Having founded awarding winning creative agency Mentored Media, and as the Creative Director of the digital-first agency, Matt whispers in the ears of kings and queens, delivering branding and positioning strategies and outcomes for some of Australia’s most well known brands and high profile people.
Matt is also the founder and CEO of Australia’s only Verbal Self Defence and Confidence Training Program, Social Kung Fu which has just made its curriculum available to all Australian schools, with a mission to positively impact the lives of 1 million Aussie kids.
Thank you for joining us here at The Corporate Escapists. Please introduce yourself to our reader. They love to know about you, your passion, and how you came to find and follow your passion.
Different from most people. Growing up, the number 1 thing that helped me make sense of the world was creativity: every concept, feeling and idea must be “fleshed out” into something creative.
I also believe every single person has value. We give life to dead things: the shirt we’re wearing, the objects we use, we give them value. Therefore, you are valuable. You cannot give what you don’t have.
Creativity in my philosophy is what separates from all other animals. That’s why I love branding, storytelling and marketing. I am very passionate about making what people stand for, stand out and making complex things, simple. It’s a real dream to have worked with some incredible brands and individuals on their marketing and brand and I do consider myself a whisperer in the ears of many kings and queens.
I’m deeply passionate about helping people. Especially our next generation.
Bob Proctor once quoted ‘To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all. But to believe in the unseen is both a triumph and a blessing”. How important is it to you to have the belief within one’s self?
How you see yourself determines what you think you deserve in life. Faith is a requirement to do things well because often we need to attempt to do things that we don’t feel 100% ready for.
It comes back to identity: who are you? Who do you listen to? I believe we are all “judges.” You are a judge, determining what is better, and what is not worth your time. The question is do you judge fairly? Do you judge yourself fairly?
Tell us what the word “Entrepreneur” means to you?
What has been one of the biggest business ideas you have had and how did you have the trust and hope within yourself to implement it?
Running your own business can be scary. Success requires moments of trust and hope to push through to the next level. Tell us one of the moments you have had to push through to take your business to the next level?
When I started Mentored Media (which is Sydney based), I was living in city in a place called Newcastle. It was 2.5 hours away from Sydney. As a start-up, I couldn’t afford to just move to Sydney. I had to grow my clientele, and commute by train and or by car for over 9 months. This was one of the many sacrifices I made with faith to grow this agency to which know is a thriving award-winning business.
What is your favourite quote about inspiration?
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start their own business?
What is the enormous problem your business is going to solve? Does the customer you have in mind have purchasing power? Are they easy to target and is it in a growing market?
Always keep your day job. Don’t just jump ship because you’ll run out of cash. Work on your idea outside of your normal hours and look to gradually replace your days.
You can connect with Matt here:
