The JMATT Episode

Milwaukee influencer and entrepreneur JMatt joins Promise at the YAP House to talk about building the #HashtagMKE brand, going full-time as his own boss, social media strategy, viral TikTok moments, and the realities of entrepreneurship — with plenty of laughs and Milwaukee stories along the way.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Yo, nobody wants to be in a situation where they're in an accident. But if you do find yourself in one, there's one name you need to know: Nicola. That's N-I-C-O-L-E-T. Nicolay Law. You get the beard, you get the win. Wisconsin's number one injury attorney and proud sponsor, a straight from the Yak with promise. Alright, J Matt. Who was your first celebrity crush?

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Jessica Elba.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Ooh, he said that shit with no hesitation. Is it Jessica Beale or Jessica Elba? Elba.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Just that's a ooh, that's a that's a good pick, boy. Jessica, Jessica Elba still look good to this day. From the Yap House with another episode of Straight from the Yap With Promise. Today's special guest is a friend of mine. I have admired this guy, his grind for years. He uh is the founder of hashtag MKE. He's an influencer, he's an entrepreneur, and he has a crazy social media following. The one and only J Matt is in the building. J Matt, what's good, my friend?

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Uh I'm doing good. I don't know how that was just such a great intro that I don't know what to say. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Well, I gotta give you your flowers, man. Um let's let's jump right into it. You have had an amazing run over these last few years uh with branding yourself, being your own boss. Let's talk about um you taking that plunge to say, you know what, I'm going to be self-employed, I'm gonna be my own boss, I'm gonna figure things out on my own. Let's talk about how you got to that point in order to uh go on this journey that you've been on.

SPEAKER_03 2:13

Yeah, I mean, it really came down to me going to networking events and people asking, hey, how's it going being self-employed when I wasn't already self-employed? And I was like, what are you talking about? And when you have enough people come to you saying things like that, you start wondering, what am I not seeing that clearly my community is seeing? And uh it just kind of lined up where I had an opportunity to take on a client that would have made life very stressful if I still had a full-time job at the same time, and it was one of those I just had to really think if it made sense and I kind of rolled the dice, and so far it's been working out.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yeah. So I remember when you first, you know, made that leap, and obviously there's some apprehensiveness, you know, uncertainty, but you you took the risk, you better yourself, and it is working out amazing for you. Um what were some of the first initial challenges of becoming an entrepreneur and working from yourself? And then what are some of the benefits compared to you know when you were uh working those nine to fives and having that safety blanket?

SPEAKER_03 3:15

The the nice thing about a nine to five is as much as it can be, it's a guaranteed paycheck on a regular like um schedule every two weeks or however it works.

SPEAKER_04 3:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Uh so there's that nice flow, and if you did some stuff on the side, you get a little extra money. So the stress part is all of the money that you make is truly on what you make. And if you're not selling or you're not uh getting clients on the books and that sort of thing, you're gonna be short a month or two, and then you're not gonna be able to pay your mortgage. And I would have loved to have gone self-employed with a nest egg of an emergency fund built up, but I don't know many people that did what I did of going self-employed that had that nest egg. It it'll never be the right time, I hear all the time. You just have to go, and you'll find the money along the way, which sounds daunting, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Just going through the forest.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

I'll just I had enough to I had enough for like a month of emergency money, but uh I just it's been working out.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah. And how did because you know I've I've seen you in different phases of your career and in your life. Um, you know, the hashtag MKE, let's talk about that for a second. You you do these amazing networking events. So, for people who are not aware, what is hashtag MKE? When did you start it, and how can people come and check out these type of events that you do in Milwaukee area?

