Shady Characters

When Matt Schnitzer picked up his clippers at King’s Club Barbers in Dana Point, he never imagined the same chair would someday fuel a humanitarian movement. In this heartfelt episode of Shady Characters, Matt joins hosts Evan Burgher and Tim DeBrincat to share how a simple idea, a holiday toy drive during COVID, grew into Barbers for Baja, a thriving nonprofit that now funds education, builds clinics, and changes lives across Mexico.

Matt recounts his journey from sweeping floors and learning under mentors like Mike and Scotty, to opening his own chair, to discovering how deeply the barbershop connects people from every walk of life. When a trip to Baja revealed how a few thousand dollars could send students to college or support rural healthcare, Matt realized he could use those community connections (clients, brands, and friends) to make real change.

What began with boxes of toys has evolved into college scholarships for 32 students (and counting), medical and dental clinics serving hundreds each month, and new initiatives providing life-saving equipment to families in need. With partnerships from Stüssy, Stance, and Uppercut, Matt and his team have turned grassroots passion into sustainable impact.

He opens up about the challenges of running a nonprofit while cutting hair full time, the network of barbershops now selling “Barbers for Baja” box sets, and the deep emotional payoff of watching first-generation college students graduate and give back to their communities.

At its heart, this episode is about legacy… how one barber turned everyday conversations into action, and how generosity, like a good haircut, can ripple far beyond the chair.

In this episode, Christian Hernandez breaks down what leverage really means in 2025—and why it isn’t a dirty word. From using technology to remove friction (not people), to smart financial structures, to the kind of human leverage that comes from mentoring and true partnerships, Christian shares the playbook he’s honed over 15 years in lending.

We talk market reality (softening prices, investor signals, and that ~6–6.5% rate band), tactical ways first-time buyers can still win (think seller credits and structure over sticker), and why the best originators won’t be disrupted—they’ll be the ones deploying the tools. Christian also pulls back the curtain on his family’s decades in mortgages, serving underserved communities, and why compliance and transparency are features, not bugs.

Beyond the desk, Christian riffs on building a nimble, values-driven business, training new talent (start where you stand), and the non-profit his family helped spark to teach ocean conservation across Latin America. It’s a candid, practical, and optimistic look at money, housing, and doing right by people.

What you’ll hear:

• Leveraging tech to speed truth, not spin—and why relationships still win
• Today’s market in plain English: rates, pricing, and investor “tell” signs
• Buyer tactics that actually help affordability (credits, structure, timing)
• Common-sense underwriting for self-employed borrowers (beyond W-2 thinking)
• Mentorship as “human leverage” and building teams that adapt fast
• A grassroots ocean-education initiative making real impact

If you like candid shop talk with zero hype—and a roadmap for playing the long game—this one’s for you.

Meet Pete Stirling: lifelong waterman, outdoorsman, and now co-founder/CEO of the pet-wellness company Skout’s Honor, based in Oceanside, California. In this episode of Shady Characters, Pete and hosts Evan Burgher & Tim DeBrincat dive deep into the untold story behind the brand, the risks taken, and the mindset that drives it.

It begins with a career crossroads: Pete in a suit and tie, deciding between a bank job or ex-surf-industry life, when his friend Macon Brock called with a wild idea: “Let’s start a pet brand.” With zero pet-industry experience, they launched Skout’s Honor in 2016, choosing to make pet care products that elevated the relationship between pets and people rather than just solve messes. They embraced environmental and social values early (buy a bottle = feed an animal), and set out to treat pet products with the same creative energy as action sports gear.

Pete tells the stories of their first trade-shows, arriving with reclaimed wood booths, kegs on site, t-shirts and jeans, while bigger brands sat in standard cages. He recalls the moment they saw their tagline at a competitor’s booth, word-for-word, and how they responded. He discusses how they used change in California chemistry regulations to access surfactant innovations and disrupt a stale category. We also learn how Skout’s Honor leveraged the COVID-era moment, not as established giants, but as nimble challengers, to rapidly expand their retail footprint and position the brand for growth.

Beyond business, Pete reveals how his waterman sensibility carries into leadership: being fluid, adapting fast, not overthinking the move, embracing “white space” rather than replicating the norm. He also explains how his culture, action-sport people in pet care roles, leads to playful, creative marketing and authentic brand personality.

Whether you’re building a brand, switching careers, or simply love a good disruption story, Pete’s journey shows how spotting the gap, being bold, and valuing people (and pets) over process can pay off big.

How do you freeze an instant that will never happen again? In this episode, San Juan Capistrano–based photographer Joe Scarnici takes us inside a career built on timing, access, and nerves of steel. Joe shares how a run on Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour taught him video and road discipline, and how fashion-world assisting shaped the aesthetics he now brings to sports and portraiture.

