{Listen to the full experience on my Substack Matt's Recap}
Custom resume for VaynerX & Mike Boyd Jr
Eddie is a seasoned professional in the music industry. As an attorney, he founded 'Protect and Collect,' specializing in intellectual property. He's taught at SAE, is an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago, and has spoken at major events like South by Southwest. Sometimes Eddie is a DJ! Eddie is deeply ingrained in Chicago's music and cultural ecosystem. Follow Eddie on Instagram or visit his law firm’s website with the links below:
Eddie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandersesq/
Eddie’s Firm, Protect & Collect: https://www.sandersesq.com/protectcollect
Emma Mckee is a legendary cross stitcher. In 2014, Emma stitched her first piece: An adaptation of Will Prince’s artwork for Chance the Rapper’s song “Hey Ma.” She followed that with a piece for street artist JC Rivera, Chicago’s “Bear Champ.”
Her portfolio expanded from there, as she firmly planted herself within Chicago’s rap community, as the scene’s preeminent — and only — hip-hop cross stitcher, earning the name Stitch Gawd
.Since 2014, she’s created countless pieces for musicians and artists both in and outside Chicago.
Follow Stitch Gawd on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestitchgawd/
View Stitch Gawd's online store: https://stitchgawd.com/store
Sam Thousand is a musician, event curator, and director. Sam speaks on his career in the performing music space, his vision to create ChiBrations to bring more discoverability to the rising arts scene in Chicago, and how he believes art has the potential to unify us in incredible ways. #mattsmith #theintersection #theintersectionpod #theintersectionpodcast #samthousand Follow Sam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samthousand/
In my interview with Zehra, we discuss how her understanding of art history informs her work in Venture Capital. We talk about the events she curates in New York, from breakfasts and panel discussions to pottery classes and workout sessions. Zehra emphasizes the value of genuine engagement, diversity, and community-building, highlighting the need for meaningful connections and respecting participants' time.
Follow Zehra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zehranaqvi_
Chris Vergara is an up and coming Director & Creative strategist. Chris has directed videos for Chance The Rapper, G-Eazy, SuperStarKami, Dry Boy, and more… Not only music videos, but Chris has made corporate videos, travel videos, short documentaries, Chris has done it all.
Chris and Matt have a unique shared history, meeting each other as budding entrepreneurs in the creatives scene and growing along side each other since.
Chris speaks on his journey in the field, his own creative process & how he goes about his work, & passion for treating his creative work simultaneously as intimate art but as a business product and figure how the best strategies to market it.
Matt interviews Jaeson, the founder of 88rising and OP3N. Jaeson shares his incredible story of growing up in the Bay Area in the 80s and 90s and how he was exposed to hip hop culture, kicked out of three high schools, became a youth pastor, paying Bruno Mars only $1,500 to record four Christian rap tracks with him before the fame, and even being mentored by MC Hammer who brought him around the early buildings of YouTube, PayPal and more. Jaeson talks about East West Ventures and 88Rising, bridging gaps between the east and west through entertainment and technology.
Jamie Cho is a marketing lead at Wildr, working to make social media a more positive space. Her background is focused on consumer social & our conversation was focused around empowering creatives in the creator economy.
Follow Jamie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoonseojamiecho/
Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/itsjamiecho
#theintersectionpodcast #nostopmatt #theintersection
Ruben Harris is the CEO of Career Karam, the number one destination for career guidance & the largest platform to help workers find job training programs and get jobs in tech. Rubin has helped tens of thousands of people get into tech and inspire people to see that you can get into tech regardless of how much experience you have, where you come from, what school you went to, or what struggles you've been through. Career karma has raised over $50 million to date. Ruben has advised the cities of San Francisco and Miami on workforce development. He was a professional cello player. He has a deep love for Japanese culture, just like me, not to mention he's rubbed shoulders with the likes of Alexis Ohanian, Jeezy. Sway In The Morning, Tim Cook, Gary Vee, Mariah Carey, and more.
Follow Ruben …
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rubenharris
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvxlGJyvbwg/
Georgia Dienst's background includes Google, Google's Innovation Lab Google X, Kernel innovating in the field of neuroscience and neuromedicine. Today she's a CEO coach to VC backed founders. See her website: https://www.georgiadienst.com/ #theintersection #theintersectionpodcast #mattsmith
Matt and Isiah ThoughtPoet Veney get deep into room for improvement in Chicago's creative scene and the city as a whole.
