the things that were passionate that I was passionate about. So I just kind of stepped into it. and then I, you know, just never kind of left. I just kept getting.

job after job and and then I realized that there was a skill set that I had that aligned with what that business you know needed and just kind of never never really veered off of that path. It wasn't something that I had planned. It was just something that I kind of fell into.

Anthony Codispoti (04:54)

so how did the passion for the cycling industry come about?

Stevan Popovich (04:59)

I grew up a big cyclist. so I was always on bicycles. it's funny, I was looking on Facebook the other day at old pictures. I mean, since I was a little kid, I pride myself that I taught myself to ride a bike. we joked at the beginning about being Steelers and Browns fans. My parents, I told them I wanted to learn how to ride a bike. This is a true story. And my mother said at halftime, and I was like three or four years old, and I literally, my grandparents' back porch, I went out and I taught myself to ride a bicycle and

and then I it's just been something I've you know, I wasn't a heavy sports guy, hockey, football. I mean, it but but cycling has really been something that's always been part of my life and two wheels. And where we lived outside of Pittsburgh, there was a lot of farmland and a lot of space. So it was always riding bicycles, which then turned into motorcycles. And and growing up on farms, we rode a lot of horses and things like that. So, but it was just a natural passion for me. And then as I kind of learned more about it and the Tour de France and Greg Le Mond in the mid-80s, as I you know, 10, 11 years old, it became this thing that.

just

reignited the passion for two wheels and you know in a city like Pittsburgh I was probably the one of the few kids that wasn't like wearing team jerseys for the Steelers or the Penguins or the Pirates. But I I just stuck with it. It's something that I still do today. I I ride bicycles every, you know, probably five days a week. I ride my motorcycle as much as I can. So

Anthony Codispoti (06:13)

Sounds you're just kind of born with it. I mean, you're teaching yourself to ride a bicycle at three or four years old, that's wild.

Stevan Popovich (06:16)

I guess. I know I know.

I know. I know. But remember the point of the story. My parents were busy watching the Steelers game, so I had to teach myself or anyone from Pittsburgh listening. Yeah. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (06:26)

I I I love that. I love that. And then like

you said, these these jobs in biking, cycling, retail, just you needed a job and sort of one thing led to another. And then you made a the comment that you just discovered you had a a certain skill set that was valuable. What was that skill set?

Stevan Popovich (06:46)

I think that

people aspect has always been very natural for me and that's core to retail. My grandfather sold corrugated aluminum siding for a company called Fallinsby Steel. He was this he was a salesman and out of Ohio. They were out of Ohio and he he just you know I don't know if he beat it into me or just seeing him all the time. It was always look people in the eye and and you know how to make connections with people and you know he was successful in the world that he was in and I I don't know you know whether it's ingrained in me or it was something that I just you know practice and learn through him. But for me

Retail, I think you have to be authentic, especially in specialty retail. You have to be authentic. You can't, you know, fake your way through.

Conversation with a skier if you don't ski or a cyclist if you don't ride. And and then as I matured through through the the kind of near the rankings, I've really enjoyed the people management side of things and and understanding their day-to-day challenges having come up on the floor in the back end of the business. And for me, I think you can't you know build a career out of this if if that natural

Yeah, I guess the natural people side of things isn't something that is impassioned within yourself.

Anthony Codispoti (07:56)

So you've been in this specialty retail for twenty five years plus now. In my experience, there's two ways that we learn really powerful lessons through our careers. One of them can be through really strong mentors. Can you think

about

Stevan Popovich (08:14)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (08:14)

one that you've had along the way and what they were able to teach you?

Stevan Popovich (08:22)

can I cheat and give you two?

Anthony Codispoti (08:23)

Please do.

Stevan Popovich (08:25)

so the first was this first general manager of the store I worked at in Vermont. His name was John Peters. Unfortunately, he's no longer with us. And he was you know, he hired this, you know, hippie kid to work on the weekends. And but he was just he was just so genuine in the way he connected with me. You know, he taught me a lot about retail and he

kept my eyes moving forward. It's like, hey, this, you know, this could be more than a job. We see that you're impassioned. And he really pushed me to like manage a department and and learn more, how, you know, take my skill set further within the organization. And it really changed my perspective on what it means for someone to connect to a young kid who's, you know, 20 years old, 19, 20, 21 years old, that he took the time and taught me how to fly fish and a lot of things that really just meant so much to me. But then as I matured my career, there's a gentleman, Scott Wallace,

who's become a really close friend and mentor. But every large hurdle that I've faced in retail from when I started off at RevZilla through the acquisition from Komodo Holdings, which are on Cycle Gear at the time, he really leveled up my game at a national level. You know, he had experience at Best Buy and Radio Shack and GameStop, and he's a consultant in the retail space. And he really just shifted my entire perspective of what it means to run an organization, a retail organization, as opposed to a retail store. And I think those two people in particular.

professionally have really had profound impacts on me and how I have continued to mature and grow and not lose sight. You know, I think about John all the time when I walk into a store and the lessons he told me and taught me really still resonate with me, you know, 25 years later. And and over the past decade, Scott has continued to be instrumental when I have questions or things about how I'm, you know, shifting my perspective on a large organization that we that I'm running today. So sorry to cheat, but those two people are really important for me. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (10:11)

So what a n I'm glad that you did. I I think those

are wonderful examples because part of what I want the audience to understand is this value of being able to learn from folks who have been there, done

Stevan Popovich (10:22)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (10:22)

that, and you know, have sort of that, you know, Yoda wisdom that they make accessible to you. In each of those cases, I'm curious, because people are thinking, I I don't know how to get a mentor. What is there, like a one-eight hundred mentor that I called a like how how did this unfold for you? Was it like

Was it ever like a formal conversation, like will you mentor me? Or was it just sort of somebody that you developed a bond with and they were supportive and somebody you can just keep continue to go to?

Stevan Popovich (10:50)

Well, John was organic. It was very organic. He was my boss. and I'd been there about a year, you know, on the weekends in college, and and I just started asking more questions. And he just I think he took it upon himself to see that natural curiosity that I had and started having deeper conversations with me about what you know, I always ask in interviews, what are you people what I mentor? What do you want to be when you grow up? And you know, at the time I would say, I don't I don't know. and and he would help a lot and he would give me different opportunities and projects to work on, or he would knowing me, he

would know organically took it upon himself. And there was never an official mentor capacity. Scott, on the other hand, my when we were acquired, he was part of the diligence process for the organization. And my boss at the time said, hey, like I think, I think you'd really benefit from this guy. So it was a much more formal

you know, professional mentorship for the first six months or year. and it was like, hey, this guy does this. I think you would benefit from a like a professional mentor. And I didn't know that was a thing really at the time. And so that was more formal. and then we've just become fast friends and we've stayed in touch over the years and we support each other pre first personally and professionally. so I think depending on the organization, it it's always it's always hard for people to ask. And I think as it goes to finding a mentor for a young

Professional listening to this. What I found over the 15 years at Komodo is people don't they want to ask. our organization has a formal internal mentorship program, which is great, people can apply for, which I think is phenomenal. And our our our our people side of the business does a phenomenal job of giving people those opportunities. But you know, based on the relationship I had with John, I mean, there's a there's a gentleman that I'm working with.

you know, kind of I like to say on the side right now who works for our organization. And I I saw I was talking to him one day and I liked him a lot. And I said, hey, I think you might need help or you look like a little lost. And he's like, my God, like I've been dying to figure out how to ask you for help. He's like, I've talked to my wife and I was like, I don't know how to approach Steven and say, like, hey, you know, I could you know, you've clearly, you know, had some some success within the organization. I'd love to learn from you. He said, I just didn't know how to approach you. And I think as a leader, the opportun you know, the I think as a leader, our job is to identify

identify the people that you might feel are struggling, not struggling in a in in a you know big capability to do their job, but

I think, you know, I use the valley of disappointment to people all the time. I mean, people think progress is linear and it's really on a curve. And people get to that point in the curve where they might slide back down. It's no different than weight loss. I mean, this isn't something that I develop, but you know, identifying when people are kind of like growing in their career and they're kind of stagnant. And for me, I love reaching out and being able to kind of get them through that valley of disappointment, which sounds so negative, but you know, you see their growth. So I think for folks, ask.

just ask people. I think it it's hard for people to do that if you don't have a formal mentorship program, but I think for folks that are probably on your podcast, it's incumbent upon us to identify that in the organization and be proactive.

Anthony Codispoti (13:51)

I love that. So if you're in a leadership position, this is something you should be looking for for the the the folks

Stevan Popovich (13:56)

Hundred percent.

Anthony Codispoti (13:57)

that report to you. And if you're not in that position, if you're somebody's like, man, I am lost. I need that help. I think one of the things that helps a lot of people to hear is how good it feels to be approached and say, you know,

Stevan Popovich (14:10)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (14:10)

have somebody tell you, you seem really wise. You seem like somebody I could learn a lot from. Would you help me? Would you teach me? You know?

And and unless they're like just over max capacity, I mean, for most people, that that desire to want to help and to sort of feel, I don't know, lifted up just by the

Stevan Popovich (14:32)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (14:32)

ask itself, I I think you're gonna find a lot of people are really receptive to

Stevan Popovich (14:37)

100%. And if they're not, they shouldn't be in that role. I you know, I think that's the the the the thing with leadership specifically. If you're not focused, your core focus isn't people.

and identifying, you know, gaps or professional development or even just if they're off. I mean, I think that's, I mean, leading it's I forget the Colin Powell quote, but it was leadership is all about people. It's not about organizations or strategy. It's about people motivating people. And I think, especially in an organization this big, you know, as easy as it is to be removed as the, you know, as the president of of a large retailer, I still know most of the store manager names and all of our district managers and interact with people monthly and weekly just to be able to stay in touch.

because that's the motivating, you know, that's what makes us successful is the people in the organization.

Anthony Codispoti (15:24)

Okay, so we talked about the power of mentors and how that can be a great learning mechanism. Another one that's a lot more painful typically are challenging work experiences. Like, man, you fell on your face doing something. You treated a customer the wrong way, maybe an employee. Can you think about something that, man, you should look back like wow, that was kind of hard at the time, but it really steered me in a different direction going forward, and I'm glad for it.

Stevan Popovich (15:53)

yeah, there was a very specific instance about twelve, fifteen years ago where I I thought you know, we Revzilla. I started at Revzilla.com before it was acquired and it was a hypergrowth startup e-commerce business and I I kind of rose the ranks pretty quickly and I worked with closely with one of the founders and really was tight with the founders on, you know, strategy and merchandising. I ran visual merchandising, but for me I thought I knew

I thought because I had a big job, I knew how to lead or manage a team. And

I remember getting a checkup on it because I I just was too casual about something you know, not worth going into. And it was like, hey, like you can't do that anymore. Like you can't, you cast a big shadow and you have to pivot your whole and it was literally direct, you it's it was a conversation of like, you're not just a a guy that works here anymore and you you're somebody that's influencing the organization. I remember I was like, my God, like I have no idea how to run a team. I thought I did because I had eight employees. Like I thought.

I knew what I was doing, but I had no clue. And I just remember the humbling, just how humbling it was to realize, man, I did not have this leadership skill and I didn't know what I was doing. and then really pivoted myself to be like, okay, what is what does this mean? Like, I don't know anything about people really, like the psychology of people, how to motivate people outside of, you know, when a business is a startup is growing and you're growing through your mistakes. I mean, we grew.

10x in five years. I mean, it was bizarre. so you know, you think you you go from 12, you know, I was the 12th employee. I mean, and then you look around and there's 150, and I have a team of 10, and I think everything is great. And then I started seeing the cracks, and I kind of had this, you know, bomb dropped on me, like, hey dude, like this isn't.

This isn't a fun little startup anymore. is a real organization. And then I just remember thinking internally, like lost, that I didn't have the skill set to do that and really spent the time to learn what it means to be a leader through podcasts and reading and, you know, educating myself on on how to take myself to the next level. But I just remember being mortified, you know, thinking that I, you know, sorry, but thinking my shit didn't stink at the time. And then realizing, like, man, you don't know what the hell you're doing. And this is.

Anthony Codispoti (18:11)

You got brought down to earth

real fast, yeah.

Stevan Popovich (18:13)

Whew,

man, it's tough. And even now, I mean, there are days where I think, you know, I look around the organization. I mean, it's cycle gear is a big business and you know, over 170 stores now and you know, 1500 store employees. It's it's a lot. And if you're not serious about that work and continue to be serious about that work, about being a leader, I think you can quickly find yourself over your skis.

Anthony Codispoti (18:34)

And it sounds

like this was then self-taught. Once you had this really painful realization that you weren't all that quite yet, then you took it upon yourself. You're reading, podcasts, YouTube videos.

Stevan Popovich (18:45)

I did.

I also had Scott. Scott told me I didn't know what I was doing. So Scott was very Scott was very generous in telling me I didn't know what I was doing. So I definitely had a had a lot of luck there and a lot of help from him. But yeah, I mean I think it's it's you I I'm a kid from a a a liberal arts school. You know, I didn't have a formal business education, I didn't go to Wharton, I didn't go to a

a fancy school. So there's and even those schools they don't teach a lot of that too. I mean, I think it's the idea that, you know, just because you have this MBA from Wharton, you know, they don't teach you how to run a business and and they don't teach you how to run people. And I think there should be so much more psychology and interpersonal

skills around leadership and in institutions because that's what it is at the end of the day. Yeah, you need to learn how to balance, you know, a balance sheet and look at a PL and understand the financial side of the business. But it's humbling because I don't think people see it coming in most startups. I mean you see it in the you know from the big you know businesses we see on the news all the time. These startups get to these points, but these

These these folks weren't trained to run a team. They weren't trained to be leaders. And yeah, you can grow through all that. And this, you know, you you grow through your mistakes and they're kind of like, you know, swept under the rug, or it's like, you when you tell your kid to clean your room, they put the toys under the bed. but if you don't make this a core function, and and frankly, my my experience is that most management training, you know, modules or things don't really get to the core of what it means to connect authentically with people. And the other quote I love is you're

a leader until you made a leader that's built another leader. You know, so for me, you know, until you're three steps removed, you haven't learned how to do the job that you're in outside of the operational aspects of, you know, of course, financials and all of that.

