The Matt Sodnicar Podcast

I sit down with Rachel Alena - voiceover talent, talent agent and voice acting coach to discuss her path from singing and stage acting to becoming a voiceover talent and coach. I connected with Rachel after searching for a voice coach in an effort to improve my voice for podcasting, improv acting and public speaking, and she is officially my voice coach. I have since learned how skillful a profess...

In this conversation with JK, we cover the seismic shift in marketing that happened on June 24, 2009. This is when consumers - private individuals - started marketing and making more noise and content than brands. We cover sales / marketing alignment, Ideal Customer Profiles, contextual marketing, how company culture affects marketing, Tyler Sparks and his speedreading, and how sales and marketing...

On Saturday, May 2, Quinn Brett and Joshua Stevens will be taking part in the Red Bull Wings For Life global event - but with a twist. For 24 hours straight, starting at 9am MDT, Joshua will be running and Quinn will be handcycling around Lake Estes here in Colorado. Dr. Kendra Ryan is serving as their team support captain. Quinn was paralyzed in a climbing accident in 2017, and Joshua suffered sp...

I met Katrina via LinkedIn, and was fascinated with her expertise in both sales and marketing - concepts and roles that can be so close and yet so far. We talk about LeadPilots her LinkedIn automation tool, realizing early in her career that half of her marketing didn't work - and fixing it, her first big step towards becoming an extrovert, and serving as a peacemaker. ★ Support this podcast on Pa...

I sit down with longtime friend Rolf Kramer, Director of Business Development from Techtonic. We talk about lessons learned during competitive mogul skiing, his Udemy course "The Art of Being Found", being a mentor, being a fat pig with a small mouth, and the lesson learned from his mom about how big can you make your funeral. Take a look at Rolf's course on Udemy - the lessons transformed my Link...

I sit down with longtime friend Piep Van Heuven, policy director for Bicycle Colorado. We talk about the mission of the organization, Denver Streets Partnership, the Green Wave in Denver, Idaho Stops, Vulnerable User Law, bike advocacy and how it's not anti-car, and the work to make streets safer for everyone - while balancing different interests. And of course, chocolate. ★ Support this podcast o...

Longtime friend Deahna takes me through the story of her son Grant, being born needing open heart surgery, surviving that, and tragically dying from a feeding tube accident at 11 days old. We talk about his death, and becoming a patient safety advocate, taking a Griefcation, and how she forgave the nurse that killed him. Deahna also walks me through using medical malpractice not for financial comp...

Mike Cohen has ridden his bike across the USA twice. Once, after beating cancer, and again after receiving a heart transplant. The second time, the journey and the ride finished meeting his donor's family. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

10 minutes or so on perspective, inspiration, what you can control, and decisions. I wanted to share a story of extreme isolation, survival and inspiration from Earnest Shackleton. In January 1915, his ship and 27 men were stuck in the ice near Antarctica. What they did to not only survive - and thrive is amazing. Next is Learned Optimism, by Martin Seligman. I've talked about this many times, but...

I was introduced to Owen by my friend Eric Hill in January, and over the course of sharing a cup of coffee, I realized that his experience, wisdom, advice and philosophy was like talking with some of my favorite authors. We talk about being former engineers, being equally unfair as a leader, giving permission and accepting consequences for delegation, employing your talents while being aware of th...

What would you do if your heart failed? Or when you checked into the hospital again, you were told you would never be going home? My friend Jonathan Siegel faced that in 2017. After contracting a virus in his heart, he had a 3rd degree bundle block, and end stage heart failure. In August of 2017, he received a heart transplant. We talk about mortality, seeing the sunrise, hot wings and gratitude....

I sit down with Benji McPhail, program director for 105.5 FM, The Colorado Sound. You need to listen to this station, period. We go through his musical journey - starting in 5th grade, getting weeded out of journalism in college, to being a milkman in 2008, to curating an amazing music collection. How do you grow a station with zero marketing dollars? Get people in a good mood, dive deeper into th...

