HBAC 167: ‘Leisure Club’ Founder Matt Barnes

We had a great time talking with pal and local legend Matt Barnes for this edition of the HBAC. We go through the arc of Matt’s career and unearth some great stories and bits of wisdom for people taking the unconventional route through working life.

Risk, Transition, and Making it Go

We talked first about the excitement and intensity that drives a lot of career change. If lucky, it’s a thrilling moment of fulfillment but under stressful conditions it becomes more difficult. Repetition, support, and consistency personally all on top of market conditions and capital requirements makes for a powerful change agent good and bad.

When you’ve finally started the thing and become an expert at all it requires - that’s merely the first step.

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream

One of Matt’s first major career stops was Jeni’s - but not the juggernaut they are today.

From his entry point into the company (a spot handwriting sample) through his “recruitment” as a lead sales person for the company (going from 35 locations to over 450), Matt’s run through the early and massively expansion oriented phase of this national company taught him a lot about scale and logistics.

Aside from brute force and a little Charlie Day “can-do” dry ice shipping and in-store sampling were transformative to the business of moving premium ice cream, charging premium prices, and locking in committed buyers and fans.

Tubi Time

With such a pop culture enthusiast in the house our run through Tubi this week was extra enjoyable. Make sure to check out some…SOME…of the following.Tim - Stunt Rock, Electric Dragon 80,000 volts, Terminus

Jordan - Fistful of Dollars, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, For a Few Dollars More

Kevin - Discusses Svengoolie Movie Night - Still won’t watch Tubi