The one about the amalgamation of passion and purpose

He went to UNC-Chapel Hill for his undergrad and did an internship with the Charlotte Hornets in their marketing department. He then fell in love with economic development and worked in downtown Durham for 12 years revitalizing downtown.

He then decided to try his hand at modeling. He posted every day to his Instagram and the things that got the most likes were him in a three-piece suit. So he gained thousands of followers and signed some deals as an influencer. Matthew shares that this is a tough industry to make it as a social media influencer. Landing deals have been difficult but he has seen some real success.

We talk about the life of a social media influencer. Matthew believes it is more about content creation than just being sponsored for work you’re already doing.

Matthew talks about the work that he and his team were able to do in Durham to change the perception of the city. It was a rewarding time to see the changes made in the community and that’s why he took the job in Gardner which is growing exponentially.

We talk about the Smoffice (The world’s smallest office) and the efforts Matthew and his team made to help get the word out on the work they were doing in Durham. Tech Crunch and Fast Company picked up the story and it went viral. They were nominated for the most original chamber project in the world and won!

We talk about the power of community. What it means to Matthew and how it leads to real growth.

“We’re building Garner for the next 50-75 years. That’s what we are doing right now. Garner is one of the only communities that is a little farther behind most of the other cities in the triangle and we can build what we want.” -Matthew

“Life is short. Just do things.” -Matthew

You can follow Matthew on Instagram, LinkedIn, and his Facebook Page