Episode 188
From Corporate Grind to Family Freedom: How Matt Morstad Built Financial Independence with His Kids
In this inspiring episode of the Freedom Nation Podcast, we dive into Matt's transformative journey from a high-ranking corporate career to achieving financial independence through his family-centered podcast, "Programming Lions," and social media channel, GSD Nation. Matt shares candid insights on the pivotal moments that led him to redefine his life's work, the challenges of leaving a stable job, and how he harnessed his entrepreneurial spirit to build a successful venture with his kids. Listen as he offers invaluable advice for anyone looking to make a meaningful career transition and achieve financial freedom.
Key Takeaways:
• Embracing Change: Learn about the importance of recognizing when a corporate career no longer aligns with your values and the courage it takes to step away from a stable, high-paying job to pursue a more fulfilling path.
• The Role of Passion: Matt discusses how following his passion for entrepreneurship and spending quality time with his kids led him to create a thriving podcast and social media presence, promoting traditional and conservative values.
• Starting a Business Amid Uncertainty: Discover how Matt navigated the uncertainties of starting a new venture with his children, leveraging their curiosity and the digital age to build a successful online presence and engage with their audience.
• Financial Freedom Focus: Gain insights into the strategies Matt used to achieve financial independence, including maximizing stock programs, creating passive income streams, and the importance of having a supportive network.
• Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Matt offers practical tips for entrepreneurs, including the significance of consistent content creation, the power of community engagement, and the value of instilling entrepreneurial skills in the next generation.
About the Guest:
Matt Morstad, the Founder of GSD Nation and dynamic host of the "Programming Lions" podcast, exemplifies both courage and dedication. Matt made a career out of solving complex and tricky problems. Frustrated with the broad trend of complacency and growing apathy among corporate leaders, he chose to exit the corporate world and security of a 7-figure salary to embark on a unique journey inspiring and educating people through his social media platform, GSD Nation. Matt thrives to foster critical thinking skills in his children and his audience while tackling various contentious issues with empathy and curiosity to build a more productive self.
The "Programming Lions" podcast, started by this father with his children, is more than just a platform for dialogue—it's promoting growth, wellness, and productive habits. With a unique combination of conservative viewpoints and compassionate narratives, Matt strives to empower his audience, helping them navigate through our world today.
A resident of Phoenix, Arizona, Matt enjoys quality time with his family, fitness, and golf. He warmly welcomes opportunities to guest star on other podcasts, where he can candidly discuss current issues, and aims to cultivate a generation of objective, rational, and critical thinkers ready to tackle the nation's most significant challenges and Get Sh!t Done.
Links:
Fast Five Questions
1. If you woke up and your business was gone, you have $500, a laptop, a place to live, and food, what would you do first? "I set up social media channels immediately on all the major platforms, X, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn. And I still have my mind and my contacts maybe."
2. What is the biggest mistake that you have made in business? "Not terminating somebody when I should have. So I definitely I managed and led a lot of teams and people over the years. And a consistent thing was when you know, you know, when it when it's not going to work, it's not going to work. And there's often a situation, the one that I have in my mind very nice person, very well intended, working hard, but just wasn't getting the results and wasn't navigating some of the internal relationships and customer relationships that we needed. And I let it go on. I was typically not like highly empathetic to this kind of stuff, but in some cases I was. And in this case, I let it go on a little bit too long. I should have, when we knew and I should have just turned on the radical candor and said, hey, you're a great person, but like this isn't working."
3. What is a book that you would recommend? "Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manua by Jocko Willink”
4. What is a tool that you use every day that you would recommend? "Calendar"
5. What is your definition of freedom? "My definition of freedom is being without constraints or controls. So you don't have any puppet master. I think, yeah, you can do and say what you think is true or right without being infringed on or feeling restricted in terms of what you can do, say, and how you can act or operate. And so I just think it's just working without constraints. Now. you also in a lot of cases need financial freedom to be free.”
About Jeff:
Jeff spent the early part of his career working for others. Jeff had started 5 businesses that failed before he had his first success. Since that time he has learned the principles of a successful business and has been able to build and grow multiple seven-figure businesses. Jeff lives in the Austin area and is actively working in his community and supporting the growth of small businesses. He is a board member of the Incubator.Edu program at Vista Ridge High School and is on the board of directors of the Leander Educational Excellence Foundation
Connect with the Freedom Nation podcast at https://freedom-nation-podcast.captivate.fm/
Connect with Jeff:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomnationpodcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffKikel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkikel/
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