I’ve always been jealous of Emperor Franz-Joseph I, one of the emperors of the Austro-Hungarian empire. According to historians, he spent very little time sleeping and was incredibly hard-working and very accomplished. When I met with Mike, I found out that he’s “not a big sleeper”. Well, I was instantly jealous. When you look at the 6 companies he started and the not-for-profit art organization called Art Dimensions that he and a partner run, my point is proven. People who sleep less, accomplish more (but I’m still not giving up my requisite 9 hours per night).

Art Dimensions, the baby of Mike and a friend, was founded in 2001. Through the organization they’ve organized an art rotation, an art gallery (which has since closed due to time constraints), and an art detour. The art rotation is a way for local businesses to display art from local artists in a rotation. It benefits the artists because they receive exposure, and the businesses because they rent this art for a discounted price. The art detour is an annual event where buses truck people to different art exhibits in St. Louis, with musicians on each bus! Because of his passion for the arts, Mike loves working on Art Dimensions, but says, “I started it, so I know how big it could be, but it is a lot of work”.

Phat Buddha Recording Studios is another one of Mike’s businesses. They’ve recorded artists like Nelly and the Black Eyed Peas and are one of the most well-known studios in St. Louis.

Blayzer, Mike’s internet marketing company, is the newest thing on his crowded business card. With his personal experience in print shop, graphic design, interactive design and back-end design, it was the natural thing to do. While the company is working on some big projects, he has a bigger vision. “There’s just so much we could be doing, and we can’t do it all or we wouldn’t be doing anything right”. To which I responded, “Or you wouldn’t be sleeping”. I then proceeded to bore Mike with my information on Emperor Franz-Joseph and how I was very impressed with his work ethic and lack of sleep.

Six companies (I haven’t mentioned them all here) is enough to keep anyone awake at night, but add 3 kids to the mix and you’ll understand why Mike is lucky to get any sleep EVER! Mike has required his kids to help him and his wife with their garden and his son has a natural green thumb. One year the whole family planted pumpkins in the backyard. His son snuck off and planted his in the front yard. Guess which one thrived? Mike laughingly told me how he had to work around this giant pumpkin when he would mow the lawn! I told Mike about the troubles we’ve had with deer in our garden and he agreed it was a lot of hard work, “It’s like a constant battle, and usually you’re going to lose, but...it’s all good”.

While talking about gardening I told Mike that when I have kids, I’d like to get them involved in gardening and cooking. A TED talk with Jamie Oliver, opened my eyes to how little kids know about food, especially healthy food. In this talk the kids certainly knew what a chicken nugget was, but most of them couldn’t name a tomato.

After meeting Mike, I was inspired to pursue some things I’d always been interested in, and two months later here I am at my new job! I ran into him again yesterday and it sounds like he’s as busy as ever with all of his exciting ideas and ventures. Maybe the next time I see him it will be at the 110th anniversary of the 1904 World’s Fair event that he’s planning...

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Most of us have personal goals, things like quit smoking, give up Dr. Pepper (that's mine), or get a Masters degree. Matt would put most of us to shame. Matt is a chiropractor, but that's a means to an end. The destination is a diploma in internal medicine so he can treat chronic diseases through nutrition. I asked him why he decided to go into nutrition and he said, "Because I could talk about it for hours. If I'm in a conversation with someone for 5 minutes, somehow we're talking about health and nutrition. I know it will never feel like work for me". Odd. Odd because when I first arrived to meet Matt I bought him a coffee and explained to him that I was reluctant to order a tea because I'd been having some acid reflux and that seemed to aggravate it.

From there we dove into a 30 minute animated conversation about health and food.We both agreed that it seems unfortunate that many doctors prescribe medication right off the bat. For example, I went to 2 doctors for acid reflux and neither asked what my diet was like. Both simply prescribed medication that was going to cost me approximately $1,200.  I just cut a substantial amount of sugar out of my diet, and my problem is solved (unless I drink a lot of caffeine).

At one point during our conversation Matt kept trying to say something but he would pause and start again. After trying several times he laughed and explained that he was overwhelmed because there were so many things he wanted to say. His passion for nutrition was that great.

When talking about health, I recommended the book 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks', and he pulled out a notebook to write it down. When he opened it, he began explaining that he uses the notebook to track progress to his goals. He showed me that he had drawn a line down the middle of the page and to the left were his personal, spiritual and financial goals. To the right of the line were the steps he'd taken that day to reach them.Besides this, he wakes up 15 minutes early each morning to read something that will help him grow and learn (he's a big Tony Robbins fan). While on his way to work at Pain Relief Associates, you won't typically find him rocking out, he'll be listening to personal development audiobooks.

Matt is going to open his own business someday and it will be a functional medicine practice. They'll base nutritional plans on blood work, helping people with things like Crohns Disease and thyroid problems, so they don't have to live on medication.

Matt moved here in 2007 to study at Logan College of Chiropractic, and before he could get back home to Pittsburgh, he met his wife. At some point they may move away, but she is currently expecting their first! Matt is preparing a very special gift for his wife when their son or daughter is born. He is keeping a journal where he records one nice thought about his wife per day, and he'll give it to her at the hospital. How can you be as focused and goal-oriented as Matt? Here's something he said during our conversation that I thought would resonate with everyone...

"How will the goal make you feel, and who are you going to become to achieve that goal?Because its really the feeling you're after."
"How can I make an impact today?"

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Matt and seeing his passion for nutrition first-hand. Who else could I have such a great conversation with about my acne?

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