ThoughtPoet is a writer, photographer, community organizer. ThoughtPoet has been featured in The Field Museum, The Chicago Tribune, Essence Mag, Southside weekly, and The Chicago Reader. He’s done work with G herbo, Taylor Bennett, Vic Mensa, Chance the Rapper, and even grew up on the same block as Mick Jenkins!
ThoughtPoet captures so much history and humanity through his photography, he’s even considered a historian in some sense through the authenticity of his lens.
Follow the Thought Poet… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtpoet77/
TroyFromChicago is a Emmy Award winning cinematic director and and photographer. His work has been featured in Billboard, TIME Magazine, the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Basel: Switzerland, and more. Troy has directed or been a part of the production of videos for Vic Mensa, Chance The Rapper, Joey Purp, Super Start Kami, Joey Badass, Lucki, Matt Ox, and more..
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Follow Troy:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troyfromchicago/
Website: https://www.troyfromchicago.com/
Follow Matt:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Enitan is a 3x best selling author on dating and relationships in the modern world. Enitan is the co-founder and creative director of FLOURYSH, the largest platform to shop and discover Black-owned businesses. He’s produced short films, been a keynote speaker at Stanford & Harvard, partnered on projects with Usher, even majored in computer science and interned at HP in Silicon Valley! Follow Enitan: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bereolaesque/
FLOURYSH site: https://flourysh.com/ __________________ Follow Matt: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Sonia Nagar is a general partner venture capitalist at the Pritzker Group. With a background in mechanical engineering, self-taught programming skills, an MBA from Harvard, and experience launching an e-commerce startup herself, Sonia has an impressive track record in the business-building world.
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Follow Sonia:
Sonia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonias3/
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Follow Matt:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Gale Wilkinson is the founding partner at VITALIZE VC where she invests in early stage startups. Gale is well known as a venture capitalist in Chicago and on Twitter. democratizing access to angel investing through Vitalize Angels, the world’s first angel group for both accredited and non-accredited investors. ______ Follow Gale: Gale’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/galeforcevc?s=21&... Gale’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galevc ______ Follow Matt: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Wally Green is a professional ping pong legend. As US ambassador for ping pong, Wally has played in North Korea for world peace and diplomacy and represented the US all around the world in Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, Croatia, and more.
He’s been featured in the New York Times and Olympics.com. He’s been on the Steve Harvey show. He was featured in an award winning documentary called “The Tables”. He’s a TEDx speaker. And Wally is famous for being able to beat anyone in ping pong with just his phone.
Ian Brock is the founder of Dream Hustle Code, making tech and being in the tech industry cool for kids that would have otherwise seen the space as lame or felt alienated by it. At only 18 years old Ian is an accomplished entrepreneur who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Oprah, Steve Harvey, Ben Horowitz, G Herbo, Robert F. Smith, Eric Thomas and many more.
Follow Ian
Dream Hustle Code Website: https://www.dreamhustlecode.com/
Ian's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ian__brock/
Ian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreamhustlecode
Follow Matt
Matt's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/
Matt's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Scott Kitun is the founder of Tech Nori, one of the truly OG startup content and community brands that contributed a lot to the startup ecosystem in Chicago over the years. Scott is the founder of Song Finch, a company that makes it easier for independent music artists to make money without having to be super famous, letting you make money from selling custom songs for people. Songfinch was named the 166th fastest growing company in 2022 by Inc magazine. Scott is also a founding partner at Off Center VC, a venture fund that backs non-traditional founders with a history of “never giving up”. Scott has a big footprint in the Chicago Tech and startup ecosystem. Follow Scott: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kitun Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitun/ SongFinch: https://www.songfinch.com/ Off Center VC: https://www.offcenter.vc/ __________ Follow Matt: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
Kim Aponi is a fashion designer, event curator, painter, and all around artist. She is the founder of Chi Products, a clothing and design brand representing Chicago and the world. Her team is based out of New York. She’s worked with Adidas, Pyer Moss, and collaborated with Urban Outfitters. She’s on the Vic Mensa team and is tapped in with a lot of music talent in Chicago. From throwing several hundred person events in Chicago to moving her team to New York, she’s an all around creative super star!
Follow Kim:
Instragam: https://www.instagram.com/kimaponi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/exhalx Chi Products
website: https://chicagocreateslegends.com/
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Follow Matt:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt
NoCapSawBuck is a recording artist, designer, and culture curator based out of Chicago. Follow SawBuck on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nocapsawbuckk/
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Follow Matt:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/nonstop.matt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonstopmatt