Below the Surface Podcast

Chris Ulmer owns Crystal Coast Graphics, a bowling center, a food truck, commercial properties, Airbnbs, and more — and he's done it without sacrificing his marriage or his sanity. In this episode, Jared sits down with Chris to talk through the real mechanics of scaling: when to diversify (and when NOT to), how to escape being the bottleneck in your own business, why he fires customers, and how to work with your spouse without blowing up your home life.

⏱ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 — Intro
2:30 — Filling market gaps in Eastern NC
6:30 — Internal growth vs. chasing new customers
8:30 — Don't be a Super Walmart
14:30 — Chris's other businesses (bowling, food truck, properties)
16:40 — What new entrepreneurs miss most
19:15 — "Time is what you can't get back"
22:00 — Working with your spouse
25:30 — The "hats" concept from Rocket Fuel
33:00 — Resentment, presence, and the phone problem
41:00 — "80% done by somebody else is 100% awesome"
42:15 — Hiring: 70% consistent beats 110% erratic
50:50 — Growing slow, growing the right way
55:50 — "Words of decapitation"
1:01:50 — The Rebecca Falcone AI story
1:08:00 — Why "cheaper" never wins
1:18:30 — Firing a customer (the boat wrap story)
1:21:00 — "If you don't want to burn it down once a week..."
1:32:40 — Rapid Fire: the $250K tax fine
1:38:30 — Advice for new entrepreneurs

🔗 GUEST
Chris Ulmer | Crystal Coast Graphics
crystalcoastgraphics.com
Facebook: Crystal Coast Graphics

🎙 BELOW THE SURFACE
Depth Over Image. Hosted by Jared Shepherd.
Subscribe and follow for more conversations with the people doing the work.

What does it actually take to build a business, raise a great kid, and find yourself — all at the same time?
Michael Letchworth is a partner at Sam Jones Barbecue, founder of Fox Hollow Outdoors, and the dad behind one of the most genuine father-son outdoor brands in the game. But the story behind the content? That's where it gets real.
In this episode, Michael opens up about hitting rock bottom in 2022, quitting alcohol for good, and how clarity changed every single thing — his business, his fatherhood, his purpose. He talks about intentionally letting Larken (his son) kill a turkey at 4 and a deer at 5 before he ever did himself, buying 83 acres to build the childhood he never had, and why success takes a lot longer than anyone tells you.
In this episode:

Why Michael let Larken hunt before he ever did — and why he'd do it again
Rock bottom, suicidal thoughts, and quitting alcohol at 35
How fitness rewired his brain and his life
Fox Hollow Outdoors, Waypoint TV Season 1, and what's next
The real cost of building a TV show with no big sponsors
Screen time: why he pushes back on the "get off the iPad" crowd
23 years in the BBQ business — and when people finally learned his name
The slow grind of building something that lasts

Follow Michael:
Instagram: @michael.letchworth
YouTube: Fox Hollow Outdoors NC
Website: foxhollowoutdoors.com
Watch Season 1: Waypoint TV App (free)
Follow Below the Surface:
YouTube: Search "Depth Over Image"
Facebook: Below the Surface
Depth Over Image.

Big Dave Mercer is one of the most well-known names in Eastern NC fishing — but behind that reputation is a story most people have never heard. In this episode, Jared sits down with Big Dave and gets into the real stuff: growing up in Beulaville, building his whole identity around football at ECU, hitting rock bottom when a shoulder injury ended it all, and what happened in January 1998 that changed everything.
Dave opens up about two miscarriages, losing a stillborn son at 30 weeks in 2020, and how buying a boat in the middle of grief became one of the most healing decisions of his life. He talks about men and why we're wired to suppress emotion — and why that's destroying us. He talks about ministry, discipleship, the difference between checking religious boxes and actually being in Christ, and why the church is supposed to be people, not a place.
If you've ever built your identity around something that was taken from you — or you've been through loss and didn't know how to talk about it — this one's for you.
Big Dave is available on Facebook if you need someone to reach out to. Don't be too proud to make the call.
Timestamps coming soon.
#BelowTheSurface #BigDaveMercer #FaithAndFishing #EasternNC #MensHealth

Below the Surface with Jared Shepherd — Brad Smith | Gunny B Outdoors
Brad Smith isn't your average fishing guide. He's a retired Marine who did 20 years, deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, went through MARSOC, and came home a changed man. But this episode goes way deeper than fishing.
Brad opens up about what it really cost him to serve, how his marriage hit rock bottom and how faith pulled it back together, the years-long fertility struggle that led to a gender reveal at his retirement party, and how he turned a captain's license into a growing charter business — Gunny B Outdoors.
This is one of those conversations that sticks with you.
Topics covered:

Growing up in South Carolina and joining the Marines the day after returning a Blockbuster movie
Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq — and what it actually does to a person
MARSOC, Africa, the Philippines, and 20 years of deployments
How his marriage nearly ended and what turned it around
Years of fertility treatments, IVF, and finally having his daughter Haley
Building Gunny B Outdoors from 50 trips to 158 a year
Why fishing is more than fishing — and how it saves people
His work with veteran outdoor organizations

Find Brad:
Website / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / YouTube — search Gunny B Outdoors

Today on Below the Surface, we sat down with Clarke Merrell — the man behind some of Eastern NC's most recognizable restaurants: Prime Bistro, Wine Bar, Circa, Dank Burrito, Merrell Estate & Gardens, Social Q, and Beaufort Olive Oil Company. 
In this episode, Jared and Clarke get into what it really takes to build a hospitality empire from scratch, the brutal reality of tight margins in fast casual, what "dank" actually means as a brand standard, and why he believes you're in the people business first, no matter what you're serving.
They get into franchising Dank Burrito, navigating economic uncertainty, knowing your numbers when commodity prices are moving, how Clarke builds and keeps loyal teams.
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Topics covered:
-Opening Circa at 28 with no capital and no experience
-Franchising Dank Burrito — the lessons learned in the last 12 months
-Why Dank doesn't have a microwave (and barely needs a freezer)
-Managing tight margins when beef prices double
-"Management is an action sport" — what accountability actually looks like
-Handling Google reviews without losing your mind
-Building culture through the human element
-Why every chart has red candles

Jared Shepherd built ProServe from his garage with nothing but a truck, some tools, and his wife Maria saying "okay." Now he's responsible for 50+ employees and their families — and for the first time, he's talking about what actually sits underneath all of it.
In this unfiltered episode, Jared introduces himself, brings on co-host Matt Wiggins, and gets real about anxiety, panic attacks, work-life guilt, loyalty, and why the "grind 24/7" message is BS.
Drop your questions in the comments — next episode is all Q&A.

Brian Saunders is known all over New Bern — from teaching for 26 years to Victory Fishing to Neuse River Fishers of Men. But most people have no idea what built him.

In this episode, Brian gets raw about the three things he worshipped before God — football, alcohol, and women — and the wild night at ECU that changed everything. He also opens up about almost dying in 2019 during a routine surgery, the pain of his father's alcoholism, his regrets as a dad, and what it finally took to stop chasing his father's approval.

This one goes deep. Enjoy it. 🎣

📲 Follow Brian: Victory Fishing Custom Charters — facebook.com/VictoryFishing | 📞 252-626-6006 Neuse River Fishers of Men Inshore Trail

🎙️ Below the Surface — where depth matters more than image, truth matters more than comfort.

Josh Sutton is one of the top speckled trout guides in North Carolina — but the journey to get there? Nothing short of wild. From racing go-karts up and down the East Coast, to a dirt bike wreck that changed everything, to finding his calling on the water — Josh keeps it real about all of it.
We talk racing, machining, faith, the pressure of being a guide, social media killing the fishing world, and what it actually takes to catch big trout. This one hits different.
📍 Book a trip with Josh:
🌐 fishpamlico.com
📞 252-640-7561
📱 Pamlico Point Guide Service on Facebook & Instagram

Tim Eskew grew up poor in King's Crossroads, NC — and didn't even know it. Now he's a pastor, founder of Eastern Carolina Inshore Club (ECIC), and a man whose name has become synonymous with community, purpose, and giving back.

In this episode of Below the Surface, Tim opens up about the moments that shaped him: realizing at 13 that he wanted more out of life, learning that failure is the only real teacher, battling depression most of his life, and what it really costs to carry a community on your back.

This one goes deep.