Under The Surface Podcast
Under the Surface is a podcast for CEOs, CFOs, and leaders in community-driven financial institutions and growth-oriented businesses who want honest conversations about leadership, risk, independence, and the decisions that never make it into the boardroom. This show goes beyond surface-level strategy. Each episode explores the real tradeoffs leaders face, the pressure behind major decisions, and the unseen work required to build resilient, independent organizations in an increasingly complex market. These are the conversations leaders don’t always say out loud — but think about every day. Hosted by Paul Zyla, Under the Surface is a guided conversation series with business owners, fractional leaders, and operators who are navigating growth, security, sustainability, and long-term readiness. If you lead an organization where clarity matters, risk is real, and decisions carry weight, this podcast is for you.
Episodes
In this episode of Under The Surface, we unpack what’s really going wrong inside growing organizations when technology starts to feel like a bottleneck instead of a competitive advantage.
I’m joined by Monica Swanson, a seasoned technology and operations strategist, who breaks down why so many companies struggle with disconnected systems, siloed data, and reactive decision-making. We go beyond the surface to talk about how techn...
In this episode of Under the Surface, Paul Zyla sits down with Amber Crowley, COO of Partners in Excellence, to unpack what real leadership looks like when public narratives move faster than the truth. Together, they explore operational integrity, transparency, emotional discipline, and staying grounded in facts and values during regulatory pressure and media scrutiny.
Amber shares how leaders can anchor their teams in reality, ...
In this episode of Under the Surface, I’m joined by Tom Hoelderle for a grounded conversation about what actually drives sustainable growth — and why sales talent alone isn’t enough.
We dig into the realities many leaders face when growth depends too heavily on founders, tribal knowledge, or a handful of tenured salespeople. Tom breaks down why value proposition clarity is the foundation of strategy, how repeatable sales systems pro...
In this episode of Under the Surface, I sit down with Chris Cathers — founder of Grit Meets Growth — to talk about what leaders are really facing as AI moves from curiosity to operational reality.
We dig into how organizations are approaching AI adoption, the difference between public and private models, and why data governance, guardrails, and leadership discipline matter more than ever. Chris brings a grounded perspective shaped b...
Welcome to the very first episode of Under the Surface. In this conversation, I sit down with Renee Cormier to talk about the real work behind building a sustainable, independent business in a market that’s changing fast.
We go beyond surface-level strategy and dig into what leaders are actually wrestling with — the tradeoffs, the pressure, the infrastructure decisions, and the discipline it takes to build something that lasts. We t...
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