KHC 218 - Matt Johnson

Cameron Hanes (0:15)

This is the Keep Hammering Collective with Matt Johnson.

Matt Johnson (0:20)

Yes, sir.

Cameron Hanes (0:21)

How you doing?

Matt Johnson (0:21)

I'm good, I'm good. Long time listener, first time caller, friend of the show.

Cameron Hanes (0:27)

No, no, no, no. Friend of the show means you're a dumb fuck. Oh, okay. So you're not a friend of the show.

Matt Johnson (0:33)

Okay, and I'm not big not friend of the show.

Cameron Hanes (0:36)

Because we have somebody we reference as a friend of the show, but not really a friend.

Matt Johnson (0:41)

Nah, all right.

Cameron Hanes (0:43)

But it's good to have you here. You are a friend. And yeah, I've been, I mean, we've been talking about getting you up here to lift, run, shoot and podcast for, God, it's been a couple of years now. Yeah, it's been a while. Yeah.

Matt Johnson (0:55)

It's been a while.

Cameron Hanes (0:56)

And you're here. I am here. Welcome.

Matt Johnson (0:58)

Thank you. It is.

It's surreal. It's a blessing to be here. And yeah, we'll talk all about it.

Cameron Hanes (1:06)

Yeah, I just want to say out of the gate, I was telling my wife this this morning, I've just been so impressed with you and your brand building ability. It is really hard to build a brand, a personal brand. And you've done amazing at it. You get engagement. You get people that care about you.

You're authentic. You are positive. And yeah, I mean, I know we've said on our Shit Talkers, we've had comments on what you've done and what you do. But it's kind of like James said, no, he wants us to talk shit about it. So I'm like, okay, but it's not true shit talk because I do, as I said, I respect just the effort and the vision you've had and how it's, you know, you're at 1.1 million followers on Instagram. And that's just one of the platforms. But I've just been impressed with what you do. And I just want to say that on here. And it's just, it's really good to get you here and learn more about you. And I think people that listen in are gonna be fans of you after this.

Matt Johnson (2:10)

Yeah, I appreciate that. It's just like I told you, you know, like, I mean, I guess to tell people, you know, I found Cameron 2021 early and listened to your, I would listen to your book when I would run and I was training for the Leadville 100, my first ever ultra. No fucking business being there. But it's just, yeah, it's real, you know, to look up to people, like I looked up to you and saw what you were doing and I had no plans of, at that point, you know, being here.

And it's just really cool to, you know, you see it in the movies and you see it in the, you know, reading the books and, you know, but actually living your life, setting a plan and then being in the same room as the people that you looked up to. And, you know, I was just recently at Greg, the CEO of Bloom. I was at his house and lifted with him and I, we got a photo and I posted it afterwards and I was like, you know, this year has been all about being in rooms that I used to think I didn't belong in.

Cameron Hanes (3:13)

Right.

Matt Johnson (3:14)

And, you know, I think that's a statement to everybody that, you know, it doesn't, I'm just a normal person.

You know, I'm just a small town kid from Iowa. And, you know, I saw a vision. I molded that vision and, you know, was blessed by God to, you know, keep moving forward every single day. And I made the fucking choice to do it. And here I am and anyone else can do that as well.

Cameron Hanes (3:39)

What was the key to that journey do you think?

Matt Johnson (3:42)

Putting my back against the wall.

Cameron Hanes (3:44)

I mean, because everybody wants that, right? Everybody wants, can I get respect? Can somebody listen to me? Can successful people care about what I'm doing? And it's really hard to go from, I was a small town just like you, just right out of town here, but small town kid who, you know, big dreams weren't a thing. It's like, if you shared a big dream, people would be like, you're not fucking going anywhere.

Matt Johnson (4:09)

That's why we're so similar.

Cameron Hanes (4:10)

Yeah, so what was the key to this vision happening?