330 | Self-Care Powers Sustainable Growth | with Mark Murrell

Mark Murrell

Taking care of you as the leader is essential because you will see it come out in ways that you're not proud of.  

Chase Clymer

Welcome to Honest Ecommerce, a podcast dedicated to cutting through the BS and finding actionable advice for online store owners. I'm your host, Chase Clymer. And I believe running a direct-to-consumer brand does not have to be complicated or a guessing game. 

On this podcast, we interview founders and experts who are putting in the work and creating  real results. 

I also share my own insights from running our top Shopify consultancy, Electric Eye. We cut the fluff in favor of facts to help you grow your Ecommerce business.

Let's get on with the show.

Chase Clymer

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Honest Ecommerce. Today, I'm welcoming to the show, founder and chief curator of Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood, Mark Murrell. Welcome to the show.

Mark Murrell

Thanks, Chase. Nice to be here. 

Chase Clymer

Oh, I'm excited to chat. Well, the names give away the types of products you're selling. But I am going to ask, what are you guys selling over there? What are you shipping to people? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. The big things are lobster tails, lobster roll kit, and we actually ship live lobster as well. And then of course, accoutrements like clam chowder, stuffed clams, crab cakes, things like that. And in season, because we actually get some really good, fresh seafood as well. We'll do things like bluefin tuna, stuff like that. 

Chase Clymer

That's delicious, actually. And we're recording this before lunch. And now I already know what's on my mind for lunch. I guess just let's start at the beginning. Take me back in time. How did you  get into the seafood business and really dive into wanting to take it direct to consumer?

Mark Murrell

I was raised here in Maine, so seafood was plentiful. And it was actually when I moved to Chicago, Illinois for a while that even though Chicago has access to great seafood, you look at Lake Michigan, like, don't think I want to eat anything out of there. And so I talked to some people back in Maine and did a little bit of research to find out.

There was some room in the market for a direct-to-consumer lobster company. And so I launched that in about 2010 to fill the question that I had, is this fresh? Where is it from? kind of thing if I'm living outside of New England. 

Chase Clymer

And were you shipping live lobsters back then? 

Mark Murrell

That was the first thing we went with was live lobster. And I was living in Chicago in 2010 was like Groupon was the big thing. And so they were down the street for me. So I just called them up and said, Hey, I got lobster. And they had never sold lobster on Groupon before. And so we figured out, you know, put something together, put it out into the world or to the US it went off like crazy. And we literally only sold on Groupon for like the first two years.

Chase Clymer

You didn't even have a standard dot com as they say? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah, we had a dot com. Yeah, because they had to come to the website and redeem their Groupon. But I didn't do anything else. I didn't do any ads. I didn't do any email. It was just Groupon. I literally just wanted to learn in the first couple of years, what were some of the pain points for people? What were some of the amazing, unforgettable points for people so that we can constantly evolve?

Chase Clymer

I mean, I think that just the supply chain and the logistics of shipping a live animal, did that already exist in Maine or was that an uphill battle in and of itself?  

Mark Murrell

It existed in Maine. Not at the scale it does today. Live lobster direct to consumers is pretty popular now. Although it's an awesome thing for my business, there's still a ton of people that have no idea that you can do that.

Technology has evolved over time. We use special boxes that are slotted so that we put the lobsters in tail down, claws up. And that allows for them to not really move around a lot. You are getting a higher end, more primo lobster because  in order for them to survive the trip to California or Wyoming, it has to be the most resilient spry lobster of the bunch. And so they only get the primo primo if you get it directly. 

Chase Clymer

Absolutely. All right. Now you launched on Groupon. How do you get the group? Do you just walk into the Groupon office?  

Mark Murrell

I was literally down the street. So I just would text some friends, like, you know anybody at Groupon? Just give me an email. And so I literally just shot him an email and I said, subject line, I got lobster. Let's talk, because I had a feeling that, because they were still young then, that they would, they would love this and then we tested it out in Pittsburgh and Nebraska and somewhere else. 

And, you know, we got a couple hundred orders, straight away. And I was like, well, is that good? You know, I had no idea. They're like, yeah. It's amazing. I'm like, sweet, let's go. 

Chase Clymer

Now back in 2010, do you remember what was powering your guys's Ecommerce store back then? Was it a custom build? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah, it was custom WordPress. Get Shopped is what we used to take transactions. But WordPress back then and still is an amazing piece of technology that we were able to fully customize. And then from a logistics standpoint, I don't know if you've heard of Infusionsoft, but we use that to manage our fulfillment. Later on we used it as a CRM, but that's how we managed all of our fulfillment. 