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Yeah, hashtag MKE started in January 2017. Okay. And it truly was just a passion project in the sense of I wanted to network, and I would go to networking events and talk to financial advisors and be like, oh no, there's a hidden agenda here from that advisor's point of view. I go meet up with them and then it's a 20-minute consult, and I was like, Oh, I thought we were just networking. Anytime I'd have a conversation that turned into social media and the things I enjoyed, um, I really was engaged with those conversations and I wanted more of them. Okay. So I figured if I started a networking community for content creators and social media marketers, I would find my people. And my goal for the first year was just to exist and let them come out and find me. And we got about 10 to 15 people on average. And second year we started making it themed, so like YouTube being a topic or um making content with your phone better and that sort of thing, and having local special guests be a part of it, uh, really started accelerating that growth. And pre-pandemic, we were hitting 50 to 70 people per monthly event that we hosted. Uh post-pandemic, it's definitely more complicated. Not to say that people aren't succeeding with networking events, but there's plenty of us that uh hosted pre-pandemic and it's just very different. It's hard to explain, but uh, we're averaging about 30 people, so it's still a good turnout. It's just hard as the event planner that saw what it was to see what it is now, and just allowing yourself to separate the two. There's just two completely different times.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah, totally understandable. And besides you having the hashtag MKE events, you have a very strong presence on social media, and that has parlayed you into becoming an influencer and also a social media coach. So, do you know or remember like what was like maybe the first video that popped for you on TikTok that got you a lot of attention that got you the traction?

SPEAKER_03 6:44

So technically there are two different versions of this. Okay, there was the first version, which I don't talk about this too much. What everybody knows is well not everybody, but when I blew up for the Milwaukee stuff, I did the pirate barge. And so there's a pirate barge on I think it was the Menominee River just off the Milwaukee River. Okay. That uh it was just a barge with pirate decals wet uh welded onto it. And I went with some friends, we took a boat, and I just I knew it was gonna be good content for TikTok. I was unemployed in July 2020, and I was like, I'm just gonna TikTok some stuff. Yeah, and I did a voiceover indicating, like, hey, if this video blows up, I'll show you what it's like on the barge. I had already filmed it, I had it ready to go. I was hoping for 10,000, maybe 50,000 views. Okay. In 24 hours, I had a million views. Shit. And within a week, I had gotten it to 5.3 million views and 50,000 followers back when views really got you followers. Right. And so that blew up, and needless to say, uh, like the next day I posted part two, and people were like, oh wow, it's just exactly as I described it. Uh it's just Pirate Decals welded onto a barge. I was like, it isn't anything special. The first video, first juror, was the hook. Um so that is what kind of led me down the road to do City of Milwaukee specific content.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

However, I already had 25,000 followers on TikTok before the pandemic hit because I was the digital program director for KISS FM and the mix at uh back when it was Endercom.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

And part of your job is trying to figure out where Gen Z or that younger audience was, and they were on TikTok because it previously was MusicLead. So I was trying to figure out how does TikTok work? This would have been in 2018 and 2019 before anyone was talking about it, and I got traction on it for making puzzle content. Wait, what? I know, I know. I don't talk about it that much. That shit don't sound like nothing. That's popping puzzles. So I was trying to figure out like, okay, what's Gen Z do and what like it's the brain teasery things, but all the puzzle-related content I kept seeing were people talking off camera and showing this thing. This is back when TikToks could only be 15 seconds, and you had a duet yourself and all this sort of stuff. So I found out that I could write upside down and backwards on a whiteboard while I was in my KISS FM office, I would be talking to the camera and doing the thing, and I figured out how to get like the delivery of what the puzzle problem was in 15 seconds. And I was able to get it out there. I was the only one showing my face. I was the only one doing it the style I did, and I had several of those puzzle videos hit a million views. Okay. Sheesh. I didn't enjoy the uh interaction part of it because I would just get people giving the answer, a troll answer, or just the wrong answer, and I just didn't care. Okay. I my mo my goal for that content was to figure out how TikTok worked, and then to figure out how to connect with that audience that was hopefully going to listen to the radio station. That's where the motivation was. Okay. Uh so then to pivot to try to find Milwaukee content was quite uh a difficult thing. So uh it's an interesting thing where I was regularly getting viral content, and it didn't phase me anymore. Like, oh well, a million views, I can do that. No problem. Oh, pop pop your shit. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Well, because from there it it expanded to you becoming such a a staple in Milwaukee in general, right? Like, your word is is valuable to people when you talk about a destination, when you tell people about five things that they should know, or you know, hang out. Like it's grown. So from that moment to expanding, like, how did you become so pivotal in the scene, you know, on social media? Because it's not just TikTok, right? On Instagram. And I've been with you before at Summerfest, and I see how people react to you when we out in the public, like your brand, your name, your face. Uh you have a presence. So, like, how how did it go from you doing those videos to you becoming such a viable name in the city?

