Matt Sweetwood serial entrepreneur and a tech start-up founder with over 30 years of experience. He is an internationally known professional speaker, author, coach, and social media influencer. However, his greatest achievement is having raised five successful children to adulthood as a single dad. He is a frequent national TV and publication contributor and has a #1 best-selling book: “Leader of the Pack: How a single dad of five led his kids, his business and himself from disaster to success.”
It’s time to stop media outlets and internet sites from publishing allegations made in a divorce. People’s lives and reputations are being unfairly destroyed. Mostly this happens to men since it is a time-honored tradition to cast men as villains in divorce.
On LinkedIn, on your birthday, the present they give you is a deluge of messages from you connections IN YOUR MESSAGE INBOX. Add that to the spam messages you get daily and the people thanking you for endorsements you actually didn’t give and you have an inbox that is fried.
As a result, I have had a full schedule of high pressure power business meetings. Those who have participated in these kinds of meetings know how they typically go. You meet in some nondescript conference room, shake hands, greet each other, small talk for 30 seconds and get to the business at hand. When the business is done you shake hands and head off on your merry way.
In 2006 I realized our photo distribution business at Unique Photo was in serious jeopardy. The conventional model of selling film, paper, chemistry and photographic accessories to photo retailers was no longer working. The future for us was bleak.
In this podcast, I talk about why you only need to surround yourself with positive people that give you love and are successful. And once you do this, you’ll attract people who will help and support you, and your life will change significantly.
In this podcast, we have a dad calling in who is suffering from PTSD while going through a divorce. Not an easy scenario, but can he get full custody and keep a good relationship with his kids?
In this podcast, I am talking with a dad who is going through some rough time. We talk about how to stay – can we stay? – A good father when our kids challenge us greatly. And what’s the take home message? The love of a child by a father can transcend everything.
All our customers were going out of business, our product was losing margin, and our competition was growing – I had to do something. Our savior came in the form of social media – implementing a 2-brand strategy – using the power of my personal brand to magnify the company’s brand.
A message to men going through a divorce: Start treating your wife better now than you treated her when you were together. You have to start thinking smart and that is the thing you have to do to win your divorce.
Because they have learned to love others more than themselves. In this podcast I discuss why dating a single parent is the best thing you can wish for and why having a child is not negative but something you should be proud of.
I discuss the stories of 3 single dads I interviewed recently for The Man UP Project TV Show. Their stories illustrate lessons I have been speaking about that are instructional for any man or woman who would consider a relationship, marriage, having children or divorce.
Microsoft Corp. has agreed to buy LinkedIn Corp for a whopping $26.2 billion dollars. This combines the software giant and its cloud services with the world’s largest online professional network. It’s Microsoft’s biggest deal ever – by far. So who would the winner in this mega-deal be?
I can remember back to when I was 5 years old and I would sit with my mom and 7 year older brother in front of the big living room window looking out into the night. Sometimes we would watch the lightning storms, counting the seconds to the next thunder clap.
It’s every parent’s nightmare. You turn your attention away from your child and something terrible happens. Michelle Gregg and Deonne Dickerson, parents of a 4 year old boy, had one of those dreaded moments this past Memorial Day weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Let’s say you are applying for a new job. You have a professional resume, a complete LinkedIn profile and you have lots of experience for the position. You wait to be called in for an interview but the call never comes. What could have happened?
LinkedIn is the most widely used business networking site on the planet with more than 433 million worldwide users, including 128 million in the United States. They have a monopoly on the professional networking world, until now…
Thinking back to troubled periods in my life, I recall having daily thoughts of wanting to travel back in time to fix things or make different decisions. So let’s say I could go back in time and relive only one day. What day would it be and what would I do differently?
I surprised my adult daughter for her birthday by showing up at a party she was having. Is it a coincidence that the only two people in the room that weren’t drinking were me and my daughter’s boyfriend? It was obvious there was more to this than just luck.
I check my email multiple times an hour and my typical reply time is less than 30 minutes – unless I am very indisposed. When I ran my company, I had a communication rule that said every email had to be responded to within 4 hours – or else. So it came as a big surprise to me…
So you are thinking about getting divorced or maybe you are going through one right now? What you will likely discover is that divorce for a man, is as painful as childbirth is for a women – except the excruciating pain of divorce can last for years, decades or a lifetime.
