About Matt

I've Been Where
You Are Right Now.

25+ years owning and running bars and restaurants in Nashville. The wins, the losses, and the hard-earned lessons I now teach other owners.

The Resume

Built a Lot.
Learned More.

On paper, it looks like success. And it is. But what the resume doesn't show is what it cost, and what it taught.

25+

Years owning and operating bars and restaurants in Nashville

5 & 8

Concepts built, and launches through openings and reinventions

$60M+

In lifetime sales across my businesses

1,000s

Of employees hired, trained and led

30+

Companies, projects and properties invested in

100s

Of entrepreneurs coached through EO Catalyst and Nashville's Brain Trust

The Restaurants

Every Concept
Taught Me Something.

Some of these places were big wins. Some nearly broke me. I learned the most from the ones that didn't go to plan.

  • 2003Sports bar

    Beyond the Edge

    Opened on July 4th, 2003. Twenty years later, I sold majority ownership and kept the real estate and a piece of the business.

  • 2005Seafood house

    Battered and Fried, then Boston Commons

    When business started falling, we converted it to Boston Commons. We fought through terrible management while I was too burnt out to be there all the time. I took my foot off the gas, and I felt it.

  • 2008–2015Restaurant

    Watanabe

    Seven years of fighting for consistency and execution in a place that was expensive to run. I wasn't comfortable changing, so I didn't.

    The lessonI didn't know how to deliver value any way but through the food, so the costs never worked.

  • ~2010BBQ joint

    Drifters BBQ

    A neighborhood BBQ joint I built and ran until selling majority ownership in 2023.

  • Dive bar

    Harvey Bangers

    I bought it and started it with my best friend. We had very different ideas about how to run a bar. I gave him the business, he couldn't sustain it, and we're no longer friends.

    The lessonPartners need the same picture of how the place should run, before the doors open.

Along the way I dealt with injuries, a shooting, a tornado, empty dining rooms, terrible managers and a partnership breakup. I went from a terrible review to best in class. In 2023 I sold majority ownership of my restaurants. I still own the real estate and part of the businesses.

The Real Story

But Here's What the
Resume Doesn't Show.

For most of those years, I was running on fear. Every decision, every new concept, every investment went through one question that was never far from the surface:

"Am I enough?"

I was building to prove I was smart, credible and worthy. I worked harder than I needed to, second-guessed decisions I already knew the answer to, and treated every setback like evidence that I wasn't cut out for this.

I've had the sleepless nights, my heart pounding through my chest, not knowing what to do. And I was too proud to tell anyone how bad it really was. And along the way I almsot lost it all, not the money and what I had built, but my family and my most important relationships.

Then someone threw me a lifeline. They didn't fix anything for me. They helped me see clearly, believed in me when I didn't, and stayed in my corner while I did the work. It wasn't easy, but it gave me the life and the business I wanted.

Now I see the same pattern in nearly every owner I talk to. Not because they're weak or broken, but because nobody told them it was normal. Nobody sat across the table and said: you're not alone in this, and it doesn't have to stay this way. That's why I coach.

The Part I Get

I Understand the
Resistance.

I'm a Gen X-er. I hate paying for consultants. I like figuring things out on my own. It's more fun that way. Most restaurant owners I know are exactly the same.

But I've also learned that resistance is expensive. The months I spent trying to prove I could do it alone cost me six figures, my peace of mind, and years I'll never get back.

So when I work with owners who are just like me, smart and capable people who would rather grind it out than ask for help, I get it. I respect it.

"Sometimes, no matter how good we are at something, we all need a supportive person who lives outside our bubble to help us get back to our mission, our vision, our motivation."

Not forever. Temporarily and confidentially, so we can see the few things we couldn't see on our own and get on with the work we've been avoiding. The work that sets us free.

The Shift

From Operating Out of Fear
to Operating Out of Opportunity

Whether your place is struggling or making great money, the question is the same: are you running it out of fear, or out of opportunity? Most of the owners I meet have been in fear mode so long they don't notice anymore.