Anthony Codispoti (20:30)

What do you think the existing management leadership training out there is missing? What are some of the core pieces that it's like, you gotta get this?

Stevan Popovich (20:40)

I personally believe, and this is just my opinion, but I truly believe and what has helped me more than anything is really understanding the underlying psychological motivation and needs of people. And I think we don't spend enough time learning about what is motivating for people. You know, how do you identify, you know, what is you know, what is the reason they are

Mo what what is the motivating factor for them and and what is the cause of that? I mean, it sounds it you know, I think about it sometimes. I think like, God, I feel like I'm trying to be like a psychologist or or a psychiatrist at times, but when you really understand why people get frustrated or why they act a certain way or how they talk a certain way. And I think really the psychology of people, you know, we control different and you know, five different buckets of our life: environment, time, appearance, social, and financial. And you know, you know, how do you know that?

you know, if people are struggling in certain areas of those things. And I think for me, a lot of the management training, you know, talks about like, smart goals and achievable goals and these things. Yeah, we know, but but honestly, like, do you know what Susan's motivation is? Like, do you know why Susan is the way Susan is, or is why Tom the way Tom is? And and how do you manage to that? And you know, I have four or five direct reports that are completely different personalities. And I approach them

based on their needs and their, you know, kind of psychological profile to an extent, because they all respond in a different way. One person is, hey, let's do goals. You I know they love checklists. Let's do goals. And then we move forward from there. So I think that's a that's a big piece.

Anthony Codispoti (22:23)

So how did the opportunity to join the Komodo family of brands come about?

Stevan Popovich (22:28)

Oof, by luck. I I moved to Philadelphia. my family moved to Philadelphia in 2011. my wife at the time was going to get her master's at Penn and I was looking for a job. We had sold our house and moved there for her to get her master's, and I was looking for a job, and I knew I knew retail and I knew a little bit about e-commerce. And I literally just applied to Revzilla. there was, you know, the founders and five other people at the time and

I started and just kind of fell into it as you know, initially customer service answering the phone. After 30 days, they came to me and said, Hey, like clearly you want to do more. And I said, Yeah, I mean, this is what I've done in my past. And I've done a lot of merchandising and a lot of buying. And so I really just about 60, 90 days in, one of the three founders and I, I said, Hey, I want to run merchandising with you. And he and I took merchandising from 10, 15 million at the time to to 150 million and grew the organization. he was technology he has a technology.

background he really developed the replenishment and inventory management system and you know I would offer support along the way and we built it together. So for me it was just after 90 days it took off and then we were acquired by Komodo in 2016 and then acquired JP and Rever in 2020 and just kind of it's just been a a a lucky ride honestly. I don't take anything for granted.

Anthony Codispoti (23:49)

So what was the part that you were adding to that whole process of getting from fifteen to a hundred and fifty million? Are you coming up with the product selection? What what was going on?

Stevan Popovich (23:57)

So yeah, so we

dealt with so I was the the ended up I I my last role technically under Revzil was the vice president of merchandising. I mean, we literally worked with all the big brands, we did all the buying together. So I bought all the product. We were doing procurement, forecasting, planning, new brands, acquiring new brands. well, not acquiring, excuse me, bringing in new brands to the portfolio of assortment. we spent a lot of time bringing brands from Europe that wanted to be in the US and give them a voice in the States. excuse me, so really everything around merchandising.

merchandising. I was not great at procurement by any stretch. He definitely was way better than I was, but you know, we built the process and system. The whole tools were homegrown. So we, you know, we knew and identified based on the supply chain that we had.

You know, I knew negotiated with vendors, you know, drove margin, developed private label brands for the business and and helped develop private label brands for the business. So really everything souped to nuts. But I I definitely skewed more on the brand, you know, product assortment side, vendor negotiation side. You know, I think as much as I loved the idea of thinking that I was a

solved the procurement and inventory needs of the business. That was definitely not my sweet spot. So it was a nice balance because he was very yin and I was very yang and I think we did a really good job and and then built the team and structure around scaling the business. So that was that was a ton of fun.

Anthony Codispoti (25:17)

Okay, so for people who aren't familiar, tell us about Cycle Gear and the overall Komodo family of brands. What does the company look like today? What's it do? Who does it do it for?

Stevan Popovich (25:28)

Yeah, so the Komodo Holdings is a holding company as is it as it is and we own Revzilla dot com, which is a e-compure play, Jnpcycles.com.

pure play e-com with two three stores, Cycle Gear, which is really a brick and mortar business more than anything. We have 165 stores. We have a a growing, a substantial e-commerce business. It wasn't when we were acquired. And then Rever, which is a navigation app similar to Strava, but for motorcycles. So for any runners or cyclists listening, Rever is a a version of that for motorcycling, explorer, track, all of that. And then we have Common Tread, which we we like to talk about as our fifth brand, which is really a a content side of the business.

So we have a huge podcast, we have a huge content following to kind of drive the drive the conversation.

Anthony Codispoti (26:18)

So tell me a little bit more about Rever. This is a GPS adventure app for motorcyclists, off-road

Stevan Popovich (26:22)

Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (26:23)

riders. So this is what just a like a community play.

Stevan Popovich (26:27)

It was, you know, when when when we we did a partnership with them in twenty twenty, I think. And I had taken this, you know, part of my furthering education, furthering my personal education, I had taken one of those Scott Galloway sprint classes on business strategy. I don't know, it was like a thousand bucks or something. It was fun, it was like a two-week sprint, but you really learn about strategy and Disney and Apple. And yeah, they use these big organizations as kind of like, you know, guidelines for your for your roadmap. And

We done a partnership with Rever and at one at that point in the business, you know, Revzilla Cycle Gear and J and P were all

you know, growing in substantial businesses, but we didn't have and common tread was this content, you know, conversational play, but we didn't really have a community. So the the idea with Rever and the acquisition really was from a, you know, driving a community engagement play. something where people could like, comment, be part of community. You know, we have groups. So hey, if you live in Colorado, there's a River Colorado riders. If you live in Pittsburgh, there might be a River. And then we can have routes and plans and meetups and things around that. So for us and for me at the time, the

the the thesis was that should we, you know, we could buy this and really roll in this into the organization and kind of have more of a community hub that is segment agnostic. So whether you ride a Harley or a dirt bike or an adventure bike or just learning, because there's three barriers to entry with motorcycling. We we talk about and it's you know where to ride, who to ride with and safety. And I think Rever really helped the where to ride and who to ride with peace.

Anthony Codispoti (27:58)

And so how does that support the brands today? Or does it feel like it's more of its own independent thing?

Stevan Popovich (28:05)

it's a little bit more of its own independent thing. You know, we have integration with each of the businesses as it affects those businesses. That they're you know, Revzilla SKUs a little bit more premium, higher end, street and adventure, cycle gear.

You know, we're in a you know, 165 locations, so you know, we're pretty much everywhere. So we we kind of cater more to the the value you know, plus value, value premium customer, where Vozilla tends to skew a little bit more premium. and then J and P Cycles is is really V twin, which is encompassing of Harley Davidson and kind of the cruiser market. So what Rever's able to do is kind of go into each of those businesses and affect the conversation in the way that matters. So the Harley Ryder side of the business, excuse me.

mileage and riding far is a big thing. I mean, Harley riders will ride 10,000, 15,000 miles a year and they love to track the ride. So we can kind of tailor the community and the approach to the different segments of motorcycling. So Rever kind of feeds, as common tread does, you it feeds conversations that kind of affect the narrative of each of the businesses.