Job seeking has changed a lot over the past few years. Gone are the days of waiting for the Sunday newspaper to scour the job section for new opportunities. So, do you need to use social media to find a new job? Does having a powerful personal brand give you an edge in the job market?
Over the past few years I have taken hundreds of selfies and posted them all over my social media. The discussion about the narcissistic nature of folks who take selfies has made its way out of the psychiatric community and is now somewhat commonplace. And therefore, I have been called…
Throughout our business and personal lives we are faced with dilemmas that place us in a win-lose. They force us to choose between saving one person’s job while costing another’s; causing one person to lose money while another gains; and hurting one friend while helping the other.
Going through a divorce can be one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can have. For men in particular, there is little support available and many men feel emasculated if they seek help. I had no one that I could ask for guidance, and I didn’t even know where to look.
Imagine if we could travel back in time. Thinking back to troubled periods in my life, I recall having daily thoughts of wanting to travel back in time. So let’s say I could go back in time and relive only one day. What day would it be and what would I do differently?
If you are not using your personal Facebook to build awareness for yourself in the job market, you are missing out on a very powerful and free branding tool • 19% of companies had sourced new hires from Facebook and about 25% of HR professionals thought it was important to be on Facebook.
I now realize the decisions I was making when I was in college would actually set in motion much of the course my life would take. I am desperate for my kids to make smarter decisions than I did and so I frequently give them fatherly advice about the decisions they are making…
We met at Steve’s New Jersey suburban home. It’s about 20 minutes from where the New York Giants play in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I got there when Steve was driving up with his wife and family in his big SUV. I immediately had a flashback to about 20 years ago…
My 5 children are now all over 20 years old. All 5 have gone through the anxiety of applying to colleges and the apprehension of waiting to receive an acceptance and financial award. All 6 went to one of the best public schools in the country; known for its placement of students in top colleges.
If you are not using your personal Facebook as a tool to build awareness for yourself or your company’s brand, you are missing out on arguably the world’s most powerful, free marketing tool. Facebook is used by more than half of the world’s online population…
I remember looking at them back then and imagining a future when all of them had graduated from college. They would all be on their own, financially independent, married and with children. I thought of them scattered across the country…
I grew up in the New Jersey suburbs with typical boyish aspirations of being a football player, astronaut, fireman or Olympian. I didn’t consider growing up to be a leader. But it happened somehow… So here’s why I lead:
Operating a photo retail store is hard. It’s hard work with long hours. It’s hard to make sales. It’s hard to find good employees. It’s hard to keep expenses down.. it’s just damn hard to make a profit—which if you could, would make everything else less hard.
I was determined to follow a different path and not allow history to repeat itself – for the third time. I had 13 years and a lot more life experience under my belt, which gave me the strength and wisdom to develop these 10 habits to direct me to happiness and success after divorce:
President Obama gave a widely anticipated speech on taking executive action to reduce gun violence. While declaring the validity of the 2nd Amendment, he proposed closing the loopholes in the buying of guns without background checks.
It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since they were married last December in Israel. I recall sitting on the 10 hour flight reminiscing about what happened over the past 19 years of caring for her and her 4 siblings as a single and sole parent.
I have to admit, I had no idea the 2015 Miss Universe pageant was taking place this past Sunday. I found out about the contest when video replays hit the Internet. The big story was host Steve Harvey mistakenly naming Miss Colombia, Miss Universe, instead of the real winner, Miss Philippines.
I have spent the last 19 years raising my kids by myself, which has taught me more than I could ever possibly write about what is really important. So in the holiday spirit, I share the 12 things I wish for this coming year.
Simply put: all our customers were going out of business, our product was losing margin, and our competition was growing in number, capability, and size. I had to do something or my family’s 60-year-old business would also be done.
Some photography tips and tricks for taking the best holiday photos. As demonstrated live on Fox and Friends, Dec 19th, 2015. Fox News Host: Clayton Morris
If your son or daughter came to you, enraged at a group of people based on their ethnicities, ideologies, or religious beliefs and you sensed he or she might commit an act of violence – how would you try to calm him or her down?