Operating out of fear

  • Every decision feels like it could sink you
  • Putting out fires all day
  • Finding out at the end of the month whether you made money
  • Everything depends on you
  • Even success feels exhausting
  • Frozen by what might go wrong

Operating out of opportunity

  • Decisions made on real numbers
  • Working on the business, not just in it
  • Knowing every day whether you made money
  • A team you can count on
  • A business that supports your life
  • Moving toward what's possible

Why I Do This

I Couldn't Stop
Watching It Happen.

I watched good owners do it to themselves: beating themselves up for not having the answers, stressing over every wrong turn, and treating every setback like proof they weren't cut out for this. So I decided to show up and tell them the truth. The hard parts are normal. The doubt is normal. Getting it wrong sometimes is part of it. None of it has to be debilitating.

"My real mission is to help good people outgrow the constraints that have chronically held them back from the life they truly desire."

A mentor once told me, "If you want to help people, sometimes you have to go first." That's why every story on this page is public.

Teaching has been part of that path for almost a decade with EO Nashville's Catalyst program:

  • 2016Forum moderator
  • Every year afterTook the class again and again
  • 5–6 years agoStarted helping run the class
  • 4 years agoBegan teaching sessions
  • Last 3 yearsTeaching the program on my own

Tools I teach from: Social Styles, Predictive Index, StrengthsFinder, Bell Leadership, & the Arbinger Institute. Michael Burcham's Creating & Launching a Venture, Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Ken Blanchard's One Minute Manager series of books.

Why I Charge What I Charge

I Don't Do This
for the Money.

My restaurants did well, and my investments support my life. I coach because it's my mission, not my income.

So why charge at all? Because people take seriously what they pay for. A fair price means we both show up ready to work. My rates are well below what this experience is worth, and that's on purpose.

It's also why I mentor a select few owners for free. A newly opened restaurant doing under $500K with one owner is terrifying. Every dollar is in the business. Every risk and every stress lands on you. So much can go wrong, and the decisions you make early can decide the next three to ten years: a sustainable business you enjoy, or a disaster. With a little guidance, a lot of those owners can make it.

I can't take everyone. I look for people who show me something I can work with: they're open, they're honest, and they'll do the work, even if they can't afford me yet.

My first restaurant mentor did this for me. I once asked him why he did so much for me when I could never repay him. He said, "Yes, you can, and you will." I thought, here we go. Then he said, "One day you'll meet a young man or woman just like you, and you'll help them the way I'm helping you. That's how you'll repay me."

I know it sounds like a cliché. It's a true story, and this is me paying it forward.

And it's why I work in short bursts. Three months, then you take it from there. I want to help you, not become a crutch.

What This Is

Let's Be Clear
About What I Am.

I am

A Restaurant Owner

I've lived it from the inside: the payroll, the managers, the slow nights and the closing shifts.

I am

A Coach

I ask the questions that cut through the noise and stay with you while you find your own answers.

I am

A Teacher

I share what I've learned the hard way so you don't have to learn it the same way.

I am not

A Consultant

I won't run your restaurant for you. I'll help you see it clearly enough to run it better yourself.

I am not

A Therapist

This is business coaching, not therapy. The work is practical, focused and tied to real numbers.

I am not

A Motivational Speaker

No hype, no highlights, no shortcuts. Just honest work with people who are ready to do it.

Let's Talk About Your Restaurant.

If this sounded familiar, the next step is simple. Tell me what's going on, and let's see if I can help.

Start the Conversation

A FEW OF MY

FAVORITE THINGS

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

01. BASEBALL

BOSTON RED SOX

FENWAY PARK

Just like business, I love the Strategy, the talent, and the way the game is played.

02. MY FAMILY

Of all my Roles I’ve had in life and business, being a Dad is my favorite.

03. THE BEACH

The Beach is my favorite place to relax and unwind. Nothing better than taking my morning walk along the shore at sunrise.