The Matthews Mentality Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Deb Liu Says Not Doing AI is like Refusing to Use Excel Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Kyle Matthews interviews Deb Liu, former Facebook senior executive who built the first mobile ad product, created Facebook Marketplace, and launched Facebook Pay, later serving as CEO of Ancestry and now co-founding Ember AI to bring AI-driven enterprise back office automation. Deb explains how Ember identifies workflow “hotspots” where human time is trapped in routinized tasks—often in procurement/invoicing and customer service— then re-orchestrates systems securely for leverage and insight, arguing “fast eats slow” in AI adoption. They discuss practical AI fluency for non-technologists, using multiple models to reduce hallucinations, and concerns about job impact. Deb shares why she started Women in Product, notes a gender gap in AI adoption, recounts her path from Stanford to PayPal and Facebook, reflects on growing up as an immigrant child in South Carolina, and discusses leadership, intentionality, family, and her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

00:00 AI Is the New Excel

00:46 Meet Deb Liu

01:58 What Ember AI Builds

03:15 Back Office Quick Wins

04:27 AI Leverage in Practice

08:05 Jobs Fear and Up skilling

10:59 Stop Saying I Don't Do AI

13:28 Why Women in Product Started

16:20 Closing the AI Adoption Gap

18:34 Who Wins the AI Race

20:34 From Civil Engineering to PayPal

25:04 Growing Up as Outsiders

28:51 Rocket Fuel and Belonging

35:23 Adversity and Tiger Mom

37:01 Asian American News Column

37:39 Driven to Leave Town

38:23 Teaching Kids Adversity

40:53 Family Tech Boundaries

44:41 Inside Facebook Marketplace

48:44 Finding Your Voice

51:26 Perfectionism and Growth

56:41 From Meta to Ancestry

01:00:54 CEO Doubts and Learning

01:03:50 Leading Through Lockdown

01:05:33 DNA Breakthroughs at Ancestry

01:06:40 Privacy and Genetic Risk

01:10:59 Mammogram Wakeup Call

01:11:40 Diagnosis And Early Biopsy

01:13:02 Risk Factors And Fear

01:16:13 Treatment And Recovery

01:17:56 Building Ember AI

01:21:18 Intentionality At Work

01:24:30 Habits And New Commitments

01:29:16 Career Stall During Motherhood

01:35:14 60 60 Marriage Framework

01:39:11 Motherhood Penalty Reality

01:42:21 Rapid Fire And Wrap Up

Secret Service Polygraph Expert: How To Get Anyone To Tell You The Truth Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Kyle Matthews interviews Brad Beeler, a retired U.S. Secret Service special agent and prolific criminal polygraph examiner who served on President George H.W. Bush’s protection detail and was named Special Agent of the Year for work combating crimes against children. Beeler discusses polygraph accuracy and how it works, emphasizing preparation, baselining, and that people “beat the examiner” rather than the instrument. He shares practical deception-detection and communication tactics (yes/no questions, delays, qualifiers, overreactions, body-language mismatches, and reading feet) and warns about confirmation bias and false confessions. Beeler recounts cases including a “king of counterfeit” investigation, Olympic protection in Beijing, polygraph work, and a transformative homicide confession, and explains his book “Tell Me Everything” as a communication blueprint for trust and truth.

00:00 Truth Odds Explained

00:38 Meet Brad Beeler

01:34 Polygraph Dad Story

02:54 Car Sales Tactics

05:25 Everyday Lie Tells

05:45 Yes No Questions

12:56 Polygraph Book Origins

16:38 Why Secret Service

17:38 Hiring Marathon

19:08 How Polygraphs Work

23:18 Beating The Polygraph

26:31 Counterfeit King Case

34:01 Beijing Olympics Detail

37:24 Crimes Against Children

40:55 Online Grooming Risks

41:53 Extortion And Cyber Tips

42:39 Triple Homicide Breakthrough

44:36 Respectful Interrogation Tactics

45:48 False Confessions Risks

47:15 Confirmation Bias Lessons

53:05 Why People Commit Crimes

57:06 Facing True Evil Cases

01:01:58 Secret Service Career Phases

01:02:53 Sniper Threat Investigation

01:08:00 Presidents And World Travel

01:11:23 Protection Risks And Complacency

01:12:49 Reading People And Body Language

01:16:56 Honeybee Confession Story

01:20:47 Closing Thoughts And Where To Follow

After 30 Rejections… This One Meeting Changed His Life | Michael Burcham Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