Chase Clymer

You just gave me almost PSD from when I used to use Infusionsoft a decade ago with a WordPress store. Oh my gosh. I haven't thought about that company in years. Wonder how they're doing. Alright. So now, you are doing these test markets. Will there be a full nationwide drop at some point? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. So it starts with local markets that they think will make sense. And so those did well. I had a physical capacity thing, right? So we had to roll it out a certain way. I was only one individual, right? So imagine handling all these orders and it's just me. 

And I live in Chicago, right? I had a partner in Maine where I said, hey, I'm going to send you orders. You fulfill them. I'll handle customer experience. So it wasn't until I added a couple of customer experience people that we really opened it up. And then it got pretty wild. 

Chase Clymer

When did it start to grow beyond the customers that basically Groupon was giving you out of the kindness of their heart? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. Right. It's like free marketing. It was probably eight months in, we started getting repeat buyers. We weren't doing any sort of attribution or anything, as I mentioned. I was just trying to learn for a couple of years and then iterate. And then after about eight months, I was like, all right, so let's really start actively reaching out to people and learning more. because stuff automatically comes in, but then, hey, I want to know this. And then we start surveying people.

And so, it was about eight months to a year where I was like, all right, this is something. But it wasn't for two years that I actually stopped doing whatever else I was doing. I had another business that I was running at the time simultaneously. And so, it took about two and a half years for me to let go of that because I didn't.  

Chase Clymer

Yeah. 

Mark Murrell

Who knows if this is going to continue. Right. And here we are in 2025 and still going at it. 

Chase Clymer

So you're surveying your customers, learning more about. Is it just like what they like about your lobster or potentially like what else they want you to sell them? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. So also some psychographic information. I was really curious about what their lives were like. I traveled a lot and I had to go back to Maine a lot and Chicago and New York and so whenever I was going somewhere, I invited people to meet me out for coffee. So I would meet them in person as well.  

And then I would ask, where do you like to travel to? Who do you bring with you? How many kids did you get? What age are they? How old is your car? What brand is it?  What clothes do you wear? You know, things like that.

What I discovered, which is awesome about our particular customer base, is that, yes, they're affluent, but you would never know, right? They spend their money on experiences. They don't drive  Bentley's and wear Gucci shoes. Instead, they want to invest in their family. So they like to do family vacations together.

Cool family experiences. They love going to the theater and dining out and dining in and things like that. So super neat to learn that about them. 

Chase Clymer

And all that information now just helps you curate almost a one-for-one customer avatar to use in marketing and advertising. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah, totally. Also helps us with our tone and manner. Approachable elegance is that tone and manner because we are Mainers. We're kind of laid back  with an edge because New Englanders are a little edgy. But we know that we're selling a luxurious product that is expensive. And so it's been fun finding ourselves and who we are as a brand as it relates to what our customer wants.

But yeah, developing those personas of  the nostalgic who probably went to school back East because there so many schools, but now they live in Colorado and they miss that. And they just want to be reminded of it. 

Chase Clymer

“I have been in business for nearly 20 years, and very few companies I have hired in that time have performed as well as Electric Eye. They have knowledgeable staff, and our project was delivered on time and on budget.  Electric Eye has exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to working with them again.”

That is a direct quote from one of our clients at Electric Eye. 

Electric Eye is a Shopify Plus partner that has helped over 100 brands migrate, redesign, and optimize their stores since 2016.

If you'd like to increase your conversion rate, average order value, and revenue per session, we are the true Shopify experts you've been looking for. 

Right now, we're offering a free diagnostic to qualified brands that reach out and mention the podcast. Visit electriceye.io today to schedule a call and send us a message. Find out why we have over 50 5-star reviews in the Shopify Partner Directory. Again, that's electriceye.io.  E-L-E-C-T-R-I-C-E-Y-E.io 

What if every customer could help grow your brand—without you lifting a finger?

Social Snowball is the platform that turns word-of-mouth into a real growth engine for Shopify and TikTok Shops.

Here’s how it works: every time someone buys from you, Social Snowball can automatically turn that customer into an affiliate—giving them a unique referral link or discount code, instantly.

They can share it wherever they’re already posting: Instagram stories, TikTok videos, YouTube hauls—you name it.

