Matt Michels grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota and eventually went on to serve eight years as lieutenant governor in South Dakota. We talk about his early struggles at home and his roundabout way to becoming a lawyer and eventually a politician.
The first half of the interview really helped me understand how he became the man he is. The second half of the interview focuses on the opportunities for rural America and some things we may want to double down on.
I was surprised how many times Matt talked about the role mentors played in his life - something we all should be leveraging more, too.
Topics include angel capital, recruiting out-of-state businesses vs. growing existing businesses, how to get young people to move back home, how to get earned media, and more.
There is also a round of mustache trivia, where Matt had to guess the famous mustache...