SPEAKER_03 10:53

It is consistency. I'm certainly not as consistent as I was in 2020 and 21, and when I, you know, was not employed, and then I was, and like it wasn't that demanding of a job that I had full-time. Uh I don't have the capacity to do the capacity I had back in the day. But when I was a lot more frequent, my face was out there. And every video I put out there, my face was in it uh briefly. I tell foodies that come to my networking events all the time that the challenge they have by not putting their face in their content, even just briefly, is now you're just another foodie who's showing aesthetically pleasing plates. Yeah, but when I scroll from one foodie to the next to the next, if you don't show your face, if you're not using a voiceover, they all mesh together. And how do I really know who I'm watching? Because your style can't be that much different as a result. Whereas I indirectly got placed with the foodies for a little while because foodie food content's easy.

SPEAKER_04 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

And I put my face in it and I was able to stand out. I did voiceover stuff from my time with KISS FM and just radio in general. So it's it was a weird thing because I I know I do decent voiceovers, but I know I it's not as polished as it could be. But then I started hearing other people that would get hired for similar projects and hear their voiceovers. I'm like, oh that's how I keep getting hired. Because I I feel like I could be doing better, and we're all our worst critiques and whatever. Absolutely. But then I hear people doing similar things and realize I guess it's not as easy as I make it seem great.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

So no, like I said, it's crazy because I I've I've watched, you know, the content um and I've seen how you have, like I said, in the in the in the city, people clamor, honestly, for you to come talk about their destination. Like you said, originally it was restaurants, but now it's festivals, it's bars, it's clubs, is lifestyle. Yeah, lifestyle is all these different places want you to come and and stamp it. Um, but I also wanted to ask you, you know, when you do your weekly um, you know, five places or five things people should know about, how do you go about uh selecting that? Like what's your process when you just determine what you're gonna include weekly?

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Uh it's it's a mixture of things. And I've I've broken this down because I've had assistants over the years. I have an assistant right now that helps me come up with a list because it can be time consuming. Uh, and then I'll still go through and be like, okay, well, we've got seven options here. Uh still don't love it. I'm gonna just I'm just gonna take a quick look and I'm gonna see what's out there. Uh I'm looking for at least one thing family friendly.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

I'm looking for something in the makers market, makers, the vendors, that sort of thing of like um side hustle selling their their thing art wise or the like. Uh one thing that's 21 and up that's more blatantly like, oh, it's uh alcohol night or something, just like you want to go out on the weekend or you want to do something fun. I look for something that is just frankly obscure. Okay. And I'm like, what is this? Deaf trivia, where you give your answers and the prompts are given to you in ASL. You don't need to be able to speak ASL.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Oh, you mean death okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

I thought you meant death like D-E-A-F-D-E-A F where it's sign language. I thought you get the answer wrong, you do. That would intrigue me and probably make the list. But that is one of those things that I'm like, okay, uh, it was truly so unique that I'm like, yep. Uh it's not something I personally wanted to attend, but it was unique enough that I wanted to get it out there. Uh if anything, social media related, content creator creative space, if there were like five events in a week, they all five make it. Because at the core of it, hashtag MKE, that's what we're about. But there's not a ton of those events. But if there were like a photography lesson class or whatever, I would include that. Uh and recently, having gotten a dog, uh, I do start favoring the once a week if there's an uh uh adoption event or something that is pet friendly, uh, I start throwing those in there. But it it's a mixture, and I'm trying to find events that aren't mainstream. Nothing against the Summerfests and the Harley Fests and these big ticket items. You already know it's coming. Right. You don't need me to include it. I'm trying to find the stuff that when it gets mentioned, you're like, I've never heard of this before. Wait, what's happening? And then a couple of the middle ones. Like Locust Street Festival that I think has enough uh clout to it, but it can be overlooked as, oh shoot, that is this weekend. So, like that I would say is probably middle tier that I would still include. But unless it's a really slow week and I'm having trouble finding things, I'm not going to include the mainstream Milwaukee festivals that everybody knows and talks about.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

No, that makes sense. And you've also been able to uh strike partnerships, you know, and have amazing opportunities, not just with local brands, but with major brands like Red Bull and things like that. So can you talk a little bit about how you were able to parlay what you do locally on an amazing level to expand it to national brands?

SPEAKER_03 15:53

I've never done any cold calling. Just gonna throw that out there right now. So as much as I'd like to be like, yeah, I reached out to Subway, Subway reached out to me. And the thing is, I have cultivated such a specific southeastern Wisconsin audience that if you're a brand that's trying to reach that audience, and because I'm not just food, I'm more lifestyle, I am uh a wider range that I appeal to. But if you're trying to talk to Milwaukee in southeastern Wisconsin and you're representing a brand and need to work with influencers, you need them to be family friendly. You need them to not be um problematic, I guess would be the way to go. Because everyone and uh like there's enough influencers out there that get a little edgy and you're like they got that one off video. And I'm very mindful that every piece that I put out there uh could be seen by anyone. They could be by a brand, and they're trying to like uh vet me to see if I would be a good fit for the brand, and they don't want any question marks out there. And I've have landed on so many campaigns that uh I think the Subway one was 13 or 11 or something, small number across the nation. Yeah, I was one of like 11 or whatever involved with that campaign they did two years ago. Um Red Bull was a cool one, they did the uh fluke talk and I was a co-judge with Donald Driver. That was fun. Um and when I think about it, I'm like, I was billed as the TikToker, which flattered in 2021, 2022. Uh, but they needed to get that audience because how do you get TikTokers? And that was booming.

SPEAKER_04 17:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

And uh then you get Donald Driver who needs no introduction. It was just pinch yourself kind of moment of like, how did I end up in this?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

How you end up here?

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Like, I know I'm credible in that, but like I'm not like Donald Driver walk in the room, Hall of Famer, Packers player. I'm uh the guy that needs an introduction.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

But even thinking about that, like where you have made it to thus far, because I know you have so much to do and more things to accomplish, but even looking back at your career and where you are now, like did you ever imagine you would be a TikToker or social media influencer in this space that you're in?

SPEAKER_03 18:16

I've been doing social media uh as an aspect of my job for 18, 19 years. So I think there was an element of it that I knew eventually something would get traction.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Um and frankly, when I was on Instagram and got like 4,000 followers or whatever, I was content with that. I never was really chasing hundreds of thousands. I was that's never been a goal, but I more so wanted to figure out how these platforms operate, how the algorithms work, and all that functioning. Um I honestly thought I would uh retire from radio and be an on-air personality and that so it's a different kind of influencer where your audience is theoretically built in. Um and I I don't know. If I it's hard to think if 2020 didn't happen the way it did, would I still be on KISS FM? Would I still be in radio? And I look back at it as like, yeah, that was the dream in that moment, but it has kind of worked out, not for like, oh wow, I'm lucky, it just kind of worked out. I put in the work and the time and it worked out, and now I'm in a very different direction, but at the core of it, it's still similar to the dream of what radio would have provided had I stayed with it.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah. Do you like when these different businesses or partnership opportunities present themselves, whether it is national or local, has it been a time where you like, nah, I don't want to do that one, or I'm not gonna go that direction?

SPEAKER_03 19:44

Yeah, I have I have a couple, I and that's the thing. Uh, when you're an influencer new to it, uh we've all been there, we're all starting from somewhere. Yeah. To push back against what these brands are wanting from you, because you know your audience and what content would do well on your page, because they'll give you uh a brief and say, this is what everything we need you to do, and we need you to touch on that. Before I sign the contract, I go through and I'm like, Well, I can't do that, or this doesn't make sense to do this, and I actually know Federal Trade Commission uh regulations and I pay attention to that stuff because it's my job to, which every influencer's job to, a lot of them don't. Yeah. And if, let's say on TikTok, they've changed their guidelines recently, but a year ago, if I did anything alcohol related, my views and my reach is suppressed because that is in a restricted category to do anything alcohol related on TikTok when it's branded and you're getting paid for it.

