Insights To Live By

Closing out this four-part series on entrepreneurship is an inside look at the investment side of startup funding. Guiding the way is serial entrepreneur Chris Halligan, co-founder of Good Human Investment Partners. He breaks down what angel investors look for in early-stage companies and why founder character can matter as much as metrics. Then he turns the tables on Matt and puts him and MindRev...

Launching a new company is among life’s greatest challenges. It demands resilience, decisiveness, adaptability, vision and resourcefulness. The founders who succeed know they cannot do it alone. This is where a strong startup ecosystem can make all the difference. Here to unpack those forces and share a ground-level view of Charlotte’s entrepreneurial landscape is Juan Garzón. He is the Managing D...

North Carolina is becoming one of the fastest rising tech hubs in the country. Matt sits down with Brooks Raiford, CEO of NC Tech, to unpack the forces shaping the region’s innovation economy. They get into hiring trends, the truth about the AI skills gap, why non-tech companies now dominate tech hiring, and the surprising drop in computer science majors. Brooks explains how employers are navigati...

From perfectionism at age ten to coaching CEOs who quietly wonder if they belong, Gary exposes how comparison, credentials and hidden shame steal confidence. Join this lively conversation as Gary gets brutally honest about the sneaky scripts that fuel imposter syndrome. He also shares personal stories of betrayal, resilience and finding freedom through vulnerability, purpose and service. If self-d...

What does it take for an underdog to win their face-off against adversity? Former NHL enforcer and Stanley Cup winner Mike Hartman joins the show to share his journey from house league long shot to professional athlete and how mindset made all the difference. Now as founder of the Healthy Mindset App, Mike is guiding both corporate and professional athletes to lead with purpose and mental toughnes...

As the mind-boggling pace of AI continues, how can a self-respecting HR professional keep pace? More to the point, how can one find ways to thrive rather than just survive or, worse yet, become irrelevant? Joining the show for this powerful conversation, Jason Walker and Rey Ramirez, co-founders of Thrive HR Consulting, unpack how artificial intelligence is reshaping everything from recruitment an...

In this high-energy episode, award-winning speaker, TEDx powerhouse, and leadership igniter Heather Hansen O’Neill talks about how to stop letting fear run the show and start leading with fire through purpose, passion, and action. From literally flying on the trapeze to metaphorically helping leaders leap into their fullest potential, Heather shares her unconventional path to becoming a best-selli...

What does it take to become a truly limitless leader? Joining the show is Dr. Mary Hemphill, a global leadership strategist and founder of The Limitless Leader. Mary shares game-changing insights about self-leadership, human-centered growth, and the courage to unlearn what no longer serves us. From conducting a “human audit” of your life to redefining the role of tech in personal well-being, she o...

BOOK CAPSULE: Richly authentic, deeply personal and highly motivating, Z-isms offers new ways to better ourselves, our experiences and our encounters. Matt keeps it casual, as though in private conversation with readers, freely sharing his life experiences as an entrepreneur, athlete, single parent, caregiver and nonprofit founder with practical insights and ways to help navigate and overcome comm...

The show is BACK! Following a record hiatus, Matt reemerges to explain where he’s been, what’s happened since, what’s occurring now and what lies ahead. These include his relocation, progress with THE BRIGHT SIDE (newsletter for LinkedIn), two high-profile upcoming presentations, show plans for 2025-2026, and a special announcement in concert with Z-isms turning 5. The reveal: the audiobook is abo...

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-bright-side-7153431826336759809/

Few professionals enjoy giving presentations. In fact, most people find public speaking to be anxiety-ridden, yet necessary to advance their career. Here to help make that happen is Shawn Doyle, a Certified Professional Speaker (CSP), Executive Coach and a prolific author of 24 motivational books. He is also a contributing writer for Inc. Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Entrepreneur Magazine. S...

The show takes an investigative yet practical slant in the heart of Mental Health Month. Joining the conversation is Dr. Alice Feller, author of the newly released book, “American Madness: Fighting for Patients in a Broken Mental Health System.” She’s seen it all through five decades of work within hospital wards, private practice, public clinics and beyond. Among that discussed: knowing when to a...

