EP20: How Spiritually Focused, Purpose-driven Businesses Will Change The World
Matt O’Brien, Phoenix-based digital marketing professional and community builder, is our upcoming guest on “The David Johnson Show”. In this clip, Matt shares how he was able to refocus his business to work with people and companies striving to make a difference in their community.
“You have a lot of layers on you. You're like an onion. And God was just peeling away the layers that had been calloused in me to see and really genuinely connect. Once I got down to a layer and the epiphany came.
I have the ability to transform my company from anybody that wants to just work with me to putting it out there and saying, I want to work with spiritually focused and purpose-based businesses that are impacting the world. And it starts locally in your community (the one you're in). What are you doing in the community that is going to get my attention? We don’t hug brands, we hug people.
I don't care about what you're selling to me until I know you're a real person that I can connect with. And that's what's missing in the entrepreneur startup space -- we're so focused on getting a business and making money, and we forget about how we can impact the community. And if we start there, all of a sudden your story is much more interesting.”
“The David Johnson Show” is a national voice that talks about points of interest in the American military and veteran subculture. Each show episode showcases a different guest with a different story. Sign up to get notified of new episodes at: https://thedavidjohnsonshow.com.
Matt O’Brien: which you don't really realize. But yeah, my father passed away over four years ago from a brain tumor and you know, he had six months before from diagnosis to death and
David Johnson: I'm sorry, six months?
MOB: Six months with chemo, radiation, you know, all of that. And, you know, he wanted to travel the world and I'm like, I'd like to give them that time back. But, you know, so what happened is my health deteriorated from there. And the first question was, I have this business. It was at the peak of my success. I was really cranking and it was so empty and hollow. I felt like a hollow soul. I really had a hard time looking at what, you know, it was a question, you know, you question everything, but it's like, why am I here on earth and in making money is no longer, something that really motivated me.
DJ: Wow.
MOB: So I, what happened is I was playing hockey. I've been playing my whole life and I passed out. I was trying to go to the bench and I just completely hit the ice, like a sack of potatoes. And I went to, I went, played the next week and same thing happened. I passed out. So I went to the heart doc and they're like, let's check you out. And they couldn't find any, find anything wrong with me. So I continued to play. And a couple of years later I went blind on the ice and meanwhile my, my health was deteriorating, and I kept asking that question. I was like, why am I here on earth and what am I supposed to be doing? And you know, I think that when you come out of the military, I'm not from the military, but I know the stories.
MOB: You have a lot of layers on you. You're like an onion. And God was just peeling away the layers that had been callous in me to see and really genuinely connect. And once I got down to a layer, I, the epiphany came. It's like I have the ability to transform my company from anybody that wants to just work with me to putting it out there and saying, I want to work with spiritually focused, purpose-based businesses that are impacting the world.
DJ: Wow.
MOB: And it starts locally. Here's the other thing that people don't realize. I don't care where you are, what your business is nationally, globally, it starts in your community. You're in. What are you doing in the community that is going to get my attention Because we don't care about, we don't hug brands. We hug people. And I don't care about what you're selling me until I know you're a real person that I can connect with.
And that's what's missing in the entrepreneur startup space is we're so focused about getting a business and making money, and we forget about how we can impact the community. And if we start there, all of a sudden my story is much more interesting.