Let’s discuss opportunities for women in the recreational boating industry, the importance of mentors and champions, and how today’s leaders can help grow and support the next generation of marine industry talent. David Gee’s guest on this edition of Boating Industry Insider is Christine Carlson McKone, Vice President of Marketing for Volvo Penta. She has built a career that has taken her from marketing communications to industrial sales, back into boating as marine marketing director, and ultimately into her current leadership role. In our conversation, we talk about her boating background, what she loves about the recreational marine industry, her career ascension at Volvo Penta, and her perspective as a Boating Industry Women Making Waves honoree.

In the marine market right now, the top-performing dealers aren't just doing a little better - they're doing a lot better. The gap between the best stores and everyone else is widening, and it's not about budget or market size. It comes down to a handful of operational habits that high performers execute consistently - and how smartly they spend their digital marketing dollars. The dealers winning right now aren't doing anything exotic. They've built a foundation, layered the right tools on top, and run it with discipline. In this edition of Boating Industry Insider, David Gee is joined by Hayley Hollen, Head of Brand & Client Marketing at Dealer Spike, and Bill Koehn, Director of Digital Marketing, to discuss the State of the Dealer Report and to get specific about what winning habits look like. This episode is sponsored by Dealer Spike.

Artificial intelligence is already changing the way customers research, compare and buy. So why are so many recreational boating dealers still reluctant to use it? In this episode of Boating Industry Insider, David Gee talks to Anthem Marine founder and CEO Mark Overbye to unpack the boating industry’s hesitation around AI, the mistaken belief that it automatically makes communication feel fake, and the very real risk of falling behind in a soft market. The conversation also covers a brand-new AI-driven sales and marketing app called Leopard Logix Mark is developing exclusively for marine dealers.