Are you ready to Vibe-UP? Joining the conversation is friend of the show, Hanan Harb Sahourieh. She’s a Content Marketing and Learning Strategist as well as the author of her new book, "Everybody, Be Cool!" (Amazon link and Review below). It features six exclusive personal development secrets turned easy-to-digest lessons to spark your insight, compassion, and curiosity. You can apply these lesson...

What does it take to unleash your speaking potential? How do you go from being a hidden gem to a household name while impacting people’s lives? Here with those answers and more is powerhouse speaker agent and success architect, Antoniette Roze. She’s also the host of the SPEAKPact podcast and leads a community of influencers to land dream stages and live their dream life. With unselfish vulnerabil...

What does it take to unleash the latent power of the human mind? Given her proven outcomes with renowned athletes, musicians, millionaires (and billionaires), Tina-Nomad Higgens may well be the most successful subconscious biohacker and reprogrammer in the world. As an amplifier and actualizer of human potential, she tailors her work in mind mastery for an extensive array of areas, including: anxi...

Welcome to the first installment of the audio version of The Bright Side, covering the first 7 issues of Matt’s newsletter on LinkedIn. These are: The 2 Skills to Enrich Your Life for Good; The Pursuit of Happierness; The Power of Earned Confidence; Outsmarting Your Worries and Assumptions; Trusting Your Intuition to Tame Overthinking; Putting Your Perception into Perspective; and, Kindness Pays F...

Does your company embody a culture that’s innovative, agile and energized and what does it take to do? Joining the show to answer those questions and share his insights is the founder of Culturology, Steve Van Valin. He’s a culture-shaping strategist, engagement expert and author of the new book, “The Search for Meaning at Work, Unleashing the Hidden Power of Purpose to Engage Your Workforce.” For...

If you’re seeking lots of tangible tips to improve productivity and bring more joy to your work, you’ll discovery them in this ‘must listen’ conversation with Sarah Ohanesian, a keynote speaker and the founder of SO Productive. When everything feels urgent and overwhelming, Sarah shares how to get out of survival mode and into greatness. Put another way, she explains how to "Command the Chaos" to...

It’s ironic. Our world is more connected than ever and yet loneliness has reached epidemic proportions. So, what does take to forge genuine connections? Rob Lawless is on a mission to find out. He’s set an intention to spend 1 hour, 1-on-1 with 10,000 different people. As the founder of Robs10kFriends, he’s already met more than 6,000 people from all walks of life across nearly 90+ countries. Thro...

We are more creatures of culture than we are of habit. This means a healthy workplace is less about self-care as it is team-care. Joining the show to delve into the nuances of what matters most is Laura Putnam. She’s the Founder and CEO of Motion Infusion and creator of a leadership training program, “Managers on the Move.” Laura works with hundreds of companies to infuse a culture of wellness and...

Optimize your life. She’s an international keynote speaker and the founder of the Warrior Institute, but Dr. Sharon Grossman is known as The Burnout Doc. She also hosts the "Decode Your Burnout" podcast and is the best-selling author of “The 7E Solution to Burnout: Transforming High Achievers from Exhausted to Extraordinary.” Needless to say, Sharon is the ideal guest to provide insights about way...

In a world where clarity often seems elusive, Alice Inoue stands as a beacon of wisdom and guidance, inspiring us all to navigate life's challenges with grace, courage, and happiness. With her nine groundbreaking books, Alice's insights have become a staple for those seeking guidance. Alice’s latest book, “Mastering Your Superpowers,” combined with its sophisticated archetypes assessment, sets a n...

Not growing old is about feeling youthful, energetic and vibrant rather than grumpy, worn out and uncool. It’s about purposeful living and a determination to live life to its fullest, beginning right now. Joining the show from Geneva, Switzerland - with double the fun - are Ellen Kocher and Dominique Ben Dhaou who, among all else, are co-authors of their recently released book, “Wake-Up, Shake-Up,...

What does being a fearless leader mean to you - and, if you happen to be focused on the wrong issues, would you want to know? It’s our good fortune to have the right guest answer those very questions. Adrian Koehler is a founder and senior partner at Take New Ground, an elite leadership coaching, training and consulting firm relied upon by some of world’s leading companies, such as Nike, Oppenheim...