Jesse Stoddard: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride and Style podcast. Today we have a fantastic guest, uh, Josh Olrich of Restylers Aftermarket Specialists out of Florida. And Josh, thank you very much for being with us. How are you today?
Josh Ullrich: Great. It’s good to be here. Uh celebrating the 48th birthday today. Wish it was 40, but 48th.
Jesse Stoddard: Happy birthday.
Josh Ullrich: Get to be on here and celebrate with famous Josh Pollson. The uh—
Josh Poulson: 28 years old, right?
Josh Ullrich: 48. Yeah. Yeah.
Josh Poulson: No,
Josh Ullrich: 28.
Josh Poulson: 28.
Josh Ullrich: I wish.
Josh Poulson: 28.
Josh Ullrich: 48.
Jesse Stoddard: 48 is the new 28.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah.
Josh Poulson: That’s it.
Jesse Stoddard: I am turning 48 in September. So, you just beat me by a few months.
Josh Ullrich: Oh, very good.
Josh Poulson: I just left 48 March 6th, so you guys can have it. Yeah, it was a great year, so it’s all good.
Josh Ullrich: So, you got one year left of the big 5, huh?
Josh Poulson: Yeah, let’s not talk about it.
Josh Ullrich: All right.
Josh Poulson: Well, so we are destined to eventually have Josh on here with us. Uh, and where are you coming from, J? Where are you coming live from?
Josh Ullrich: Uh, Destin, Florida.
Josh Poulson: Oh, see how that worked out there, Jesse? Destin, Florida. And he has two shops — Fort Walton Beach and Crest View, Florida.

Josh Poulson: So, we have some questions. We got to find out. I want to break into the Josh Ullrich mind of restyling today.
Josh Ullrich: All right, let’s do it. I’m excited.
Jesse Stoddard: Yeah. Let’s do a little history lesson though first. Uh Josh, how did you get started in the automotive world and aftermarket? How’d you get going in all this stuff in the very beginning? Take us back.
Josh Ullrich: Uh, well, there’s a long and a short. I guess I give you a medium. But my parents have owned a collision repair business since the 70s, and ever since I was 13, I grew up working in there — summers, after school, working on cars, painting cars, body work. Went off to college for a few years, uh Florida State, go Noles, and graduated there with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship. The program was the Jim Moran Institute — he’s the Southeast Toyota distributor.

Josh Ullrich: So it was his program. Went through that. Came home, went back to work in the body shop. I have an older brother — he’d been in it for several years. So I kind of saw like he was more destined to be taking over the collision repair business. So I just approached my dad one day, told him, “Hey, you know, like I want to do my own thing.” I kind of had some ideas. Originally I was going to do a car wash…

Josh Poulson: You missed out. You should have just done the car wash, bro.
Josh Ullrich: It was going to be full service.
Josh Poulson: Oh, okay.
Josh Ullrich: Now they’re all, you know, run it through, vacuum yourself. But I talked to several people in the industry — went to things like SEMA, conventions, talked to a lot of owners — and they said, “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” Labor intensive. Spend a million dollars on equipment, but still have to wash the car before and after. So, scratched that idea.

Josh Ullrich: One of my dad’s friends said, “Josh has always been into customizing his own vehicles, his friends’ vehicles. Why doesn’t he look into doing something like that?” My dad brought it up to me and said, “What do you think?” I said, “I think that’s a good fit.”

Josh Ullrich: My dad paid me to go to SEMA before I even had a shop, just to go research, talk to owners. Talked to Ellen McCoy quite a bit — she really helped me start getting things going, gave me a lot of advice about dealers. My dad said, “All right, I’ll build you a building on some land I own. Write a business plan. If you can get a loan approved, I’ll start the building.”

Josh Ullrich: I wrote it up, thought I’d need an SBA loan. Presented it to my dad. He said, “I’ll loan you the money. I’ll build the building. But you pay me first every month — lease and loan payment before anyone else.” So he helped me get going. Started with just me and two other guys in a little three-bay shop — now two shops and 26 employees.

Jesse Stoddard: Wow.
Josh Poulson: That’s awesome.
Josh Ullrich: It’s been a ride. We just celebrated our 20th year being open — December 2004 was our opening date.

Josh Poulson: Cool. Now, does your brother still run the collision?
Josh Ullrich: No, there were some issues and he got moved out.
Josh Poulson: Ow. Is the collision shop still around?
Josh Ullrich: Yeah. My dad’s retired, still owns it. A guy named James runs it now — been there since he was 16. He leases it from my dad. Still rocking and rolling.

Josh Poulson: And you’re still in that original building?
Josh Ullrich: The building we built in 2004 is my Fort Walton location, and we’re still in that. I’ve expanded it twice — now 14 bays. And then about eight years ago I opened the Crest View shop.

Josh Ullrich: Bought a little building as a test — market was strong, grew fast, rented extra space across the street, and eventually built a big new building we moved into in November. Love it — but not the payment.

Josh Poulson: What gave you the idea for the name Restylers?
Josh Ullrich: I think it was from going to SEMA and business school — they always said don’t limit yourself by your name. Didn’t want “Josh’s Truck Accessories.” Thought about Restylers because it was broad — though people can’t spell it. For years we got called “wrestlers.”