On the Matthews Mentality Podcast, host Kyle Matthews interviews Dr. Michael Burcham, who launched, scaled, and sold three healthcare companies and later founded the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Burcham recounts being rejected by 30 Nashville investors before flying to New York for his first trip and securing $10M at Rockefeller Center, then building Therapy Physics by consolidating outpatient rehab practices and ultimately selling at a high multiple. He shares lessons from growing up on a rural Mississippi farm, mentors who pushed him toward college, and how he built financial skills with an MBA. The conversation covers exits, post-sale challenges, scaling models, work-life tradeoffs, grief after losing his son, writing The Mask, common founder mistakes, his role at Shore Capital Partners, and his upcoming book, Blood, Sweat and Equity.

00:00 Walk Through The Door

00:38 Meet Dr Michael Burcham

01:23 Rejected In Nashville

03:08 Rockefeller Center Yes

07:02 The Rehab Rollup Pitch

08:50 Mississippi Farm Roots

11:20 Teacher Changed Everything

14:33 From Ole Miss To HCA

17:21 Should You Get A Masters

23:47 Launching In Denver

27:22 Exit Mechanics Explained

29:45 Life After The Sale

32:41 Imposter Syndrome And Drive

35:07 Buying Paradigm Health

37:03 Fixing Culture and Model

38:51 Fulfillment Helping Founders

41:07 Narus Health from Loss

42:33 Grief into Leadership

44:43 Founder Mistakes to Avoid

46:24 Joining Shore Partners

48:25 Work Life Balance Truths

55:02 Founder Abyss and Glass

56:13 Blood Sweat Equity Book

58:42 Wild Founder Stories

01:09:10 Final Takeaways and Wrap

The Overlooked Hotel Model Making Real Money | Mike Nielson Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

Real estate developer Mike Nielson, CEO of LivAway Suites and West 77 Partners, explains economy extended stay hotels as a hybrid closer to multifamily than traditional lodging, serving essential-workforce and life-transition guests needing furnished stays from roughly 90 days to six months. He shares how COVID revealed the segment’s resilience when traditional hotels collapsed, inspiring the mission to deliver a cleaner, safer, more consistent product for underserved customers. Nielson details LivAway’s rapid growth since its first 2024 opening—over 100,000 room nights sold, eight hotels open, and additional properties in development nationwide—and credits vertical integration across brand, development, construction, and property management for consistency. He also recounts an early contractor bankruptcy crisis, his contrarian investing roots, a cash-on-cash-focused investor base, and advice on compounding experience and relationships over time.

00:00 Why Build LivAway

02:08 Extended Stay Explained

03:19 Who Stays Here

06:41 COVID Proof Demand

11:20 Fixing A Broken Product

11:58 Vertical Integration Edge

14:41 Contrarian Origin Story

17:21 Underwriting To Conviction

26:28 Investor Mindset Cashflow

29:52 Childhood And Football Drive

34:48 Doubters As Fuel

36:53 Why This Niche Wins

37:49 Base Hits Not Home Runs

38:31 Nature Versus Nurture

40:01 Hard Work Childhood Lessons

45:04 Work Smart And Risk

46:46 Contractor Bankruptcy Crisis

51:24 Paramedic Walk Leadership

53:31 Riots And Broken Waterwalls

01:00:27 Live Away Growth Vision

01:03:35 Compounding Career Advice

01:07:29 Final Wrap And Where To Follow

How a 26 Year Old Became CEO of a National Franchise | Tony Zaccario Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

Kyle Matthews interviews Tony Zaccario, president and CEO of Stretch Zone, the largest practitioner-assisted stretching franchise. Zaccario shares his leadership principle “never confuse effort with results,” emphasizing data-driven decisions, franchisee profitability, and removing emotion from business. He recounts joining Stretch Zone in 2016 when it had four locations, becoming CEO at 26 in 2019, navigating COVID across differing state and local rules, and growing the system to about 430 studios in 41 states and Canada with zero closures. They discuss the franchise model’s simple unit economics, a franchisee-first culture, the importance of engaged ownership, work-life tradeoffs, and challenges of scaling teams. Zaccario also describes a 2023 private equity partnership with Princeton and a first-of-its-kind assisted-stretching research study supporting national accounts and marketing claims.