You’ll be able to:

Track every referral and influencer sale

Send commission payouts in two clicks

Block codes from leaking to coupon sites

Automate influencer seeding and gifting

And let affiliates cash out using over 700 payout options

Plus, it works seamlessly with your existing tech stack and channels — like Shopify, Klaviyo, Postscript, and your TikTok Shop dashboard.

The craziest part is that they are basically giving away free money. You can launch your affiliate program for free, which shouldn't take longer than a day if you focus, and enjoy a 30-day trial before ever paying for the app. 

That's right: you can use the software to turn your customers into affiliates for 30 days for FREE. 

To take advantage of this offer go to socialsnowball.io/honest—that’s S-O-C-I-A-L-S-N-O-W-B-A-L-L dot I-O slash H-O-N-E-S-T.

Again, that’s socialsnowball.io/honest.

Would $1,000 help your business?

Portless is giving new customers $1,000 to reinvest back into their business — just for getting started.

Right now, you are probably paying tariffs on most items in your warehouse... before you have even made a sale. 

That means your cash is just sitting there, trapped in inventory that might not even sell. Not exactly a recipe for growth, right?

But what if we told you there’s a smarter way?

With Portless, you only pay tariffs when an order ships—after you’ve been paid by your customers. That means:

Free up more working capital instantly

Turn inventory into cash faster than ever before

And completely eliminate the risk of paying tariffs on unsold stock

Here’s how it works: Portless helps you ship directly from China to your customers’ doorsteps in just 5–8 days—yes, just like Shein and Temo do it. You get access to your inventory days after manufacturing, keep less stock on hand, and only pay duties on what actually sells.

No more guessing games. No more cash flow nightmares. Just smarter, faster scaling.

And remember, all new Portless customers get $1,000 to reinvest back in their business. 

Schedule your free strategy call today. 

Visit portless.com/honest—that’s P-O-R-T-L-E-S-S dot com slash H-O-N-E-S-T.

One more time, that’s portless.com/honest.

Shopify makes it easy to sell online, but unlocking streamlined global sales demands more. Don't let high cross-border fees, frustrating payment failures, and complex tax requirements hold back your store's international growth. Activate Reach instead. 

As a merchant of record, Reach helps high-growth brands like yours optimize global sales with local processing and automated tax compliance, all while protecting your store from fraud.

Reach is already integrated with Shopify, so you can activate Reach with no extra dev work and start seeing results fast. Brands like Revolve and Everlane trust Reach to boost international approval rates to over 90% and cut cross-border costs by up to 40%. 

Expanding globally is just the first step. Optimizing performance is where the growth happens. Book a free, no-obligation consultation today and learn how you can level up your global sales at with-reach-dot-com-slash-honest.That’s W-I-T-H-R-E-A-C-H dot com slash H-O-N-E-S-T withreach.com/honest. 

Chase Clymer

Now you mentioned that you had a different business that you were working at alongside growing Get Maine Lobster. What were some of the telltale signs that you were like, all right, I need to go in on this business. I need to stop having my foot in both worlds and I really need to dive in here and focus. I know there are listeners to the show right now that are probably in that same boat. So what was going on in your mind when you made that decision? 

Mark Murrell

It wasn't my mind. It was my body. I had a panic attack. So the Get Maine lobster was just like going great. We did like a million in year one and then we did two in year two just kept doing that. But I still had a consultant, right? So I helped businesses. literally just kind of how I run GML is I listen and then I say, All right, well, here's a solution. 

And then I deliver that solution is kind of what I did, you know, prior. And so one day I was trying to get ready to go to a meeting and physically had to go to a meeting in Chicago. And I literally had a panic attack and I'd never had one. I didn't know what. I thought I was having a heart attack. That's what a panic attack feels like. I had the phone in my hand because I was going to call 911. And I was like, no, wait, maybe it's not that. 

You're too young, breathe through it. So I breathe through it. And then as I was driving to and from that meeting, I was like, Mark, it's time to take the risk and jump all in. Who knows what will happen? But you have family and people that care about you. What's the worst that could happen? You could fail. And then you can go get a job or do something else. So the body will tell you when you need to make a decision if you're in tune to it. 

Chase Clymer

So after you made that decision and you dove all into the Get Maine Lobster business, did things start to change more rapidly? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. We then started doing our own internal marketing, know, email marketing, some print marketing. It was to start looking at unit economics,  try to get an understanding of how OPEX relates to what our price to the market should be. What are some other avenues beyond Groupon's living socials  that we should be diving into from a paid standpoint, even though Groupon and those aren't paid. 