SPEAKER_04 20:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:38

So I knew that, and I had liquor reps and liquor brands come to me and want to work with me, and I said, Well, we can only do Instagram because Instagram is a little bit looser. Okay. Uh TikTok I can't do because it's just not going to get reached, and it's just going to get like push to the back. Yeah. So I'm not even going to take your money in that sense. Um, so I'm up front with brands when I notice those flags, because there's a lot of brands that are either doing it for the first time, there's agencies, and just because there's an agency working with you doesn't mean that the person from the agency knows what they're doing. They may be greener. So uh just kind of having the experience that I do from having worked in the agency and influencers and all that sort of things has helped me navigate and not be shy to push back. Or I've had uh major sports brands, uh, sports teams try to reach out and collab who want you just do the freebies because you're like, we're a cool sports team. And I'm like, yeah, but what you're asking for and your contract, your terms are very you own all my stuff.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

Well, we have to put a rate to that.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And they're like, Well, uh, we don't. But they feel like maybe because how big they are, you just be affiliated with us is good.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

And you have to be willing to walk. And I've walked away from some pretty notable brands because it just didn't make sense. Okay. For me, it it didn't favor like I'm fine if we break even and We both don't get everything we want, but it you know, but when it's overly favoring one side and it's not the creator, which is often the thing because we don't have legal teams, uh you just have to be careful because no one's looking out for you.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

No, that made that makes sense. Um let me step into the conversation a little bit about the coaching aspect, because doing things for yourself and networking and working with brands is one thing, but then trying to coach and explain things to others, right? How did you get into becoming an actual you know social media influencing coach? And what has that process been like trying to teach things that you've learned?

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Uh so when I worked for KISS FM, I would coach all the on-air personalities and all the full-time ones. Uh, and I was open to coaching the part-times too, but like really it was the full-times, and so the same with the mix. And the personalities, they were all great on the air, and I would say to an extent they were great on social media, but maybe not the most active all of them. So it was trying to meet each individual where they're at, rather than having one blanketed thing, because we know that doesn't work. It's figuring out where this individual is at, and they're gonna have very different goals from maybe their counterpart that is also on the morning show, uh and trying to get the best out of them and noticing when you're talking about something very buzzy on your morning show and how that could translate well into web content or social media content. And I remember I got somebody a hundred thousand page views from pushing them to put that morning show content in written form on uh on the website. So it's noticing these opportunities from things that are already possible. And then beyond the I think radio is the easy example of like, yeah, they're all entertainers, easy enough to work with.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:52

I work with C-suite, I work with small businesses, I work with nonprofits who aren't trying to be influencers and don't need to be, but often want to be uh thought leaders. I hate that phrase, but authority merit authority marketing, uh, but they just need to have more of a presence, which is good for like C-suite representing a brand in a company. Like you should be visible, and it's surprising how few are. Uh and even working with small businesses, and when you think of entrepreneurs, they've got a product they're really into. Oftentimes this really cool product has nothing to do with social media, but these days you have to be active on social media. Uh I was at a networking event yesterday and someone said, Do I really have to post daily? And I shock the small businesses every time when I say, Nope, I post once a week minimum. Your capacity is based on your um. Yeah, your consistency, sorry, your consistency is based on your capacity. So if you only have the capacity to post three times, and being honest with yourself, I think I can post three times a week. Good, that's your number. Because if you set it at s daily or even at five, it's so hard to pull back and be like, oh, I was wrong, let me do this less, because it now feels like you're failing.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

Whereas if I say, okay, realistically I can do twice a week, after a month, you get into a good groove and you're like, oh, I gotta add another one. Don't add four, add just another day a week. And just build on that. Because that's so much easier. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

What happens with the people that are trying for daily, you might succeed for a week, or if you're lucky, a month, but it's a hard uh frequency to keep going with.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

And once you fall from it, you're not just like falling from like, oh, I'm doing seven days a week to oh no, now I'm doing four. It's probably gonna fall into, oh, I didn't post in a week. Oh no, I haven't posted in a month. And then it's like you're embarrassed or you feel guilty, you failed, and that momentum's gone, and then it's like, well, to build that back up, it's gonna take all this effort, and you're just freezing yourself. You're making it too difficult on yourself. So rather than listening to the gurus out there that are like, do it daily. Yeah, if you've got capacity to do daily, you're gonna grow a lot faster than if you're posting twice a week. But if you don't have that capacity to maintain that momentum and that frequency, don't set yourself up for failure.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Or what or or do you need to make sure you actually have something worth posting? Because you don't want to just post just a post, right? Shouldn't you have some type of content that makes sense?