00:00 Effort Versus Results

00:58 Meet Tony Zaccario

02:11 What Is Stretch Zone

02:59 From Startup To Franchise

04:47 Becoming CEO Pre COVID

05:32 COVID Lessons On Brand

07:48 Nationwide Growth Story

09:18 Systems And Scaling Ops

10:05 Career Path To CEO

13:10 Why A 26 Year Old CEO

18:46 Work Life Balance Reality

22:40 Data Driven Leadership

25:03 Zero Closures Explained

28:02 Great Franchisee Traits

29:43 Vetting New Franchisees

31:29 Private Equity Deal

34:09 PE Backed Growth Changes

35:35 Research Study Teaser

35:39 Why Research Matters

36:51 Study Results And Media Blitz

37:44 Turning Data Into Sales

39:34 Hardest CEO Decisions

42:50 Ambition And Work Ethic

46:59 Time Optimization And Dad Life

48:40 Recovery Industry Boom

50:13 Core Customer And Benefits

53:54 CEO Lessons And Loneliness

57:27 Culture Speed And Conviction

01:00:35 Startup Chaos And Covid

01:02:24 Future Success And Legacy

01:09:46 Franchise Info And Wrap Up

From Walk-On Football Players to Interviewing Billionaire CEOs | Salvi Brothers Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Kyle Matthews interviews Will and Chris Salvi, brothers and Notre Dame football alumni who built Salvi Media and Executive House, an executive media platform behind the Emmy-winning CEO Series, CEO Roundtable, and other C-suite verticals. They discuss how they started by making videos for service businesses with little experience, why entrepreneurship appealed over traditional jobs, and how walk-on football shaped persistence, shared struggle, and identity—along with the difficult transition after sports, including depression and teammates’ struggles. The conversation covers evolving from an agency into a media brand, how they vet guests, why many CEOs are competitive, the importance of executive visibility and internal communication, and why honesty (especially in layoffs) and caring for employees, customers, and community ultimately benefits shareholders. They also share setbacks like being ghosted, financial stress, and their focus on relationships, content, and community in B2B.

00:00 CEO Stakeholder Balance

00:54 Meet the Salvi Brothers

02:52 Notre Dame USC Rivalry

04:56 Starting the Media Business

06:26 Entrepreneur Mindset Autonomy

08:55 Athlete Identity and Obedience

10:16 Walking On at Notre Dame

15:26 From Football to Founder Grit

16:35 Life After Football Identity Loss

21:34 Working With Your Brother

23:05 Pivot to Executive House

24:47 What Top CEOs Share

29:02 Executive Branding and Honesty

33:22 Ego Versus Humility

34:52 Listening While Leading

35:45 Layoffs And Accountability

37:43 Bad Leaders And Politicking

39:13 Founder Skills And Ingenuity

40:09 Hiring A CEO And Keyman Risk

41:47 Future Of Executive Media

43:24 Booking Big Guests

46:25 Breakthroughs And Referrals

48:43 Near Quit And Getting Ghosted

52:02 Corporate Culture And Social Contract

59:41 Relentless Mentality And Trust Moat

01:01:08 Pitch And Final Wrap

From Waiting Tables to Venture Capital | Marcus Whitney Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Entrepreneur and healthcare investor Marcus Whitney joins the Matthews Mentality podcast to discuss his journey from growing up in Brooklyn and dropping out of college to teaching himself to code, becoming a CTO, and eventually co-founding and leading Jumpstart Health Investors, an early-stage healthcare venture firm. He explains why building companies in healthcare is uniquely difficult due to regulation and structural barriers like certificates of need, and why healthcare is now being “flanked” by multiple forces of disruption. Whitney also shares how he helped build Nashville SC from a fourth-division nonprofit into an MLS franchise, why he wrote Create and Orchestrate after experiences with prison entrepreneurship programs and a near-jail moment in his youth, and what jiu-jitsu taught him about humility, resilience, and pain tolerance.