Anthony Codispoti (29:09)

And is there a revenue model inside of Rever? You pay to use the app?

Stevan Popovich (29:12)

Th there is a

very v no well there's there there's a there there is a premium version of Rever that is paid. You can get a free version. it it is definitely the the you know

Clearly there was a recurring revenue aspect to it when we bought it that I think you know Komodo didn't have. So as a as an organ as a strategic initiative, it was like, hey, if we you know, if we can get you know a recurring revenue model within the organization out, because a loyalty at the time for us was was free across you know two of the businesses. So it's just a free loyalty program. So there was no recurring revenue. So my thesis was: hey, you know, let's get something in and shift the kind of business model a little bit. It's not a huge driver, it's not a 40, 50 million, 800 million dollar business, but you know, we can bring

bring

people into this and drive a recurring revenue stream. Thanks Scott Galloway and the Sprint class for that. But but we also we also love to give it away to customers when we can because we want them to be part of the community. So for us it's kind of a a really strong nice to have. you know it's got a decent PL to it, but nothing that's

you know, really driving the core business. But I think at the same time being authentic to our consumer, to be able to offer products and services that benefit them and keep that as the the strategic lens that we look through, I think is it's does a phenomenal job of that.

Anthony Codispoti (30:26)

But do when people are interacting inside the Rever community, the Rever app, are

Stevan Popovich (30:30)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (30:31)

are they aware that it's part of sort of this bigger umbrella of brands?

Stevan Popovich (30:36)

Yeah, it's you know, it's that's a it's super interesting. And I I they they are. when we first integrated and were purchased by Komodo Holdings was formed, it was Cycle Gear and then they had purchased the Revzilla business. So and then after J and Pete, we kind of kept it I don't wanna say intentionally quiet and didn't talk about Komodo. you know, we kind of just talked about the brands, but but

After years of integration, you know, people start finding out and you know, Reddit threads get posted and you know, I wouldn't say we we lean heavily on Komodo as is is the you know the family of brands as this kind of masthead for us, but I think at this point, we're the only

cycle gear is the only brick and mortar, aftermarket brick and mortar in the country that does what we do. Dealerships sell helmets, you know, that sell motorcycles, they sell helmets and jackets and things at a very small scale. But we don't, you know, we're so unique on the retail side that I think everyone kinda knows at this point that it's all part of it. So.

Anthony Codispoti (31:39)

Got it. So where to ride, who to ride with, and safety. These are the three important things. Talk to me about the safety components.

Stevan Popovich (31:49)

well I think with motorcycling it's very polarizing. you know, as I said, I grew up skiing and riding bicycles, mountain bikes and racing road bicycles, and safety is the number one component and and fear of risk for motorcycling. And I think for us as an organization, you know, how do we combat and

Change the conversation around safety. we've had a national campaign the past three years called Airbag Save. There's new technology out, which is a a wearable airbag for the motorcycle rider. It's constantly monitoring the rider. There's a computer in the back.

And it's it's not on the motorcycle, it's a vest. And it's been used at racing for years. And the past three years, it's really come into its own. Helmets, obviously. I mean, you are I I mean I I live in a state that you don't, you're not you're required to wear a helmet. I think that's fine if people choose such. but when you look at the data around motorcycle accidents, more often than not, it's speed and and safety are the two things that that that aren't being managed at that moment. And yeah, there's obviously accidents, but

so really driving the conversation around the growth and development of technology with airbag safety, helmets, the gear that you wear. I mean, I you know you see people riding in jeans, but we have jeans that are specific, specifically reinforced with heavyweight stitching and Kevlar and Dynema to really reduce or increase the abrasion resistance if you were to slide. And I think, you know, over the years, I mean, I I'm 50 years old and you know, my my mother was not a fan of me riding dirt bikes as a kid and it was always wear a helmet and boots and

But when you get onto the street, there's different perceptions of of safety. And I think for us as an organization, when you educate, you know, how to ride, take classes, learn how to control a motorcycle, just because you can ride a bicycle doesn't mean you can ride a motorcycle. Being protected and being present, I think those are things that are really important to me.

You know, I I I see motorcycles all the time on the roads as as I ride mine all the time on the road and off-road. And for us I think it's it's important for you know in the ski industry Sonny Bono had his accident in I think 2000 or 99 and we didn't sell more than 10 ski helmets a year prior to that when I was at the retailer in college.

Sonny Bono had his accident, and we were selling hundreds and hundreds of helmets of winter in a small ski shop the following year. And I think

One thing with motorcycling is, and now you go to a ski resort. I live in Colorado. I mean, you there's nobody's not wearing a helmet when they're skiing. And I think with motorcycling, there's been this, there's been this freedom aspect to it, the easy rider vibe, the the cool factor. but you know, when you are safe and you're prepared to ride and you're present and you're protected, you know, you mitigate a lot of that risk. And and I think for us as an organization, you know, we like to think of ourselves as wanting to be the safety kings. You know, we want people to experience

the freedom and joy of motorcycling, but also be able to share that there's a safe way to go about it. I mean to ride within your limits, wear the gear and the airbag technology is phenomenal these days.

Anthony Codispoti (35:00)

Tell me more about the airbag technology. I feel like maybe I've been living under a rock. I didn't know that you could wear an airbag. How does this work?

Stevan Popovich (35:07)

You and everybody else. they've been they've been they were actually in horse riding as well. So, you know, falling from a horse. So initially it was kind of a tethered deploy. So it was it was a a CO2 canister that exploded a literally an airbag, but it was like a collar, you know, went around your chest and back and neck, and and then as the technology progressed, they became untethered.

So, with the advancement of technology in the back of the airbag, there's gyroscopes and accelerometers that are always monitoring the rider, and there's algorithms that are powering it depending on the type of riding you're doing. that if in the event of an accident, it predictively, almost predictively deploys. So while you're kind of, you know.

if you jerk or you get kind of bumped, it explodes in milliseconds. You know, faster than the blink of an eye, and it reduces impact, but it covers your whole chest, your shoulders, down to your arms and your entire back. So reducing impact by ninety-seven percent. And our recent campaign we really focused on a rider, an employee of ours who was hit. He was riding down the road doing his thing and a car didn't look and turned in front of him and

the the G impact was twenty one G's of impact when he hit the or twenty G's of impact when he hit the car and twenty one G's when he flew and hit the street. he had a good helmet on, he had an airbag, he got up and walked away without a scratch on him.

Anthony Codispoti (36:24)

God.

Stevan Popovich (36:25)

And it's crazy

because they've been in cars, you know, we're mandated to wear seatbelts. And for us as an organization, you know, there are millions of motorcycle riders in the US and and around the world, and it's so unobtrusive. I mean, I I literally rode yesterday on and off-road, and there's different modes depending on the type of riding you're doing. And it's I just put it on like a seatbelt now. So I think for us, you know, trying to spread the word on that and and show, you know.