SPEAKER_03 26:29

There is an extent to where you want to so if we go to that minimum of once a week and you're like, well, I just don't have good content, I'm gonna skip it this week. You shouldn't skip this week. You should challenge yourself to find something to post. To engage. And uh I tell people it should be LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram are your primary three. You don't need video content to be on those platforms. If you have it, cool. But you don't need it. If you feel like you'll have enough video content, even like once or twice a month, then you throw in YouTube and uh TikTok. Granted, uh everybody hates YouTube in the sense that it's so hard to grow, but the the metrics are so different there.

SPEAKER_04 27:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:08

If you have TikToks, it's not gonna hurt you to just throw it up on YouTube Shorts and maybe get a little traction there. But too, build it up at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Okay. No, that makes sense. Um have a little fun with you. We had we had a conversation a little bit off the record before we started filming. We were talking about like Olympic events.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

And um you were saying like you feel like there's some Olympic events you can can compete in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. For sure. Okay, so as long as I've been knowing you, I don't know you to be much of an athlete. So what what what Olympic uh because it is some crazy shit in the Olympics. People don't understand. There's a lot of random things in the Olympics. So what do you think you could you could do in the Olympics?

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Curling seems like curling for sure.

unknown 27:54

I was about to say curling.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

My producer can't be said, so you you I mean, like look at the the American team for curling. It looks like a bunch of dads that are just ha out for the weekend having a good time.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Okay, so curling.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Like I would have to like want to be good at curling, yeah. But I feel like it's just balance on ice a little bit and just I don't know. Can't be that hard. I can't be I can't believe there's that many people interested in being an Olympic curling athlete.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

There's a lot of random things in the Olympics. Like we saw what happened when they included breakdancing.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

I mean, theoretically, it makes me feel like I could do that one too.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Yo, oh girl!

SPEAKER_03 28:34

If it was representing I think everybody I think everyone is thinking they could do it.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Boy, she looked like a damn fool out there, boy. Oh my god. I think they removed that from the upcoming, I don't think that's gonna be in the, what is it, 2028? I don't think No, they think it was like they did it one and done. It says you gotta get the hell up out of here. See, they see they adding, you know, I I play, well, I play real football, but I play flag football. They're adding flag football together.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

Well, that's all fun. See, they're making anything.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

But see, no, but see, the the the the pro guys are gonna do it. So it's us us everyday Joe Schmoes ain't gonna be able to be out there competing with these high-level dudes.

SPEAKER_03 29:17

Like even if it if they didn't have professional athletes doing flag football, that's not one I'd pick.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Do they do they have is billards a part? Cam Beats, is is billards a part of the Olympics? Because I don't think so.

unknown 29:31

I I don't think.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

I feel like it could be. I feel like that has potential.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Is that bubbling a part of the Olympics? I know the arch archeries there.

SPEAKER_03 29:39

What's your classic bar games?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

But I'm just wondering, like, like what should they put billards in in some pool shots?

SPEAKER_03 29:48

I don't think I would be in it for billiards or for like those crazy acts. And I get it, curling is technically accuracy, but uh I feel like curling curling with a little bit of effort, I could probably figure out.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

It's a lot of random, uh, what's what's the one skeleton luge.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

Uh I'm not brave enough for that, because frankly, uh you mess up in that. It's it's game over.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

It's being proposed. See, I didn't I I didn't I just was talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

So that would be in the Summer Olympics.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I was just talking shit. I had no idea.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

If there does if it doesn't involve snow or ice, then I feel like it has to go to the Summer Olympics.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Okay, let me ask you this. So, what is something that you would, if you could, what's something you would add to the Olympic games? Whether winter or summer? What what's a competition or a anything?

SPEAKER_03 30:34

From my college days, I would say beer pong.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Okay. That's a Midwest shit. I can say that.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Or flick a cup. Oh, what's the number what's the uh corn corn humble?