I sit down with Gail and Bruce Montgomery to talk about the impact the improv mindset can have on an organization. We cover the neuroscience and brain effects and disruption of improvisation, NASA, GoreTex,the Ted Talk "Your Brain on Improv" by Dr. Limb, and the work Meridith Grundei. Gail and Bruce will also be having a book signing on Saturday February 22nd in Evergreen, Colorado. For more info,...

I met Anna, founder of ShipSunshine and Drop Ship Like It's Hot at the 2019 Denver Startup Week, where she and Margaret Davidson from BokkBaby talked about building philanthropy into their businesses. Anna takes us through how her personal practice of sending gifts to friends expanded into a business - making being thoughtful actionable. We talk about the startup's mission the first year - to surv...

In my second conversation with Denver actor and improviser, Sheevani Desai, we explore and expand on her very open and candid blog post entitled "The Marriage Scoreboard". We cover the challenge of staying home with kids, work-life-marriage-kid-passion balance, being faux-woke, and how to make the world smaller. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

8 years ago, when dear friend Nate Elsen introduced me to Josh Sprague, I had no way of knowing the impact he'd have on my journey. I know Josh would genuinely and humbly deflect being called an inspiration - but defining the word as 'the act of influencing opinons' definitely applies here. Many examples exist for me as an entrepreneur, but they mostly are two dimensional - in books, magazines, th...

I sit down again with Trey Cole to go into PTSD - symptoms, coping, therapy, recovery. We talk about him experiencing the Fort Hood shooting, then being deployed to combat three weeks later. We explore the concept of a moral injury, the label of 'broken', exposure / EMDR, and the Greek origin of the word therapist, and the how vs. why philosophy put forth by Hans-Georg Gadamer. ★ Support this podc...

In this episode, Part 1 of 2, I chat with actor, improviser, and writer Sheevani Desai. We cover making the world smaller, being faux-woke, staying home with kids, growing up as a minority, and touch briefly on what evolved into Episode 2, the marriage scoreboard. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

I talk with Eric Hill, founder of Rugged Van Rentals about his career path from UPS driver, to Denver police officer, to stay at home dad, to starting Escape Works, and now on to Rugged Van Rentals. We cover Sprinters vs. Chevy vans, choir practice, coping with stress and trauma. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode, I have a very inspirational talk with Sue Irwin, breast cancer survivor. She is one of my customers, and her story of fighting and surviving a very aggressive form of breast cancer is compelling. Sue talks about the power of decision in shaving her head during chemo, the support of friends and family, appearing strong for her family. She's amazing - enjoy. ★ Support this podcast o...

Grant Garrison, director of Parker Players Improv talks about the upcoming Improv for a Claus sketch comedy shows to benefit Feed My Starving Children. Saturday, December 14 at the Aspen Academy in Greenwood Village, Wednesday, December 18 at Bas Blue Theater in Fort Collins, and Saturday, December 21 at the Studio in Parker. Come out and enjoy a family friendly sketch comedy show, with 100% of al...

I sit down with author of "Truth from the Trenches - The Art of IT Management" and seven time CEO Mark Settle. Starting with a folder named "You can't make this stuff up", we talk about objective reality, reinforcing internal belief systems, managing the politics of business. Mark's next book "Truth from the Valley" will be released soon. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Friend and licensed mental health therapist Aubrey Boom talk about depression, hopelessness and suicide. This is such a serious topic, and we both have been touched by this. We thought going into the holidays that opening up about our struggles with major life events and trauma would remove the stigma around talking about suicide. It's our hope that anyone struggling with this ultimate choice migh...

"Be bold and mighty, and aid will come to you." In this conversation with Jim Sterne, author and Director Emeritus of the Digital Analytics Association, we cover artificial intelligence in marketing, the origins of GDPR, who actually owns the data and privacy, selling Apple 2e computers, and living with wild abandon and curiousity. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

I sit down with Teresa Kloser, Technology Executive, and Eric Elkins, CEO and Chief Strategist of Wide Foc.us, to talk about the unique challenges of social media for companies - especially tech companies - and how to curate an effective presence, truly engage customers and create measurable, results-oriented engagement with thought leadership. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★