Another week – another mass killing. The alleged murderers, killed 14 and injured 21 people in San Bernardino, California. They burst into a Christmas party at the Inland Regional Center, wearing masks, body armor, semi-automatic pistols, long guns, GoPros and carrying pipe bombs.
Thoughts about football quickly left my mind when the game opened up with a tribute and moment of silence to an 18 year old Patriots fan. Ezra Schwartz, who had been shot overseas in another act of terrorism, could be seen on the big screen, smiling ear to ear, in his Patriots jersey.
It took 6 days from the time my blog, “Hateful Sculpture in Milwaukee Needs to be Scrapped” posted until Jaume Plensa, a world famous artist, was compelled to remove his Spillover II sculpture.
It took 5 days from the time my article, “How I Discovered Hate in Plain Sight on a Popular Sculpture” posted until, Jaume Plensa, had his Spillover II sculpture removed for “repair”. I had observed that there was an ethnic slur, “Cheap Jew” in plain sight, made from letters of the sculpture.
After taking a few shots of the lake and surrounding area, we walked up to the sculpture. Within 30 seconds of looking at the sculpture, I noticed the letters on the northern side of the statute were not random at all. In fact they clearly spell out the following hateful phrases…
I had gone through the divorce from hell but I still hoped to find that elusive and special woman that I could spend the rest of my life with. I hadn’t dated in over twelve years, but with a lot more life experience and little more confidence, I thought I would have a relatively easy time at it.
There is so much hate, distrust, and lack of ingenuity in this gun violence debate with each side saying, “It’s my way or the highway.” Unfortunately politics doesn’t work that way, life doesn’t work that way and problems aren’t solved that way.
It was late 1996 and my marriage and family life I dreamt of was ending. My wife of 8 years and mother of our 5 small children was gone. The emotional strain of it all caused me to let myself go and I weighed on the wrong side of 300lbs. I felt undesirable, and I feared I may be alone forever.
I went to see “The Intern” because of its star actors. Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway is a talented and versatile actress, who also happens to have gone to the same high school in NJ as my 5 children. Academy Award winner Robert De Niro, is simply one of the best actors of all-time.
Debunking the Internet Sensationalized “Underwater” Girl Photo. As demonstrated live on Fox and Friends, September 27, 2015. Fox News Hosts: Tucker Carlson, Elizabeth Prann and Clayton Morris.
In this video interview with Eddie Geller, CEO and Co-Founder of Tinybeans, and father of 4 boys, we discuss how his new revolutionary app addresses safety concerns and other shortcomings with the sharing of family photos.
When I was little boy growing up in the New Jersey suburbs, my idea of a what it took to be a man was formed by the stereotypes I watched in the movies and on TV. I wanted to be a combination of Dirty Harry, James Bond (Sean Connery only) and the Fonz.
Some photography tips for taking the best back to school photos of your kids. As demonstrated live on Fox and Friends, Aug 31, 2015. Fox News Hosts: Brian Kilmeade and Elisabeth Hasselbeck
I was hoping the movie would portray a single-dad positively and break the stereotype that men are unemotional, materialistic and unable to parent effectively by themselves. Unfortunately, the dad was portrayed as clueless and was so level-headed he seemed to be devoid of all emotion.
I despise that innocent men, women, and children are losing their lives to this kind of mass gun violence in theaters, churches and schools. I despise that our second amendment rights are are justly being questioned, as most civilized folk are desperate to stop the cycle of gun crimes.
It was late 1996 and my marriage and family life I dreamt of was ending. My wife of 8 years and mother of our 5 small children was gone. Our children had borne the brunt of this. The next few years of my life were filled with court dates, forensic accountants and custody evaluators.
Some photography tips for taking the best photos of kids (and adults) on the beach. As demonstrated live on Fox and Friends Weekend, July 26, 2015. Fox News Hosts: Rick Reichmuth and Anna Kooiman
Give me liberty or give me a hot dog and a beer. It’s good to have an option. In the heat of roaring BBQ’s and deafening sounds and bright flashes from fireworks, it’s easy to forget what the 4th of July is all about – An independence hard fought and earned that started from a dream.