Folks, that you can be protected, but you also have to be responsible. You know, you should never drink when you drive, you should never drink when you ride a motorcycle. And I think, you know, if you anyone listening as teenagers, my daughter was in a really bad mood a couple months ago and I said, Hey, you're not driving your car today. Like, I'm not letting you drive your car. I'm gonna take you to soccer practice today. Because you, you know, you have to be present and you have to be ready and understand that. Now, she's a teenager, so you know, you obviously can over-index and safety there, but

I think, you know, for us again as an organization, being able to support safer riding practices while still not losing any of the joy of freedom, the freedom aspect of motorcycling is important.

Anthony Codispoti (37:34)

So I'm glad that we talked through this whole safety concern, right? This is kind of one of those stigmas that kinda hang over the

Stevan Popovich (37:41)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (37:41)

industry. And there's, you know, other ones in in terms of like, you know, the association with Hell's Angels and, you know, Harleys. And I I wanna hear kind of your take on all of that too, Steph.

Stevan Popovich (37:52)

Well, I think

I think it's a lot like, you know, I don't know, maybe maybe analogous to the negative comments in social media. You know, those always bubble up first. You know, people always talk about the worst experiences first. They don't think of they never they just want to talk about the negative things. And I think, you know, social media comments or YouTube comments are, you know, it's always the you know, it's always the negative side of things, or I knew, or you know, and and my friend's cousin had a motorcycle once and and you know, it it's so I think like anything in life.

I think doing the research and understanding the different aspects of of a global sport like motorcycling is important. And and yeah, I mean you can, you know, if you lived in Oakland, California in in the seventies and eighties, yeah, the Hells Angels are a a PTSD moment for people that grew up in that era because it was a

you know, a a gang, you know, for all intents and purposes. But then in the 70s, Honda came with you meet the nightest nicest people on the motorcycle and completely shifted the narrative. And and I think as is you know my hope is anyone listening or anyone that I speak to is just, you know, they don't know airbags exist. They don't know that you can ride a a nice comfortable street bike. They don't know that the motorcycle I ride you can ride off-road across the country and take on trails. It's an on-off-road bike and

Yeah, there's so many things about it that that you know are people are very myopic a lot of times in their view. And I think at times, you know, movies and things don't really do us many favors. Sometimes they do, you know, when James Bond is on one and everyone thinks it's super cool or Keanu Reeves and in his John Wick movies. but I think the the narrative is changing and we're seeing it as an organization. We're seeing a lot of younger

18 to 25 year olds really getting into motorcycling. I think they've given up on or less impactful to them is is buying the latest iPhone. They want experiences. And we've seen a huge growth in female ridership over the past five years. It was, excuse me, 12 to 13%. Now they're 20 to 22% of the industry. So people are seeing that you can be safe. People are really excited about the adventure, being able to throw a bag on the back and, you know, go across country or just ride to the next state or ride to the next town and go camping.

And have this solitude and freedom or camaraderie with other people because I think.

When you ride a motorcycle, it's and you're passionate about it. It's not like I play tennis. You know, you don't identify as a tennis player. When you ride a motorcycle, people identify as a motorcyclist, and it's really core to their personality. You know, like I mean, yeah, I played tennis growing up, but I never like said, I'm a tennis player, but no, I I'm fiercely defensive. No, I ride motorcycles and it's important to me and it's part of my life. And it's something in a way that's far more psychologically anchored in people than a lot of other.

specialty sports.

Anthony Codispoti (40:41)

Why do you think that is?

Stevan Popovich (40:43)

Because it's awesome, man. I'm sorry. It's awesome, man. I like it's awesome. Like I

Anthony Codispoti (40:47)

Don't hold back.

Stevan Popovich (40:49)

I'm not gonna hold back because it's awesome. It it's so cool. It's so much fun and it's so freeing. And it's you know, I've I've been riding since I was six years old. You know, I started on dirt bikes, but it's

You know, I I've driven across the country, I've been on amazing road trips with friends. It there there's nothing like riding a motorcycle. And and I ride like I said at the beginning, I ride bicycles four or five days a week, mountain bikes and gravel bikes and road bikes and and there's nothing like it. the solitude, the peace, how you're seeing that you know, the the

the landscape go by. I mean, it's literally every narrative that you hear on, you know, you see on Pinterest or Instagram. I mean, it it's such a and it's almost feels like people that are into it that you're part of a club that nobody knows about. And you kind of want people to join, but you also don't want them to join because you kind of want it for yourself. Like it's this thing that you really, you know, I rode yesterday and I was on the highway and on the back roads for about 30 miles before I got to the trails. And I'm just sitting there like, you know, I have I have headphone, you I have a headset in my helmet and I'm

I'm

singing along with the music and I'm looking at the mountains and the sunshine in Colorado. I'm like, I just doesn't get any better than this. Like it's it's so much better than a car. And now cars have their place, but it's I don't know. It's if if if you haven't experienced it, I I think people should try. but when you get hooked, you realize that it really changes your perspective on a lot of things in a way that I wouldn't have thought I I I wouldn't have thought would have happened for me.

Anthony Codispoti (42:12)

I is it just because you feel like you're closer to everything? Whereas in a car, like you're removed because there's a layer between you?

Stevan Popovich (42:18)

Well you you but you you're you're

you have to be connected. You have to be present. You you know, in a car you can, you know, put your adaptive cruise control on and your lane assist and you can check your phone and you can kind of check out. Like you cannot not be present on a motorcycle. And I think that presence

really changes the experience because you know you're you have to watch the road, you have to look out for cars, you have to look at the landscape, you know, your hand is on the throttle, you know, you're far more engaged. You're shifting gears because, you know, 99% of motorcycles are manual transmission still. So, you know, you you're actively doing something as opposed to passively being a passenger. And, you know, I mean, with the self-driving Tesla, I mean you could go from here to Ohio probably and barely touch the wheel and and it's just not the same

just not the same same thing by any stretch.

Anthony Codispoti (43:11)

So Steven, when you took on the role of president and chief retail officer of Cycle Gear in April twenty twenty three, what was the biggest project that you had in mind to undertake?

Stevan Popovich (43:22)

Oof. well the the s the story is can I I I d I'm gonna share a quick story, but I I the transition of me taking on was was cycle gear was was not a planned thing. the gentleman that was running the business at the time abruptly passed away unexpectedly. And we were looking for

We didn't know what to do at the time. And I I had no large retail experience. So it was a very abrupt transition for me. we I knew the team, I knew the business, you know, from a you know, strategic level and I understood retail, but I didn't know. But we we literally didn't know what to do. He was very impactful to the organization. And

know a couple weeks went by or a week went by and I said to our COO at the time, I said, Hey, you know, I don't think we can go higher externally for this. Like I think these people need someone they can trust right now. And I think I can do it. And I was like, I don't know how to do most of it, but I think I can do it. And I think they need me, like not me, but I think they need someone in the organization that they have a relationship with to bridge the gap of this this tragedy. And so it wasn't something that was a transition that I interviewed for or tried, you know, w frankly ever thought I would do. But

so for me, the the there were two pieces. one was foundational stability of the team. I mean, it was a very gut-wrenching thing. He was very close with all the district managers and the store leadership and the stores and had you know, 25 years of heavy retail experience in multiple industries. And he really knew what he was doing, commercial real estate. And so for me it was, you know, how do I get the team

through such a difficult transition. I mean it might be overlooked in some industries, but you know, we're still a family business, all intents and purposes. You know, we still we don't look at ourselves as this corporate.

