Seventy-six days until summer, beautiful sunny day, though Wednesday night’s dropping below freezing one last time before hitting the 80s next week. After sharing trivia about Brigham Young marrying his 27th and last wife (1868—quite a responsibility) and Jimmy Dewar inventing the Twinkie (1930), Matt reflects on last week’s trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma—his first time in the state.

He flew down to work with an amazing husband-and-wife team running a roofing business, set up a remote shoot with two cameras, lights, tripods, and mics. Found the sweet spot of equipment without overdoing it—the iPhone 17 Pro Max camera is so good that for some shots it was even better than the Sony. But the real magic was having authentic, powerful conversations while capturing them. He interviewed customers, employees, and the owners, helping them become authorities in their space through storytelling. Not just recording stories for the world, but the act of crafting and internalizing them first—that’s what takes you to the next level.

One customer was teary-eyed by the end, talking about how much she appreciated the company and what they did for her. Seeing the impact of your work firsthand like that—you can’t replicate it online. Online’s great for global reach and collaboration, but being in-person with clients is a next-level experience. They had dinner together, and he’ll remember it joyfully for years. The message: if you work remotely or hybrid, intentionally bring in live face-to-face meetings—networking, whatever. It’s a totally different quality of exchange. The question: What in-person connection is going to fill you this week?

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