[Question shown on screen]: Are you thrilled with the offer you got?
Matt: And I had,
Matt: in some ways, an ambitious target. And then in some ways, like Olivia, when you and I were talking about it, a pragmatic target, right? You know, I wasn't aiming for, you know, a half million dollars or some, you know, insane thing like that.
Matt: And, yeah, I mean, definitely there.
Matt: I mean, I guess any time that you can increase your total comp by about 20%, that's doing pretty well.
Matt: Any time you can increase your base salary by about, and I'm sorry, IR Marine, so math goes slowly for me, but somewhere in the ballpark of about 45%, yeah,
Matt: you're probably doing okay.
Olivia: And in this market?
Matt: Well, yes, and so then that's the reason why I say probably a little ambitious, because yes, this market,
Matt: and then also particularly this geography, San Antonio, which tends to be more on the bottom end of average household income, but also tends not to be the place where you find individuals at that tier as frequently, because it's just a smaller market. It's not a Dallas, it's not a Chicago, it's not a San Francisco, right? And so, yeah, I mean, just straight numbers. There are many, many reasons, thousands of reasons to be, you know, very happy. But, of course, that's not everything.
Matt: The abstracts associated with this are, I think, even more powerful reasons. It puts me in a really good spot. I've always found myself between the human component and the business, and particularly between the human component and the business human component, and data analytics. I've done a lot of work with data analytics throughout my career. I was actually resident within a data analytics team for several years. This role has me doing enterprise wide change management for a data analytics capability for a pretty good size regional bank, Huntington Bank, the nation's number one SBA lender, about 20,000 employees. They have locations in about 12 to 15 states. They're a powerhouse. 2024, they went up by like 18% in terms of net income. So, they're on a good track.
Matt: And then I get to step in there and help them understand how to make their data analytics consistent, user-friendly, create a culture of self-service around reporting, and to do that all while still being compliant and still being operationally efficient.
Matt: I'm hesitant to use these words because it makes it sound like I'm something that maybe I'm not, and it also potentially makes them sound like something that they're not. But they do desperately need what I can do. That came out loud and clear in the interviewing. And so, it's just a fantastic fit. And that means the world to me.
Matt: The gentleman for whom I will be working is a former Marine, and that was just sheer happens chance. But when I recognized that, I kicked into gear and just went straight to him and just did a reach out, you know, rapport building thing, right? And it's typically pretty easy to do that with my fellow former Marines, but sometimes I run into a curveball. No. In fact, it was not just warmly received. He actually encouraged me to do as much of that as I wanted to do. And in hiring situations like this, sometimes people typically get a little uncomfortable, and they don't want to encourage that kind of stuff because people start getting nervous. Nope. So, everybody involved in this, the recruiting firm who was positioning me with Obi, that's his name, they encouraged it. They were totally fine with it. I kept them properly positioned. And then Obi, of course, was thrilled. And the in-between message he was giving me was keep doing that because the client's going to want that too. So, now we're talking about Huntington Bank. And just going straight at him with value and positioning myself as a provider of value, as a server, as a servant of value.
Matt: So, all that to be said, yes, totally thrilled, not just with the outcomes, but then also with the process.
Matt: everything about the past seven months has been just utter rollercoaster. Like, you know, emotionally, pragmatically, like there's just been total nonsense throughout all of this. All of those previous potential hiring managers who were just throwing just wacky messaging and wacky responses and
Matt: roles being taken down at the last minute. You know, all this just wild stuff. And a little bit of that carried over into this one. Going into this, Obi gave me the very crystal clear impression that there would be one interview and it would be with the practice lead on the Huntington Bank side of the house. Just to make sure, like, you know, the personalities were good and there were two other candidates and, you know, he was very clear with me going in that I was his lead guy by far. So, I go into that first interview thinking, okay, great. I'm just going to continue to spotlight what experience I have that is directly applicable to what it is that he's trying to do so that we can talk about the fit and the value and stuff like that. And that first interview went great. And that first set of slides was just focused on how I had relevant experience and that, of course, was a springboard to the value that I could offer.
Matt: But the day before that interview with Stephen,
Matt: so Stephen was Friday. So, on Thursday, Obi lets me know, hey, there's going to be another interview on Monday and it's going to be with Stephen's boss.
Matt: Just came out in the blue. And I'm like, okay, here we go again. I'm going to buckle in because here comes the roller coaster, right? And so, I started, yeah, I mean, this is where the curveball started coming in, right? And even with the situation as firm as it felt to be with Obi, I'm getting these curveballs, right? So, I started doing my homework and I started kind of piecing together some of the things that Obi was telling me that she was going to look for. And I pull up her LinkedIn profile and I start doing some research on her just with some basic Google searches and just trying to get some insight as to what makes her tick and how I can position, basically doing preliminary doctor work, right?
Matt: And there's this heavy emphasis in Obi's written guidance that emphasis on
Matt: previous experience that she has had with other consulting firms like PwC and, you know, the likes that just could not present well. And so, right off the bat, I'm thinking, well, I'm going to have to carry forth with this PowerPoint thing and I'm going to have to present to her to just demonstrate to her that she doesn't have anything to be worried about. Doctor. Yeah, I'm kind of starting to piece it together, right?