Goliath, where we don't know people's names and we're not integrated with the with the teams, you know, at all levels. I mean, even our CEO, I mean, he has one-on-ones with directors and and senior managers and managers still, just to be able to be close to the business. So for me, it was stabilizing the leadership and executing on the strategy that he had put place over the first 12 months. And then of course, educating myself. I mean, I didn't know anything about commercial real estate, literally nothing. So for me, it was foundationally okay, people priority one.

Stabilize, get a plan, get them working together, helping me because I didn't know what the hell I was doing, frankly, half the time. And then the operational side of the business, what is a triple net? What is CAM? Like what are these commercial real estate things that I had no idea what they were? Now we had a you know a leadership team that was strong and solid, but the lack of unification in that moment was something that that was my core focus.

Anthony Codispoti (46:03)

And so how were you leveling up on those things then? Just leaning on the the team that was in place there? Were you going back to the YouTube videos and things like that?

Stevan Popovich (46:12)

well, Scott helped me again. I

Anthony Codispoti (46:15)

Yeah.

Stevan Popovich (46:15)

I owe him a lot. I I probably yeah, I should have probably paid him again, but I just I took advantage of it for free. Because we were friends at that point. So now you don't get paid. but I I I leveraged the leadership team. I think the people side has always been something that I've it's it's come easier to me than I think than most, and I've worked on it, and I think that's why it's become come easier for me. But then

On the operational side, it's hey I here I literally my first day, my first presentation was, hey, if you want to go fast, go alone, go far, go together. And and I know it sounds so cliche.

But I showed the team, I said, hey, this is what I know. I know you, I know the people, I know how, you know, what we sell, how we sell, like I know all of this, but here's all the things I don't know. and these are the people that are gonna help me learn this over the next 12 months. And I strategically just checked off the boxes and said, Okay, I don't know anything about commercial real estate. Let's stabilize the team. I'll get to that in three months. I have a vice president that had been doing it for 30 years. He was phenomenal at it. So I didn't have to worry about that, fortunately. and I was able to focus on the team.

There were things that for me I think organizationally needed restructures. So I restructured the people side of things and how we kind of flowed and rolled up to different folks and brought different people in to kind of run operations. And then, you know, again, just kind of took my time to tick away and we're five and a half, five years later, I guess, almost six years later. Geez. And I feel like I finally, probably after two and a half years, I felt like I could swim, not against the tide.

Anthony Codispoti (47:44)

And so here we are recording this in middle of twenty twenty six. What are some fun things you guys are either in progress on right now or new things to come?

Stevan Popovich (47:57)

well, new stores. we're continuing to develop new stores. in 2019, we rolled out a new format, a refreshed format for the cycle gear stores. And over the past five years for me, it's really been okay, we're only opening larger, more premium cycle gear stores. You know, a lot of them were three, four, five thousand square feet. our average, you know, store volume was low millions. now we're opening 10,000, 12,000 square feet, and we have now we have like five superstores, which are 20,000 feet.

Or more. And our average fleet has your average volume has doubled. So for us, continuing to develop markets that are underdeveloped, continuing to redevelop markets that we know are value. You know, the city of Dallas or City of Phoenix have continually to grow. So how do we continue to encompass the city where cities are developing within a city? Dallas is so large now. Houston is so large now. These are five, six, seven store markets, you know, for us. So, you know, really that's a big piece, but but more than any,

You know, we've spent a ton of time the past two years developing a community. We have bike nights the first Tuesday of every month throughout the ride season at the majority of our stores. We have a half a million people roughly come to those bike nights to look at other motorcycles, to meet people, to be part of the community. We have events, we do a lot of grassroots sponsorship. We partnered with the motorcycle industry council to do a ride with us campaign where we use our store parking lots. So if people want to try a motorcycle, put it in first gear and ride in a circle. This is this is

is I'm curious. We like to call it motocurious. So if I'm motocurious, so anything we can do really on the community aspect of this fun, right? anything we could do on the community aspect of it really is is where we

Pushing because it is a community. You know, you stop at a gas station, people want to talk to you regardless of what kind of motorcycle they're on and you're on, and how do you like that bike? And so we want to take the time to, and it's easy, it's easier for us than than a lot of stores. You know, cycling is great where a lot of independent independent bicycle dealerships will have Tuesday night rides or Wednesday night rides, but you're looking at

10, 20, 30 people maybe. We have bike nights with six, seven hundred people. We have bike nights that the city comes and has to shut us down because 500 people show up just to hang out. And we didn't plan for it, but they want to be part of this community. So for us, you know, new stores roadmap over the next few years, we're gonna continue to develop, refresh, and renovate existing stores, but then really focus on.

being integrated and part of the riding community is is is where I think we really differentiate ourselves and are able to differentiate or differentiate ourselves, excuse me, than a lot of specialty retailers because we have the volume, the size and scale to be able to do that.

Anthony Codispoti (50:36)

And the passion, right? I mean, you're saying there's something special about the motorcycle community where

Stevan Popovich (50:38)

So pressed, yeah. Totally.

Anthony Codispoti (50:41)

it's this club that people there's sort of this weird like tug of war. Like you want other people to come in and sort of experience the real cool thing that you're experiencing, but at the same time, like,

Stevan Popovich (50:51)

Yeah. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (50:53)

this is kind of our thing, maybe we don't need you.

Stevan Popovich (50:55)

Yeah, but what yeah, but what's what's awesome is that man, we just had this event, Revzilla had its own kind of adventure riding event in South Dakota, and we had so many new riders and we had people show up on Harley Davidson's who were curious about adventure riding, and I got so many messages at the end of people saying like, everyone is so welcoming, you know, like yeah, you're probably not gonna go, you know.

Up to a Hells Angels in a bad part of town and be hey, I'm curious about riding motorcycles. But like motorcyclists want to help other motorcyclists and they want to give them advice and they want people to join, but they they do. They they're not they're not you know standoffish because but they also know that like if somebody's excited they are gonna get into the club and it's kind of cool to have them in there. but people are so impassioned to help other riders, and I think that's the the thing about the community is that you know, talk to someone. I mean, you saw me, you asked me like, and why is mod why do you like riding?

motorcycles and I lit up and I said because it's awesome and anyone you talk

Anthony Codispoti (51:55)

Yeah.

Stevan Popovich (51:55)

to that rides a motorcycle is gonna be like it's awesome man like it's just awesome you don't get it you got to get on a motorcycle and try it it might not be for you but like you'll understand what it means and I think that's the that's the fun that we try to spread spread with you know sprinkle our dust around the around the country with our stores especially

Anthony Codispoti (52:14)

Are you guys using AI at all in your business? Or you personally?

Stevan Popovich (52:17)

A lot.

A lot. I mean, I use it a ton. I mean on on the analytics side. I mean, we have an AI powered, you know, analytics tool that's just phenomenal.