On the live side, Joe breaks down the mental chess of anticipating plays across baseball, tennis, rugby, and golf—plus the day LIV told him to “shoot wherever you want.” He explains why light is his first read in any venue, how research and repetition sharpen instincts, and what it’s like to literally sit “in the line of fire” for an ATP-style around-the-post shot (yes, he’s been drilled by more than one pro).

Switching to portraits, Joe reveals his psychology-driven approach—why hands tell the story, how to win trust in ten seconds, and the heroic, medal-forward look he created while photographing Team USA in Paris. We also get nerdy: Canon R3/R5, RF glass (he loves the 85 but still misses his 135), and real-time delivery pipelines that push images live in under a minute.

Whether you’re a shooter, a sports fan, or just obsessed with high-performance craft, this convo hits the sweet spot between art and anticipation—and proves that the best images are equal parts planning, empathy, and courage.

What does it take to build one of California’s most celebrated barbecue destinations? For Danny and Brenda Castillo, it started with a dream, a smoker, and a relentless belief that craft and community could coexist.

In this episode of Shady Characters, hosts Evan Burgher and Tim DeBrincat sit down with the husband-and-wife team behind Heritage Barbecue — the San Juan Capistrano institution now recognized by both Michelin and James Beard. The Castillos share how their journey began in a backyard, selling plates to friends, and evolved into a full-fledged culinary movement built on authenticity, family values, and old-school work ethic.

Danny talks about the realities of running a smokehouse, from adapting to California’s regulations and weather, to the difference between pulling brisket and mastering the pit. He and Brenda reflect on the sacrifices that came with chasing excellence: sleeping in vans during openings, working three jobs, and balancing parenthood with 24-hour pit shifts.

They discuss mentorship, legacy, and the deep satisfaction of seeing their children step into the family business; their daughter managing events, their teenage son on the line, and their youngest already acting like the boss. The couple opens up about their shared vision for creating opportunities for others, nurturing young talent with “that twinkle in their eye,” and keeping perspective through humility, humor, and hard work.

From humble beginnings to Michelin nods, Heritage is a story about never forgetting where you come from, even as you rise. It’s about family, food, and the fire that keeps both burning.

He’s going to prison in just days… Illegal bookmaker, jiu-jitsu dad, and unapologetic high-rolling gambler, Matt Bowyer pulls back the curtain on million-dollar Mondays, counting cards, and the FBI raid that upended his life. He talks losses, trolls, restitution, and why he’s turning chaos into purpose with his new book Recalibrate, a documentary, and motivational speaking. All while preparing for his prison sentence and focusing on family, mindset, and a legal comeback.

Designer, musician, and community-radio music director, Jeff Holmes, joins the show to talk creative process, analog style, travel, and the surprising ways ideas find you. We also dig into vinyl reissues, theme-music-making, and why he built a life that leaves space to think.

Oakley’s Global Content Manager Jes Stockhausen has lived the story he now tells. After backpacking across Asia and then spending five years driving the Pan-American Highway in a self-built van, Jes learned to create anywhere. Hot-spotting edits from a remote Mexican point break, fixing breakdowns in Spanish, and eventually returning stateside with Pacha, a Patagonian herding dog he and his (now) wife rescued en route.

Back at Oakley, Jes applies that same resourceful mindset to brand storytelling and sustainability. He’s helping lead a cross-functional push toward the circular economy, prioritizing credible impact over buzzwords and using lifecycle thinking to unlock real innovation. We get into the projects that carry his thumbprint: reframing Oakley Standard Issue around service, launching an innovative surf helmet athletes actually want to wear, celebrating the brand’s 50th anniversary, and—yes—the wild one: a partnership with Axiom Space in which the next person on the moon could wear an Oakley visor.

It’s a conversation about creativity as problem-solving, why “sustainability” is the brief of our generation, and how living simply can sharpen what really matters in work and life. Pack a bag, this one covers a lot of miles.

Oakley’s VP of Soul & Creative Brian Takumi joins Shady Characters to trace 28 years shaping the brand—from BMX roots to the iconic Square O, from wild Foothill Ranch culture to leading creative in a 200k-person matrix. He unpacks storytelling, “physics elevated to an art form,” and why AI is a tool—not the soul—of design.

Filmmaker Chris Stacey joins Shady Characters to share his journey from music videos and viral hits like Teach Me How to Duffy to feature films including The Blind. From selling his guitar to pay rent to seeing his work on thousands of theater screens, Chris talks legacy, creativity, and why saying “yes” shaped his career.