It’s that time of the year when my kids start their difficult process of figuring out what to buy me for Father’s Day. They get together and discuss if I have said anything that might give them an idea or if I have hinted at anything. Same routine, different year.
On Fox News Channel today, I gave Father’s Day photography tips to new Fox and Friends host, Pete Hegseth. We showed pictures he has taken of his kids, and my job was to explain ways to improve them. Here are the photography tips everyone can use:
The big social news across the USA this week was In Touch Weekly’s disclosure about abuse in the Duggar family. They are the real-life family from the TLC’s, “19 Kids and Counting“ TV reality show. They have gained praise as well as condemnation for their outspoken views…
What happened on 9/11 was an unparalleled tragedy. The new Freedom Tower, 9/11 memorial, and entire project are unparalleled greatness… so the question that came to my mind was whether this level of greatness is possible without an equal level of tragedy.
There’s no shortage of articles out there about what it takes to make a great leader and plenty of articles on what it takes to be a great parent. And maybe not that many folks who have figured out how to be great at either.
Celebrating mom is as American as apple pie and it has been for the past 101 years since Woodrow Wilson proclaimed mother’s day a national holiday. I remember the joy I felt when I would bring my mom breakfast in bed, flowers, a present and a hand-made card on mother’s day.
I couldn’t be a role model to my girls for the way to be a successful woman – or could I? – I finally just (a tad nervously) asked each of my daughters. What is the one thing they have learned from me in my examples that helps them be a successful woman today? And here’s what they said:
And then our keynote speaker, Vicente Fox, the former President of Mexico spoke. What, I wondered, would his talk have to do with clever marketing? “There’s no limit to what you can do in your life with a purpose,” he said, “but it is a purpose that has to be…
I expected there wouldn’t be a lot of men in the audience and I was right. But what I didn’t imagine was that the audience would be mostly young girls – well under the ‘R’ rated age of 17 you needed to even get in.
I think it’s fair to say most of us were shocked when we saw the Nationwide 2015 Super Bowl Commercial, “Make Safe Happen.” It’s pretty risky business to have a child in an ad who speaks about missing out on the best moments of his life because he died in a preventable accident.
When I became the sole and single parent of my 5 children, my 3 little girls were ages 18 months, 4 and 8 years old. Obviously dating was not an issue to be dealt with at that time but my thoughts of what the future would hold in that area weighed heavily on my mind. I know most dads (and moms) think about these things often.
My oldest daughter Michelle got married two weeks ago at a scenic venue overlooking Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea. I know destination weddings are now trendy, but that had little to do with the choice to have the wedding there…
No, it’s not the beginning of a joke. Yes that really happened. This past fall I was sitting at the bar of a Manhattan restaurant next to my friend, Adam Jacobs, who is a Rabbi at Aish Center, New York. We were having a cold beverage to celebrate the premiere of his documentary.
The urgency I felt when my own children were suffering, unproductive and unhappy was greater than keeping my own job. This was a real creative problem unlike anything I knew before because the solutions are not linear. I had significant problems occur every day. They had to be solved.
I got my get-out-of-jail-free card by just following the advice of the famous philosopher, Nike: “Just do it.” I couldn’t quit my job. There was no one else to do it, so I just put my head down and worked my ass off all over the place. I needed to be a dad, and dads do things with children that are perfectly good and are perfectly acceptable to me.
I wish I had the experience and wisdom then I have now because I would not have been in such mortal fear for Michelle and my failure as her Father. God knows his work and Michelle is in many ways, most like me (despite her frequent denials) of all my children.
My middle daughter Rebecca is twenty two (22) years old today. I find it difficult to fathom that I actually have a daughter in her twenties. But fact is, I have three daughters and two sons. So today, while she is roaming around Manhattan with her younger sister, I reflect…
One of the personality traits that successful parents develop is the ability to multitask. I don’t mean the normal kind of multitasking that one does at work where you complete an expense report while on the phone with the copier salesperson. I mean the kind of “multitasking on steroids” that allows you to handle multiple children at varying age levels, while having little sleep for extended periods of time.