SPEAKER_03 30:45

Eh, that'd be a thing. I think they could make it.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

I'ma kick your ass. My damn print those.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

I can't say that.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

What did you can't say for three points, Alex? You know what though? You got ten minutes left. Um, but you you know what I want to give you some love on too? And I don't know if I ever publicly have said this, but I want to thank you, dude, because you don't know that an opportunity you helped present me with years ago really helped me become a better host, better MC, and well-rounded. You got me booked at NMU back when you were a student at Northern Michigan University to do you guys' uh step show. And that was one of the first times I got paid to come out of state. And I remember I still had my PPI crew at the time. Shout out to E, shout out to Fat Mackin. And we we barely made enough money to come back home. Like I remember the first gig we got. It was a break-even. It was a break-even. We got a hotel room, you know, they covered the gas for the rental, and we got paid to do the event. But I remember that experience of being in that space and realizing when I was up there, like, I could MCA, I could host anywhere, right? It took me out of my comfort zone. But I learned that moment, yo, I could do this anywhere and be able to come up there for the next, you know, six, seven, eight years, however many it was in a row, and then make some good money and have that experience. So I don't know if I ever publicly said it, but man, I want to thank you and salute you for that. Because you took a risk and you really had no idea what I could do. Like you heard what we was kind of doing, but you didn't really know. You like, I hope he's good. I don't, you know, I don't know, but you you booked us, and and that was life-changing, bro. Well, you're welcome. I want to thank you for that.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

You're welcome. I don't know if I told ever told you this side of the story. Uh, I mean, we knew that I was just doing a step competition because I wanted you guys specifically to come up. Like, I, a white guy uh with no rhythm, had no business hosting a step competition. But it was like getting some traction in Milwaukee around that time. This would been like 15 years ago. Um, I knew you guys had the it factor. I just knew you guys would be fun to have come up to my college, and we were friends from uh Milwaukee radio group Jammon 93 and that sort of thing. That's we've known each other for a long time. 20 years, I don't know, for quite a while. So I was like, well, we've got homecoming and they're always looking for events, and they always need volunteers to run an event. And I already ran a bunch of events and whatnot, it was no problem for me, and I conceptually understood what everything was. So I presented it to their homecoming community, and I just joined literally to host this one-off event. And uh they're like, Yeah, you could do it. And we're going through the budget and we're figuring everything out. And uh, well, yes, you didn't make great money that first year. You made more than what they traditionally spend for anything and you were coming out of market. Yeah, and they were like, uh, okay, so everything's great, everything's good, we've reviewed everything. We just don't have a budget to bring PPI up. This doesn't make sense. Uh I think we're just let's go with someone local. I said, if you guys want to go with someone local, I'm out. And I I legitimately said, it's them or I'm out. Damn. And they're like, wait, what? Because they had already gotten into the rhythm of like this is for sure gonna be included. I was like, I don't need to be in this club, I got enough things going on on campus. I've literally only brought that to NMU so you guys could be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

That's crap. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

See, I So I already believed in you 100%. Um, whether you're like, oh yeah, you were taking a chance. I didn't view it as taking a chance. Dude, okay. It was an all-or-nothing thing for me. Wow, see. And then it worked really well, and you continue to come. And you came back for stuff that wasn't even the step competition.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Dude, listen, shout out to Playboy. We hosted an event with a Playboy Playmate, I remember.

SPEAKER_03 34:50

That was my event too.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:52

It wasn't anything related with the ski lob. I had a business called Last Call MQT, which had the drink specials in Marquette, Michigan. Uh that was my first business I started, uh, which I guess makes me a serial entrepreneur at this point. But uh I had a friend who booked uh, you know, C level, D-level celebrities and playmates and that sort of thing. And they were trying to push uh Valerie Mason and I said, Yeah, I can I can make an event that Valerie Mason can be a part of, and uh we should probably have some MCs too, so then you guys are booked again. And I was like, I worked at the local ski hill, so I had a venue, and I just made everyone happy and connected.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

That was a dope event, bro.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

Like it was such a random event.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

It was random as hell, but again.

SPEAKER_03 35:34

And it was kind of like a blizzard was coming back.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

When I was like, you know what? Snow buddies, snow ski lodge, playboy, play buddies, like all my fraternity brothers work uh security and all that.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

It was an interesting event.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

It was, like you said, uh we came up there and rapped with the Yin Yang twins for another event. Like so many amazing memories coming up there. So shout out to everybody and Marquette and uh and MU. We had a lot of great times up there, man. And um, yeah, I just wanted to publicly thank you for that because again, that that gave me that confidence because I already thought I could do certain things, but when I got in that element, I was able to come back to Milwaukee and go all these other places. And you know, I wasn't even doing stand-up back then, but I figured out I was funny then. Like you're funny as an MC. Yeah, so when I figured that out, I was like, okay, maybe I can do the stand-up thing. So I just wanted to give you some love on that. All right, J MAC. It's a game I play with all my guests called first and last. Sometimes they're correlated, sometimes they're not. We're gonna do first and last with J Matt. J Matt, what is the first thing you do when you wake up? Open my eyes. This motherfucker. You the second person to say, you know who said that answer? Mike Epps. Open my eyes. Yeah, that works, that works. That's your answer.