And really diving into our, what our message is about our brand  so that we can build longevity. And then the art of listening, still listening and designing. And then we had to find  better partners  in the state of Maine. And because I was still in Chicago when I made that decision.

I moved back to Maine in 2016, I think. So, yeah, something like that. And so I had to get more partners so that we can increase the product line and increase our efficacy and quality and all those things. So the typical stuff that occurs when you go 100%.

Chase Clymer

Obviously, the name of the show is Honest Ecommerce. Is there anything, looking back on your 15 years at the helm of Get Maine Lobster, like a mistake you might have made or something you want to let our listeners avoid? 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. Loads of mistakes. It really wasn't until recently that we got a grip on contribution margin. Contribution margin is essential. Understanding that everything in business that has a cost or is revenue is a percentage. Understanding what that optimal percentage is for each and then figuring out how to get to that optimal state of being as a business in order for you to grow. 

So I did not have a grip on that for many years. Instead, I was like flat rate. I was like, as long as I get 35 bucks a unit, at this velocity, I can pay all my bills,  right?  And that's really all I cared about was paying my bills. It wasn't about profit or anything like that. But then as you mature, you're like, hey, I've got something that's valuable, but it's not valuable to  anyone or anything without profit. So then in order to design for profit, you really got to understand your contribution margin. 

So we're going through a redesign operationally right now as we speak, right? So we have a warehouse, vehicles, freezers, walk in, you know, all this stuff. And it's like, hey, this is all great and whatnot. Can we go back to the way we used to do where we just had partners where we ensure we're getting the same high quality, but we have partners do it so that we can be more agile and give back to our fun selves and  be on more podcasts and produce more content and tell more stories about the industry.  

So that's another thing is I got away from the essence of really who we are and we're ambassadors to the state in this beautiful product that we have. We're not a warehouse company. The contribution margin, that's the biggest thing. Super duper important for everybody. 

Chase Clymer

We're a big fan at our agency of Profit First by Mike Mikhailowicz. Have you ever read that? 

Mark Murrell

No, I'm going to write. Can you email me that later? 

Chase Clymer

I absolutely will. Thank you. I would say it's written a little more for maybe say your old company, a consulting company. What you said is about finding your ideal percentages and working towards them. I think a lot of businesses, especially younger entrepreneurs, going from 0 1, like $1 million to $1 million in sales, you don't know what your margin is. You are just hoping to sell more and it'll work out eventually. And when the money starts coming in, the money's there. I don't need to know the margin because it keeps happening.  

Mark Murrell

That was my exact attitude.

Chase Clymer

Yeah. It's like, no, we got money coming in and our bills are getting paid. But you don't understand how much you should be taking home as an owner. You don't understand what you should be giving back to your employees. You don't understand where you're wasting money. I think that going from zero to one is just finding product-market fit. And then one to five or $10 million a year is building an actual business. And then after that, in my personal opinion, it's all about how to make the money work for you and your business. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. And our people, right? Because we don't have to fit in the entire market, right? But we want to make sense to the people we serve. And so let us do the work. That's our responsibility, not theirs. And that's the fun stuff.

Really, you know, figuring that out and be like, oh, wow. But it gets tough, you know, especially as I'm an innovator, right? If you look at the traction, right? I'm classic, right? My feet are not on the ground. My head is in the clouds. So, it's important for me to have that person that keeps my feet on the ground so that we not only grow but also become more and more sustainable and have a strong foundation. Because I sell luxury products, so in macroeconomical times like this, my job becomes a little bit more challenging, which is great, you know? That means I have to be more creative and empathetic, and that's fine. 

Chase Clymer

Yeah, also a great book. Traction by Gina Wickman. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. 

Chase Clymer

I'll tell you. Seven years ago, maybe I read that. I read Traction by Gina Wickman, Profit First by Mike Mikhailowicz. And overnight, me and my business partner realized like, oh, we have a real business now after we understood a lot of these concepts that were just not familiar to us at that time. So I highly recommend anyone out there reading those and  taking from it what you will and making it work for your business.

It's kind of a slog. It's written for a corporate structure. We made it our own. And we've been running on our own modified version of EOS since 2016. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. EOS is great. And yes, I like that you made it for you. Because I have heard of a lot of people that try to use it, but they just felt like the rules could not be broken. Some of them shouldn't be. But also, you need to make it for yourselves. So everybody is excited about having conversations like that.