Matt: And
Matt: Obi mentioned that he would be open to talking with me briefly on Friday and I told him I'd be a fool not to do that. Let's get together. After he took, you know, he and I started talking and he reveals to me that even he was taken by surprise by this request for this additional interview. So now I'm starting to think, man, like what's really going on here? Because if he's like, he's been working with her for six months, right? So what's going on?
Matt: But he offered to allow me to use his PowerPoint slide template, which is very different from mine. And I thought, OK, but hey, whatever, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. This is what she's used to seeing. Like, look, you know, I'm more than happy to be the chameleon.
Matt: I pulled up stuff on her from like 18 months ago where she was at a data analytics conference of some sort. And she was part of a panel on a stage. Two other panel members to her left, the emcee to her right. Olivia, she's up there on the stage. And I swear to God, this is what she looks like. And I'm looking at myself to try to mimic this.
Matt: I mean, like the mouth breather mouth, right?
Matt: The eyes of like, oh, my God, like almost like a three-year-old in a speeding car, you know, or something. And just kind of bouncing around at the crowd. And I thought, like, what is wrong with her? Like, she just, this doesn't look like a seasoned data analytics leader. This looks like a scared person. And during the ensuing 30 minutes, what comes out is she doesn't like being in front of large crowds.
Matt: She finally relaxed. Actually, she got some words out. And then she actually admitted to that, this whole introvert, extrovert thing, she said. So now I'm starting to understand what's making her tick. And so I go in prepared from that angle to try to make her feel safe. To try to create a low-key environment to communicate my confidence.
Matt: Confident, but caring, right? And so I just, I sent those messages. And, but yet I kept it short, sweet, and simple to the point with the slides. And you helped me a little bit with that. And Obi helped me. Actually, Obi didn't give a single word. Except, I love it. So I nailed it with him on the first shot.
Matt: And just presented that. But the curveball of having to prepare for her when I didn't think I would even need to. I thought I had already gotten it with Steven, you know? But Steven gave me insights. So Steven reacted to my experience and said, I like what you're talking about. We're trying some of that stuff. We need to have some other ways to do it. And it became apparent to me that they really don't know what they're doing with change management.
Matt: So then I was able to snap in and say, ah, they need some more human-centered approach to this. They need to be empathetic to their impact at audiences and reverse engineer and the kinds of things that you do when you know what you're really doing with high-quality change management. So I built all that into those two slides that I did with Alexis on one day. And like I told you yesterday, Olivia, Alexis' immediate response as I was closing up the slide share and I was asking if there were any questions or comments or any thoughts and response. She said, Matt, this is exactly what I'm looking for.
Matt: And then from there, she just went on and on and on and on for about 10 minutes straight, nonstop, talking about all the context, all the challenges, all the reason why they can't do this already, all the reasons why they need me. And, of course, you know what you do when you're in a situation like that. You just sit back, shut up, and open up the big holes in the side of your head and listen, right? And she gave me so much more insight. And then we just, you know, we closed it because Obi told us we were five minutes overdue because he was emceeing. And so that's when I knew I had it.
Matt: So I don't know if I was particularly on, you know, leaders do more. I mean, I guess, you know, like I got some example of that. I did my homework. I thought about it. I was reflective. I was looking at myself in the mirror the entire time.
Matt: So and then I pivoted. And I realized, and I think this was the growth moment for me. I realized that with Steven, I was selling myself because I didn't have anything of substance to talk about with their circumstance. I didn't know enough yet. So I went in with what I knew to be relevant to them. You know, I tried to get as close to them as I possibly could. I was maybe, you know, one or two degrees removed, but I was pretty darn close. And it was a great success story and it really teed up a great dialogue. But then he gave me what I needed to know to know them. And instead of going into Alexis and selling myself, I went in with Alexis and sold them them and
Matt: how I could deliver value. And Olivia, I pulled an Olivia moment. So how can I, you know, it was something to the effect of Alexis. Alexis, I'm really looking forward to, within this short dialogue, 15-minute interview, talking about your needs and how I can add value to your effort to mature your COE.
Matt: It's a small pivot because I was already making it about everybody I was talking to. But this one was a little more overt, right? And I could see the way she leaned in and she started talking that I had her. I had her on the hook. And now I just need to reel her in. The slides went up. They came down. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I had reeled her in. So, granted, there's a whole lot of work to be done. But you're ready. I'm going to be the one doing it. Yeah.
[Question shown on screen]: What were your biggest takeaways from Career Evolved that helped you seal the deal?
Matt: Well, look, you know, years ago, I did one of these with, and I forget the name of the firm,
Matt: and, you know, I mean, I dropped $3,500 on it. Back then, that was a ton of money. It was like 20-some-odd years ago.
Matt: And I didn't get much of anything out of it. Team A's and, you know, preparing for those typical stupid questions like, tell me about a time when you were on Mars and you were standing on your head, rubbing your belly. Like, you know, okay, whoop-dee-doo, right?
Matt: So, you know, I definitely didn't get any leads. I didn't get any connections. I didn't get any networking.
Matt: And granted, you know, obviously, the focus is on preparing you. So I'm not trying to say that that's not the case. But merely doing that when you're advertising career advancement and not having some type of network of former clients or something, I'm sorry, that's disingenuous, right? And so, and then I know enough about the market because I've been around enough to know that, you know, there's all kinds of different shapes and forms out there. And then there's also different ways to go about this. And so I wasn't finding what I was looking for. I was finding a whole lot of high-dollar things and a whole lot of low-dollar things. I found one that was $995.
Matt: Like, wow, too good to be true, right?
Matt: And then I found y'all.
Matt: And I did, Olivia, I didn't even complete the online app.
Olivia: Oh, really? Oh, yeah, we called you.
Matt: Yeah, there was a question there. I was like, I'm not prepared to give that. I don't know. It was just something that I just wasn't going to, you know, turn over. And so I just, I literally closed out of the app. But I had already given, I guess I gave some personal information. I didn't remember doing that. And then, what was her, Andrea?
Matt: And I get called. I'm like, and I'm thinking she's somebody else. I forgot about this because I closed the app, right? And I'm like, yeah, no, I was going to talk to you guys in two days. And then I realized, oh, wait a minute, this isn't the same one. Oh, hey, you know what? Now that I think about it, you're not who I'm thinking you are. Can you call me tomorrow?
Matt: Because she was talking to the things that I wanted to hear. And so kudos to Andrea and whatever you did with her.
Matt: Because basically, I was a lost sail. I mean, think about that, right?
Matt: And so I get back on the phone with Andrea and it's like, whoa, wait a minute. You've got to be kidding me. Like, this is exactly what I've been looking for. Now, maybe this wasn't right for Joe Schmoe or Jane Doe or whatever, but it was right for Matt Stuckey after looking through that whole stack, right? And so, yeah. So I wouldn't call it skeptical. Just, you know, wise and doing my homework and being selective and careful. And I have a fiduciary duty of sorts to my wife and my kids, right? And myself. And so for me, this was spot on. And, yeah, Olivia, your emphasis on not
Matt: just mindset, but on how to take proper care of yourself, how to treat you as a product and how to polish your product up and to make it spiffy and make it best. But what you were just talking about yesterday about the signals that you're inadvertently sending.
Olivia: Yeah.
Matt: That could actually change them and be more overt with other signals. I mean, that's the kind of high quality coaching that I think we all need because it's actionable. Like, it's one thing to talk about having a mindset. It's another thing entirely to talk about how you demonstrate that mindset, right?
Olivia: Yeah.
Matt: And so that's huge.
Matt: I love the pragmatism of the fact that you can't call every shot. You have to be able to pivot and remain focused on your principles while you're doing that, right?
Matt: I would highly recommend this to anybody. It's a spectacular balance between all the different things that you could do with this. And I think other players are going in other directions and they're becoming unbalanced, like
Matt: coaching on how to market yourself on LinkedIn. And that's their main go-to. Now, maybe that's valuable to some, but if you're going through a career transition, you need more than just that. You need this, right? And so if you got this right, you can handle your LinkedIn stuff on your own without paying somebody $5,000 a month for that.
Matt: So, again, I would highly recommend this to anybody. What you guys do is it's the Lord's work, and that's the way it should be.
Matt: I honestly, truly
Matt: get fulfillment out of helping others be successful. And if I can connect somebody to something else and then they can have a conversation and they can start collaborating, and I do it all the time on LinkedIn,
Matt: then I'm thrilled, right? And if I see somebody who's going through something like this and I can give them a little encouragement and a little pickup, which I do, then great, right? I just made the world a better place at some small molecular level, right? And yeah, absolutely. I intend to remain in this because you never know what's going to happen. I mean, part of the homework I did was I researched your former clients that you didn't know I was doing, and I was digging them up. I was just, you know, doing cross-sectional, you know, searches, and I found a few people, and I talked to them before I ever even committed to you guys. And one of them told me, oh, yeah, they're phenomenal. I did get, you know, my job largely because of them. I don't know that this is the one for me, though. I'm going to have to go through this again.
Matt: That was an interesting wake-up call, right, because nothing is ever perfect. And so this is a great gig, but you never know until you know, right? And so I could get in there, and I could find this place as absolute chaos, and so I may need to make another pivot again, and so I may come back around. So it's nice to know that I've got the, you know, like the fraternity, you know, the alumni benefits, but similarly that I can also give back. If you all have somebody in the ancillary services like mine, change management, process excellence, human-centered design, business architecture, you know, data infrastructure, all that kind of stuff, you know, the non-sales, non-marketing, non-business ops stuff, I think I may be able to help them in some way, shape, or form. Even if it's just to say, hey, I've been there, I got through it, and you can too.
Olivia: That's awesome.
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