SPEAKER_02 36:49

I probably hear my alarm. That's what wakes me up.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Speaking of waking up, I think I heard my assistant over here snoring uh in the other room. We are in the yap house. If people don't know, this this is the yap house.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

We're putting her to sleep, it's great.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

I mean, you know, she she I think I hear her calling them Z's over there. Okay, so so that's your answer.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

You you I'm going with either one because they're so literal, I like them.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

All right. Okay, I'm gonna ask you this. So obviously, you have to go to a lot of places for content. But when is the last time you went somewhere, or should I say, what's the last place you went for leisure? Not for work, not to get content. Like, what's the last place you attended because you wanted to be there?

SPEAKER_03 37:31

Gosh, that's a good question. Um I was about to say, oh yeah, I went to this network. And I was like, oh no, I guess that doesn't count. No, it wasn't my thing, I was going to somebody else's. I mean, uh anytime I go to Pufferfish, it tends to be the oh, I have a little extra downtime, and I've got a friend that owns the place and a bunch of friends that are bartenders there. And uh even if I do post something to my story that I was there, it it's more so. I can actually just chill. And there's really no expectation, and I don't feel like there's uh oh, that's J Matt from TikTok. It's oh these are my friends, I'm their friend, and I'm just hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Okay, I respect that. All right, J Matt. Who was your first celebrity crush?

SPEAKER_01 38:19

Jessica Elba.

SPEAKER_02 38:20

Ooh, he said that shit with no hesitation. You gotta think of the 90s. Because it was like, is it Jessica Beale or Jessica Elba?

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Elba. Just that's a ooh, that's a that's a good pick, boy. Jessica Jessica Elba still look good to this day. Yeah, yeah. That's a ooh, that's okay, that's a good one. All right. Final one. What? All right. I I'm gonna ask you this because I know you're a pin on these things, and you're sarcastic as hell, but me? Yes. When's the last time you took a vacation?

SPEAKER_03 38:52

It's been a while. I think it's hard for entrepreneurs to truly take a vacation. Um, and I'm not a big vacation person as it is.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Uh ple please explain your logic on vacations to the people.

SPEAKER_03 39:05

If no one's gonna be on my side for this, uh, I'm aware that I'm very unique in this. I already live in the best place of vacation, it's Milwaukee. Uh I'm just kidding. Uh it's a great place to live. Uh I'm more of a staycation person because uh I think I with mental health uh very big on control, and when there's too many things outside of my control, I'm not actually relaxed. Uh so I tend to get more stressed from traveling uh than if I were to just have three days off, which seems crazy to me. But if I had three days in a row where I truly was just downtime, the best way for me to recharge is to pretty much just do nothing, uh, which I don't do much, uh, and give myself that permission to unwind and then also not spend any money. I think that's the little quiet part of like I'm an entrepreneur, I don't really have a lot of free money to be spent. Affordable, affordable, frugal. I'll take all of it. Maybe a vacation one day, but uh but I've oddly enough, through sponsored content, I've traveled, not as a vacation, I know that doesn't count, but like I've been paid to go and make content places, which would be a weekend, which takes me outside of my normal area. Yeah. That's a vacation I'm fine with.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

So in other words, pay me to travel a little bit. There ain't no bag attached. Yeah, I mean, hey. J Matt ain't packing no bags. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. J Matt, I appreciate you coming through to the Yap House, bro. Please give out the social media if they are not following you and ways so they can connect if they want to give some social media culture.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Yeah, the word hashtag M K E and then J Matt, J M A T T M K E. Either one on nine to ten different platforms, you'll find me everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

There it is, man. It's another episode of Straight from the Yap with Promise, of course, sponsored by Nicolay Law, the great folks at Nicolay Law. You get to be or you get to win. We get back with you on the next one, and you already know it's not a threat, it's a promise. Yet it