Chase Clymer

If you have a team that can hardly share a pizza. The way that those meetings work out doesn't make any sense. And what's funny is I believe Mike Mikhailowicz actually wrote a different book called Clockwork that's kind of about almost his own take on traction. I think it's on my shelf over there. I don't know if I ever got around to reading it. Avid reader over here. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah, myself as well. Absolutely. I love consuming because I am getting my MBA this year because I'm a lifelong learner, all enrolled in school, you know, random times to learn things. But I have a degree in hospitality and creative writing, you know, and it's just now I'm 52, I think. And so right now I'm getting my MBA. Not that I need it, right. But actually, I got a lot of great stuff out of it. and I think a lot of entrepreneurs don’t have degrees.  

Chase Clymer

Yeah. So I just interviewed a gentleman right before this. And he's a CEO for hire in the direct consumer world. And his major in college was chemical engineering.  

Mark Murrell

Right. Which is actually awesome for business because it's all engineering, even the marketing part of it. So there's the art side of it. But engineering is such an awesome degree. If you  have anybody with engineering experience, having them on the team, they solve stuff. 

Chase Clymer

Yeah, it's problem solving. It's being creative and trying to think about the problem in a way, ignoring the solutions that you can't afford or can't do legally. There is a way to do it. It's not necessarily the way that everyone's telling you how to do it. And they probably learned Six Sigma along the way in their education, which is just awesome to have from a process standpoint. And yeah, that's cool. CEO for hire. 

Mark, we chatted about a whole bunch of things. Is there anything I didn't ask you about that you think would resonate with our audience? 

Mark Murrell

Taking care of you as the leader is essential because you will see it come out in ways that you're not proud of. So taking care of you is important. So I try to take care of my mind, I try to take care of my body so that I can be who I need to be for whomever at any given moment. And our business has been a roller coaster, but I'm the calm one.

Right? Even though it all comes to my shoulders, you know, I'm the calm one. So I've built massive resilience over time and I have huge belief in myself and my capabilities. And I understand that for people that help me daily to achieve what I want to achieve, you know, I need to be a rock and so I can't be a rock unless they take care of me. 

So reading, right? Not just non-fiction, but fiction, meditation, exercise, eating well, eating good clean food, all that stuff. That's important, especially because we work. I work seven days a week. I don't ever stop. Since I can remember, I've worked seven days a week, even on vacation. I'm sure most people are like that in this space.  

Chase Clymer

Yeah. Some people, when there's a problem to be solved, it's always on their mind. 

Mark Murrell

Yeah. The mind doesn't stop. 

Chase Clymer

Not at all. Not at all. Mark, if I'm listening to this podcast, and I want to try some of these awesome lobsters, what do I do? 

Mark Murrell

So getmainelobsters.com is our website. And usually at the top, there's a little announcement bar and that's typically the best value going on that particular day. Or you can sign up for our newsletter. You'll get a pop. So you can do that. And our newsletter subscribers tend to get our best deals. But go for the lobster tails. It's a great starter. Or we have lobster roll kits that are amazing. We have a local Italian baker who's been here for 100 years. That's where we get our rolls from. And our lobster meat is like, it's already done. It's cooked to perfection.

You know, it arrives frozen, thaw, and it's ready to eat. We have even a little secret seasoning  for your lobster roll too. But lobster tails, lobster rolls are great. If you're up for adventure, live lobsters are amazing. They're very expensive right now. You'll see on the website, but you know, it's worth it. But yeah, getmainelobsters.com. Same thing on all socials. You can always DM us  and  ask questions and tons of recipes there too.

Chase Clymer

Awesome. Mark, thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing all those great insights. Absolutely. 

Mark Murrell

Thanks for having me, Chase. It's great.  

Chase Clymer

We can't thank our guests enough for coming on the show and sharing their knowledge and journey with us. We've got a lot to think about and potentially add into our own business. You can find all the links in the show notes. 

You can subscribe to the newsletter at honestecommerce.co to get each episode delivered right to your inbox. 

If you're enjoying this content, consider leaving a review on iTunes, that really helps us out. 

Lastly, if you're a store owner looking for an amazing partner to help get your Shopify store to the next level, reach out to Electric Eye at electriceye.io/connect.

Until next time!