Josh Ullrich: Started out doing tuner cars — terrible fitting body kits. Quickly pivoted to trucks — that’s where the money is here. Occasionally still do tuner cars, but that market’s gone down here.

Josh Ullrich: My son’s got a little Toyota 86 we did up — airbags, body kit. Perfect for a teen. We’ve just evolved with the times.

Josh Ullrich: Every six, seven years you have to evolve. Ten years ago it was diesels — big market then. EPA ended that.

Josh Poulson: Yeah, and we support SEMA — we don’t do that anymore, in case Karen’s listening. Go ahead, Jesse.
Jesse Stoddard: What’s your focus now? Top sellers, main trends?

Josh Ullrich: Both shops do similar things, though Crest View’s lower-income, so they want cheaper parts. Fort Walton’s higher-end. Lift kits, wheels, and tires are biggest sellers — lower margins but big volume. Window tint, spray-in liners, general accessories are high-margin smaller tickets.

Josh Poulson: What made you go to Crest View?
Josh Ullrich: Dealers up there wanted us, we were already shuttling cars. Another shop closed down — I bought all their equipment half price. Crest View’s booming thanks to the military base and population growth, so it was smart to get in early.

Jesse Stoddard: What’s one of the biggest challenges in your career, and how’d you get through it?
Josh Ullrich: Opening and making sure my dad got paid. First year was tough — didn’t want to let him down. I worked 4 a.m. nights, barely slept, had a newborn, marriage was strained. Took two years to get stable. Most competitors are gone now.

Josh Ullrich: Next challenge was building the new building — went over budget, had to juggle finances. Economy slowed mid-construction. But we made it.

Josh Poulson: You’ve got two GMs now — how did you learn to trust and let go?
Josh Ullrich: Both been with me over 10 years, started as installers. They know how I run things — I preach customer service above all. If the customer thinks it’s our fault, we fix it. That’s our success.

Josh Ullrich: Groomed them from installers to sales to management. They know how I sell and treat customers. Always greet walk-ins first. They now know more than I do — I call them for prices. We meet monthly for pricing and planning.

Josh Ullrich: They’re loyal — one turned down a higher-paying job to stay. I appreciate that. Communication is key — I don’t shut them down. We discuss decisions openly.

Jesse Stoddard: What excites you most about the future?
Josh Ullrich: Retirement.
Jesse Stoddard: Good answer.
Josh Poulson: What are you going to do in retirement? Oh wait, you’re already in Destin!
Josh Ullrich: Yeah, got to get you guys down here — white beaches, emerald water.

Josh Ullrich: I had plans for another store in South Florida, but after building Crest View, that’s on hold. Maybe in a few years. For now, want 20% growth at Crest View.

Josh Poulson: What’s the biggest challenge right now?
Josh Ullrich: Honestly, staffing’s good. Best team ever. Just need a top-tier lift tech. I’ll pay well for quality — comebacks kill you. Sales team is amazing too. In the past we had issues with follow-up, but not anymore. Employees are everything. We’re pricier, but you get what you pay for.

Jesse Stoddard: How’s work-life balance now?
Josh Ullrich: I can do it now. Used to work 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Now, with our cloud POS system, I can do reports from home, go in mid-day, hit the gym, watch my son’s baseball games.

Josh Ullrich: I’m part-time now — thanks to my two managers. Without them, I’d be full-time again.

Jesse Stoddard: What advice would you give someone just starting out?
Josh Ullrich: Be ready to bust your ass for 2–3 years. Total commitment. Warn your partner — you’ll be married to the business. Give it all. It’s 24/7 at first, but in 5–6 years, it pays off.

Josh Poulson: Did they tell you that at Florida State?
Josh Ullrich: No way. Nobody told me that. Sleepless nights. Best advice I got — keep a notepad by the bed. Write down thoughts so you can sleep.

Josh Poulson: Yeah, it’s not all boats and sunsets. Takes 15 years to get there.
Josh Ullrich: Exactly. People think business owners are rich. No, we just took risks and worked hard.

Josh Poulson: Well, we appreciate you being on — awesome to see Northern Florida represented.
Josh Poulson: He’s got a boat with our names on it waiting!
Jesse Stoddard: I’m ready. I love Florida.
Josh Ullrich: Just tell me what beers you like.
Josh Poulson: Let’s mix it up — Modello, Corona…
Josh Ullrich: Modello’s number one in America now — beat Bud Light!
Josh Poulson: Crazy!

Josh Poulson: Well, thank you very much. Jesse has one final question for you.
Jesse Stoddard: Where can people follow you or learn more about what you’re doing?
Josh Ullrich: Our website’s restylersinc.com, and Instagram is @restylersinc. Message us anytime.
Josh Poulson: Great website. Appreciate your work on SEMA Pro Council.
Josh Ullrich: Thank you guys — and thanks for spending my birthday with me today.
Jesse Stoddard: Happy birthday!
Josh Poulson: And now you can go to the gym.
Josh Ullrich: I think I’m skipping today — going out on the boat. Have some beers for y’all.
Josh Poulson: You have our beers!
Jesse Stoddard: Nice.
Josh Ullrich: Cheers.
Josh Poulson: All right.
Jesse Stoddard: Take care. Bye-bye.