What a great treat it was to interview Matt. He's a good friend of Chris Scully (COO of a company I started in 2007, Killer Shark Marketing). In this episode you will hear Matt discuss how Madrona was an "Early investor into Amazon and many other great companies we all know and love." A fun fact about this episode, Matt broke a rib the day before while skiing and didn't want to cancel the interview! So, you will be hearing Matt speak with a freshly broken rib which to me speaks wonders about how he operates personally and professionally. Thanks, Matt for taking the time to come on the Interesting Humans Podcast. You certainly deserve a seat on the show! Here's Matts formal bio:

Matt graduated from Dartmouth College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has been on the Forbes Midas list and Top 100 Venture Capitalists by CB Insights and The New York Times several times. In 2024, Business Insider named him to The AI Power List, which features the most powerful people in artificial intelligence. In 2017, Matt was named Emerging Company Director of the Year by the Puget Sound Business Journal in partnership with the prestigious National Association of Corporate Directors Northwest Chapter. In 2011, he received the Washington Policy Center’s Champion of Freedom Award.

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

On this episode, 19 year-old Austin Smith told his ultra-successful father that he won't be attending college after high school. His father supported the decision and said you will absolutely be doing THIS one thing while getting your business started. And it's profound and frankly missing in too many young adults today (and even adults). 

How I know the guest:  I met Austin one day in 2019 walking out of a client meeting. Austin walked up to me said "Sir, I would love the opportunity to detail your truck. I am a huge Raptor fan and your truck is gorgeous!" So I took him up on it and got to learn more of his story along the way. It was fascinating and he earned his seat for episode 19. I hope he inspires you nearly as much as he inspired me!

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Justin spoke at our kids' school one night. He provided practical solutions for challenging situations like bed time with 4 kids under 8 years old! I was impressed with his simplistic approach and his story is captivating. After the speech I approached him to come onto the podcast. Here's his more formal bio:

Justin Whitmel Earley is a lawyer, author and speaker from Richmond, VA.

He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in English Literature before spending four years in Shanghai, China, as a missionary. Justin got his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and he now runs his own business law practice in Richmond, Virginia at Earley Business Legal.

 His book, The Common Rule – Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, was published with InterVarsity Press in 2019. He frequently speaks at businesses and legal events on habits, technology and mental health; and at churches and conferences on habits, spiritual formation and parenting. 

 His second book, Habits of the Household – Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms, released with Zondervan in 2021. His third book, on the spiritual discipline of friendship, is called Made for People and released in fall 2023.

​Justin also writes fiction and poetry, and is working on a children's book that will be released in Spring 2025. He is married to Lauren and has four sons – Whit, Asher, Coulter and Shep.

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Jennifer Dickenson has outlived any measured survival rates for Glioblastoma. That in itself is REMARKABLE! Only .07% make it to 10 years with nearly 100% passing before 12 years. WOW. The question is, how did that happen? In her book, she talks about the journey and how she made a radical life change that she credits to keeping her in remission. This was one of my favorite interviews and I went completely "off script" when the mic started rolling. The first question I asked was planned for 1/2 thru the episode but that didn't happen! We got right into it. You won't want to miss this episode.

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Gay Hendricks doesn't need much of an introduction, so I will tell you how we met and why he was on my podcast. For at least 5 years I couldn't get over a particular hurdle I was having. Despite being successful in business, traveling the world, working at the White House (Formerly I was a U.S. Secret Service Officer) I could not put content online and look or hear myself without quickly taking it down! It was such a hurdle that I quietly squashed a dream of mine... a real passion.... and just kept living life. Then one night laying in bed I was searching for solutions to unlock a nagging & consistent struggle of hating to consume MY OWN content. I absolutely LOVE consuming others' content! A book popped up called The Big Leap (written by Gay Hendricks) and I read the first few pages and reviews about the book. The rest is history. That book, and that book alone, got my podcast to finally STICK. I can sort through the haters, the ones who have good or bad comments, and I can truly see it for what it is. It's my purpose + passion project. It's my way to help the world one person at a time. It's my way to leave legacy, so my kids can know me and who I associated with. My podcast is a place where my kids one day can see how I spent my time and who I spent it with. And finally, they can see that my mission in life is to transfer knowledge from one person to another. Simple yet profound. 

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Meet Michael Young. He unpacks the entire process from trying out (over 100 tried out!) thru traveling rules, sideline rules and the entire lifestyle of being an SEC mascot. My mind was COMPLETELY BLOWN! I thought you just put on a suit and go... wow was I wrong! 2 mascots can't be in suit at the same time, even if it means one is in Europe and one is in Alabama and Michael explains why... and also tells a real-life story when that actually happened. Not only is the episode fun-filled and very interesting but Michael is a class act himself. A great guy, great role model and can be a tremendous mentor to anyone considering the mascot route. Enjoy!

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Michael Goodroe (his parents were Episode 11) is such a unique human being. Given a horrific diagnosis at birth, he was poured into by his parents who never settled with medical advice they were given, and one day all the hard work and persistence paid off. This story is tremendous in every way and it cannot be told enough. Sometimes, even 8 medical professionals can be wrong. And this is a story of 2 parents following their guy to overcome what was deemed IMPOSSIBLE. This episode is the story thru the eyes of the son Michael.

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

James Boron, MD, a close friend of mine, joined me today to share incredible stories of life inside the busiest trauma centers in America. 25 beds, 1 surgeon and gun shot wounds along with non-stop life threatening emergencies all night long. 

These people are real heroes. They save lives all day and night long and often times go unrecognized. Today you get to embark on a very special journey hearing what it's really like "behind the curtain" of life or death tragedies that need instant triaging and every second counts. 

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Josh Nelson, nor anyone else in the world, had any idea what was about to happen. COVID struck the world and Josh's newly negotiated ZOOM contract included more stock than cash. The company wasn't doing so well PRE-COVID. They averaged 1 million daily active users. But then comes COVID, and the daily active users skyrockets to 100 million! So does Josh's stock portfolio. He woke up together he and his wife decided enough is enough. They cashed in, he fully retired, and they turn their focus on raising their child. You don't want to miss this episode as Josh highlights the many moves cross country and intra-state chasing tech jobs that never panned out. Then the big day came and the details are incredible! I'm sure you will love this story... please let me know in the comments. 

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com

Meet Joan and Mike Goodroe. Persistence despite flying in the face of what 8 medical doctors called "impossible". I  would call them superheroes. The effort these parents produced consistently for 20+ years is nothing short of remarkable. They followed their hearts and knew deep down they can get their son to comprehend and read. They even had 2 sets of books for their son in college and read every single word of every single book to him. Jokingly, the parents said they should both have degrees from their sons' school, too! Their story is a blessing to all and it's sure to nudge any parents out there who want the best for their children, but sometimes don't know what that could mean at times.

This episode features the parents Joan and Mike. Be sure to check out the son Michael on this episode:  

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👉 Host: Jeff Hopeck. To learn more about my ventures and the conversations I care about, find me at www.JeffHopeckBrand.com