Matt joined the fam in late 2019, but it feels like much longer! Since he began, Matt has leveled up Penrod’s marketing game to rival the best of the best. He also happens to be proficient in photoshopping his coworkers and keeping all of us lighthearted throughout the work weeks. For example:
Don’t ask. We don’t know, either.
Matt wasn’t always a marketing professional, though; his journey started at his first job out of college.
I was cold-calling for a global security firm in Milwaukee. I’ve always been interested in learning new things, and the marketing team needed some Photoshop help. That was always something I wanted to improve my skills at, so I jumped at the chance. 13 years later, I’m still just as eager to learn new things to make myself a consistently effective contributor. This type of persona fits perfectly at a growing company like Penrod.”
So, how did we hook such a killer talent and teammate?
“I heard about Penrod after they won NEWaukee’s annual Bubbler Awards for Best Workplace. Then I noticed that one of my good friends Justin worked there. I reached out to him, and he highly recommended it. Eventually, a role opened up on the marketing team and Justin told me about it. The rest is history!” said Matt.
His role at Penrod is diverse. With a small-medium sized company on the verge of double-digit age, he has plenty of room to explore ideas and bring them to life. We have a philosophy that a person can choose their own growth and journey at Penrod, so Matt does just that.
He advocates for Penrod in both his personal and professional life. “This involves developing go-to-market strategies for our consulting services, managing partnerships, generating thought leadership ideas, brainstorming SEO strategies, executing campaigns, or just telling friends and family about what Penrod does in the community,” he told us.
“But, leading the marketing function at a growing company involves more than just promoting goods and services. We’re more than that. At Penrod, we weave our core values into everything we do— flexibility, growth, grit, and teamwork. My daily work varies day-to-day, but everything I do requires each of those values.“
These responsibilities manifest in many ways, but one outstanding example is his ongoing friendships and teamwork with our partners outside of work.
Here we see a wild Matt in his natural habitat; working alongside our partners to whip up a delicious meal (he’s a kickass cook) at one of our Quarterly Business Reviews.
His marketing efforts extend far beyond the reaches of Milwaukee, too. With Penrod, he has traveled to Dreamforce in San Francisco, and said his favorite project he ever worked on was planning Penrod’s presence at the conference in 2019.
“We host an annual event at Molly McGarries, a charming little pub in San Fransisco. Dreamforce is such a spectacle, and it was an amazing, enriching experience to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to when Penrod can safely party in San Fran again!”
On the subject of his favorite project he’s worked on thus far, we asked about his favorite thing about the work he does in general. “I love that every day is a new day with different challenges to solve. I can always use my work as an opportunity to continue learning because technology is always rapidly changing,” he said.
Outside of work (and outside of outside-of-work-with-partners), one of his favorite things to do is write music, which is on par with his creative persona.
“Lately, I’ve been trying to learn more about production and composition by covering my favorite songs from video games and artists that inspired me. My latest projects are covers of ‘Fear Factory’ from the amazing Donkey Kong Country soundtrack, ‘At the Shores’ from DOOM, ‘Dam’ from Goldeneye 007, and ‘Enjoy the Silence’ by Depeche Mode.”
As you can likely gather, you would be hard-pressed to find a cooler creative or a better hype-man for Penrod. You’d also be hard-pressed to find someone with stronger teamwork, work ethic, and positive attitude. It’s easy to see why he’s a leader!