I mean, I think we obviously on the customer service side on the back end, there's a lot of adoption. but we also know that we're a retailer. So, you know, leverage it where it makes sense and over-indexing people where it makes sense. I think there's a lot of things with hourly scheduling, wages, planning. We use a lot of it for analytics around new retail locations. We use a lot of it for, you know, back end and and you know online customer support and give people options to go down the path of, you know, an AI chat to be able to solve the

you know, a WISMO question. or but we also want to make sure that you know we're not we're not shipping our customer service overseas. You know, we still want folks that ride answering the phone. You know, we obviously have to have people in stores and yeah can AI, you know, alleviate bandwidth for my team, my vice president team, you know, on the cycle gear business to think strategically and not be dialed in the weeds on you know spreadsheets or forecasting or planning. I think there's a ton of opportunity there that we've taken advantage of, but

we also can't lose our authenticity. You know, our CEO, his father started JMP cycles. He's ridden Sturgis for 30 years almost. He's a passionate writer. Our COO is a passionate writer. Our president and of Revzilla and JMP.com is a big passionate rider. So, you know, it's an organization that that again, we just lean on that authenticity. And I think as soon as we realize we tread on it.

You know, you kind of get bit by one or two customers and then we all step back and go, shit, like we gotta remember what our mission and and and values are here. and that's to not be inauthentic to the to the motorcycle consumer.

Anthony Codispoti (54:02)

Well, let's talk about the people side of this, right? Because labor market's really tight. You guys, big footprint, you know, across the country. What are some things that you found success with when it comes to recruiting and retaining good employees? All the way from the top down to the store level.

Stevan Popovich (54:19)

Well, I'll start at the store level. retail is tough. I I would share I would share our retention stats, but I know every retailer listening would not believe me.

But we have we have a high retention rate and folks stay with us a long time. It's you know, I think it plays it it plays into their passion. You know, a young kid can come out of college and get a job making $17 an hour, $18 an hour, but we have a commission and SPIF program where they can make real money. with the store volume we have, they can move around the country and take on larger stores. They can grow to be a district manager. We're very passionate about giving them a run a professional runway. and at the same time.

they're doing what they love. You know, I mean I think it's it's it's being able to tap into that core passion for people is really exciting. And and at the store side, I mean we have I mean I'll share our average store manager with our average store manager is here for five years.

I mean, it's it's it's that is not normal in retail by any stretch. And and we continue to invest in paying them. You know, we we don't we don't hold back on commissions and you know we want them to make money and be successful and be able to live a build a good life for themselves from a from an you know let's say middle management or you know, middle management and up opportunity. I mean, we are the largest in the space, you know. So for us, being able, you know, bringing someone in on the marketing side, let's say, or the tech side, it's hey, you're affecting omnichange.

channel business at a national level. You have, you know, buy online, pick up in store, you have reserve online, you have all the kind of technological growth that you would want from a national retailer level, but then you have two, three powerhouse.coms where you can really, you know, drive the technology conversation around consumers and digital marketing and things that are really and then have a huge content side of the business and then we have a navigation side of the business. So you know we've really built a suite of businesses that I think attracts talent at a you know middle management and top tier level, but at the store level,

most I mean I would say 99.9% of the folks that work at Cycle Gear ride and are impassioned riders. I had dinner with a woman who runs our store in one of our stores in Virginia. she's in her late fifties. She's been working with us for 15 years. and she rides her hardly, man, like a lot. Like

goes on trips on our motorcycle. We're you know, so so for us it's we're very fortunate in that aspect. but we've also been sure to put together a payment and commission structure that allows them to make money and bake that into our forecasting and planning that that because we know it's tough in retail, but we've been very fortunate in that aspect.

Anthony Codispoti (57:01)

Stevan, what's one of the hardest things you've had to overcome personally? And what did going through that teach you?

Stevan Popovich (57:08)

for me, imposter syndrome, and I think it's real. and I think it's more real than people think. you know, I went to I started off in art school. I went to a small liberal art school in Vermont. I was directionless. I, you know, I wanted to ski and ride my mountain bike, and and you know, my uncle used to call me a wayward hippie when I was in my my late teens and early twenties with my long hair and and

But I think you know, for me really, I know it sounds maybe cliche, but you know, you get to a certain point in your career and you know, we're we're private equity owned and

Know you start meeting people in organizations or people come in through acquisitions and you know they have these degrees, they have these MBAs, they have all these things, and and you kind of look around, you're like, Well shit, how how did I end up here? You know, I I I I like I just wanted to ride my bicycle, man. Like I didn't I didn't I didn't have a clue what I wanted to be. And so so you look around at times and you

You know, you you have a mentor like Scott who worked in big businesses and Best Buy and Radio Shack and these these huge retailers and you feel you feel like just small at times. And and then you wake up one day and you look in the mirror and I'm like, man, maybe we've got 170 some stores and we're, you know, massive online business recycle gear. We're part of this massive, you know, commote, this massive holding company that's really staying close to the customer. Like, how did I get here? And and and I think for me, overcoming it really

was taking the time on the education side, you know, taking Wharton executive finance classes and taking the Scott Galloway classes and listening to hundreds and thousands of pod you know hundreds or thousands, not hundreds of thousands, hundreds or thousands of podcasts and reading and finding people and and and when I meet people

gaining experiences from them like hey I just want to can we go to dinner sometime you know I'd love to talk about business and just hear other people's experiences but then I think for me overcoming it you know you start to realize that those those MBAs are are are not as there's not as many as you think there are. And then you also start to realize that you know going to going to business school or you know going to Penn and then going to work at JP Morgan for five years to get into private equity and go back to

To business school, yeah, that's a skill set. and they don't have my skill set. And for me, overcoming it is I know what it likes to receive what it's like to receive 10 pallett in the back of a back room. I know what it's like to have a busy storefront on a Saturday and a Sunday. I know what it's like to not have weekends for 10 years of my life and work Saturdays and Sundays in retail. Like, and I think for me, overcoming it is is is really valuing the growth trajectory that I've had in those experiences. And but it's real, like it's it still happens at times. You know, we're on a conversation today and

And

you know, I see other podcasts and people, you know, might work for Bose or Radio, you know, or Bose or Best Buy or Sony, these big organizations. And here we are, you know, on our way to a substantial business in an industry that everybody overlooks. And I think, man, this is kind of like the best magic trick of all time for myself. I I've grown myself professionally and in the shadows. and I you know, I feel good about myself when I really measure against the size of other businesses, but imposter.

Syndrome is real. It really is. And I think if you don't have that pedigree, it's going to be with you all the time. Even if you do, I'm sure. You know, so.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:30)

Yeah, I'm so glad that you gave voice to this because it's something that comes up on this show a lot. And I don't think that people generally talk about it. And so people are there.

Stevan Popovich (1:00:37)

They don't, they're scared to.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:38)

Yep, exactly. You know, I'm suffering from it right now and and I'm not talking about it. And I'm wondering why nobody else is affected by this. Why am I the only one

Stevan Popovich (1:00:46)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:47)

who thinks down about myself? I'm on the edge of my seat here, just waiting for somebody to figure out that I'm a fraud. And

Stevan Popovich (1:00:53)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:00:54)

and so giving voice to it. And and I think one of the other interesting things that you said, Stefan, was

you know, even with all that you've accomplished, right? And you're the president and the chief retail officer for, you know, 160 plus store organization, and you find somebody else to compare yourself to, you know, somebody that's bigger, Bose, Best Buy, who whoever

Stevan Popovich (1:01:13)

Always. Hundred percent.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:17)

it was. And it's like, regardless of where you get in life, there's always someplace like we move the yardstick, right? We move that that goal line.

Stevan Popovich (1:01:25)

Always.

Anthony Codispoti (1:01:25)

Like, what's the next thing that I I need to go and achieve?

Stevan Popovich (1:01:30)

It it's tough. I think it's tough for everybody. But I think, you know, I I I look back, I look my grandfather, my mother's father was super influential, impactful in my life. And he was, you know, he gave zero Fs. you know, he made his money and he made it unabashedly known that he did he gave zero F's and and I think, you know, it's it's tough it's hard. You know, it's really hard at times and and

but I also know that that I you know I was raised to not be afraid of hard work.

and I think a lot of folks, you know, I I use that as a guiding principle. I travel a lot, you know, I'm raising a kid who's about to go to college, like you know, we have a big business. but I think when I get frustrated with imposter syndrome or you know, I hear someone on a Scott Galloway podcast talking about global impactful businesses and things, I'm like, man, look at those guys. Like, geez Louise, I can't even imagine. you know, I try to step back and say, you know what though, like I'm connected to my team, I'm connected to my stores, I'm connected to my district managers, I'm connected to

my customer. Customers have access to me. I had an email from a customer who had a bad experience in a store last night. I replied within 45 minutes of getting the email. Like, hey, sorry you had this bad experience. Thank you for reaching out to me specifically. Because I think as soon as you start flying a little too high, it becomes easy to not lose the humility, but lose sight of what got you there. And so for me, when I feel bad about you know not having that MBA from Penn or

whatever it may be, I also know I'm doing things that most people aren't doing and that makes me feel a lot better about the growth trajectory that I've had to to overcome those feelings of imposter syndrome.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:08)

So two quick things I want to add to this conversation for you, for folks who are listening, just for some extra, I don't know, things to keep in mind as you're dealing with this. I'm generally not a fan of looking in the rearview mirror, but I think when you're suffering with imposter syndrome, that's a really helpful thing to do is

Stevan Popovich (1:03:27)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:27)

to look back at how far you've come, right?

Stevan Popovich (1:03:30)

Yes.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:31)

Generally speaking, best to look forward, what's in front of me. Let's plan

Stevan Popovich (1:03:34)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:34)

for today, let's plan for the future, not worry about what's back there. But when you're constantly

Stevan Popovich (1:03:37)

Yeah. Yep.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:39)

gauging yourself against the goal line that you just moved an hour ago,

Stevan Popovich (1:03:43)

Totally.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:44)

looking in the rearview mirror can be really helpful. The other thing I'll offer up is, and I gotta give credit to one of my guests for this, is there's the potential to reframe imposter syndrome as a superpower. This

Stevan Popovich (1:03:56)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:03:57)

is what one of my guests does.

Every day when he wakes up in the morning and he's feeling that sense of, man, I'm just not enough. Like I just don't measure up but people are gonna figure out I'm a f that's the thing that kicks him in the butt every day to say, You just gotta show up again and you gotta do better

Stevan Popovich (1:04:12)

Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:04:12)

than you did the day before. Just keep getting better every day.

Stevan Popovich (1:04:16)

Totally. And when I mentor people, the first thing I do is is tell me everything you've done over the past ten ten years. Like where were you and where are you now? Let's let's look at the roadmap of where you've been and and let's take it, you know, let's let's be positive about the success that you've had up until now. You just don't know how to get to the next level. I love the the the look in the mirror when you're feeling bad. I'm a huge proponent of diff di discipline is a massive confidence driver. and I think when you're disciplined it

really saying, okay, I'm gonna look in the mirror today and I'm gonna praise myself for the work that I've done. I think self-validation and self-promotion is so impactful and important. I mean it's these dopamine hits that people are getting from the internet and from Instagram and from social media, which they should be giving to themselves. They should be looking back and looking forward and saying, hey, you know, I'm prioritizing future self, you know, and thank you for doing that. You know, I and and learn to dopamine hit yourself as opposed to, you know, go externally for those hits. So I do it all the time. I try

to teach my daughter make your bed in the morning so at night you're happy and say man thanks for making my bed Sydney you know or hey laid out my clothes so my morning's a little bit easier prep your coffee and over index in your gratitude at looking back at how you prioritized yourself and I think you know it keeps me incredibly positive and it's such a an interesting way that requires a lot of discipline to do that but I think when you do it you

you build a level of self-confidence that does help alleviate a lot of those imposter syndromes, even though I still have that shit all the time, man. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. So yeah.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:48)

I but I love that. Look internal for those dopamine hits

rather than the internet or someplace external.

Stevan Popovich (1:05:53)

Hundred percent.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:54)

I've got one more question for you today, Steven.

Stevan Popovich (1:05:56)

Sure.

Anthony Codispoti (1:05:56)

But before I ask it, I want to do three quick things for the audience. First of all, I'm going to give you multiple ways to get in touch with Stevin Popovich. first, Stepanpopovich.com, and we'll have these links in the show notes. There's also cyclegear.com. There's the portfolio brands, ride Komodo.com. If you just type Stevan Popovich into Google, you're gonna find him and

thousand different places, all kinds of write-ups and different media appearances. Also, if you're enjoying the show today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you're listening. See it also sends a signal that helps others discover our podcast. So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now. And as a reminder, you can finally get your retail employees access to therapists, doctors, and prescription meds that counterintuitively actually increases your company's net profits starting in the very first month. There's no copays, no deductibles,

A lot of part-timers qualify and you can keep your broker. Learn more about how to have happier employees and a stronger bottom line at adbackbenefits.com. So Stefan, last question for you today. As you think about the work that you're doing today, what is it that you most want to be remembered for?

Stevan Popovich (1:07:05)

I wasn't prepped for that one. you know, I I when my daughter was little, ugh, I shouldn't have said that. When my daughter was little, when she would go to a sleepover, I'd say, be good, use your manners and have fun. And and I think I wanna be remembered for being good, having good manners and having fun. super simple. I don't, you know.

I don't care about the the growth of the business or any of those things, but I think for me, I keep a list of everyone I've helped out along the way that I don't charge for. And I think for me, I just want to be remembered for being someone that they connected to, had the opportunity to connect with. I try to be good at, you know, I use my manners and I have fun. I have a ton of fun. And that's really it. I think, you know, Jerry Garcia used to say, he what do you want to be remembered? He a competent guitar player.

you know, the guy that changed the history of music. I just you know, I want to be a competent boss. They but I want to be revered as being good, having good manners and having fun. I think like the baseline of of how I was raised is really important to me. And I think those values, having that as a reflection of people's memory to me is far more important than all this, you know, all this stuff that we're talking about today.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:18)

Stevin Popovich from Cycle Gear. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. Appreciate you being here.

Stevan Popovich (1:08:22)

Thank you. Thanks so much.

Anthony Codispoti (1:08:26)

Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us. And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.

Connect with Stevan Popovich:

Website: cyclegear.com

Website: ridekomodo.com