00:00 Entrepreneurship Fine Line

00:58 Meet Marcus Whitney

02:09 Jiu Jitsu Origins

02:39 Healthcare VC Focus

05:39 Why Healthcare Is Hard

07:40 Brooklyn Eighties

10:13 Self Belief And Wrestling

13:15 College Dropout Lessons

15:18 First Kid Turning Point

16:08 Learning To Code

17:51 First Startup Reality Check

21:12 Entrepreneurship Misconceptions

22:38 Velocity Hits Healthcare

24:04 Nashville Healthcare Edge

25:01 Pitching And Portfolio Math

27:56 Knowing You Hit It

31:40 Nashville SC Ownership

34:33 Why He Wrote The Book

38:37 Risk And Learning Styles

38:53 Writing The Book

39:30 Kids And Being Heard

39:56 Finding Jiu Jitsu

42:12 Competing And Winning Worlds

44:21 Training Pressure And Balance

46:12 Jiu Jitsu Lessons For Life

49:07 Humility And Team Culture

52:59 Why Mexico City

55:46 Decisive Moves And Safety

58:49 Advice To My Younger Self

01:00:55 Integrity For Entrepreneurs

01:03:00 Message To Brooklyn Kids

01:07:47 A Co Founder Who Had My Back

01:10:37 Co Founding Nashville SC

01:12:32 Hardest Parts And Politics

01:15:28 Closing Thoughts And Farewell

“I Almost Walked Away From the NFL for Real Estate” | Clay Matthews Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

On the 100th episode of the Matthews Mentality podcast, Kyle Matthews interviews his brother Clay Matthews, a former Green Bay Packers linebacker and the franchise’s all-time sack leader. Clay discusses life after football with three kids and working outdoors, then recounts nearly taking a commercial real estate internship arranged by Kyle before choosing to pursue the NFL. He reflects on being a late bloomer, walking on at USC, struggling with homesickness and thoughts of transferring, and earning his role through special teams before breaking out as an edge rusher. Clay shares Pete Carroll’s competition-driven culture, the 2009 draft process and Green Bay trading up to select him, his “welcome to the NFL” moment, what made Packers fandom unique, and key Super Bowl XLV leadership and film-study moments shaped by coach Kevin Greene. He also talks mindset, injuries, fame, retirement, NIL/transfer-portal resilience, and off-field stories including Pitch Perfect and fan encounters.

E99 - Debra Clary | From Truck Driver to C-Suite Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

In this Matthews Mentality Podcast episode, host Kyle Matthews interviews Dr. Debra Clary, founder and CEO of the Clary Group and author of The Curiosity Curve (launching with Fast Company in October 2025). Clary shares how she grew up feeling like an underdog and used that mindset to outwork others, beginning her career as a 4:00 AM Frito-Lay route driver in Detroit before moving into leadership roles at major organizations including Coca-Cola, Jack Daniels, Papa John’s, and Humana. She recounts learning credibility through discipline, building trust with backdoor receivers to increase route sales, earning a promotion to manager in nine months, and discovering the “power of a question” after being publicly accused of damaging truck tires that weren’t hers. Clary describes being fired after a corporate shakeup at Frito-Lay, landing at Coca-Cola through a recruiter connection, saving the Papa John’s account by gathering franchisee feedback and securing a video from Coca-Cola president Jack Stahl, then later being hired—and fired—by Papa John’s. After joining Jack Daniels as VP of strategy, she earned a doctorate at George Washington University and later moved to Humana, where she founded and ran a Leadership Institute developing the top 600 leaders, then supported enterprise-wide onboarding and performance efforts under a new CEO. The conversation centers on her 2019 “joke, question, and puzzle” that led her to commission MIT researchers to study curiosity and performance, ultimately prompting her to leave corporate life, start her firm, and build a framework for balancing curiosity and decisiveness. Clary explains the book’s “optimal amount of curiosity” and the four drivers of curiosity—exploration, openness, inspirational creativity, and focused engagement—while also discussing working motherhood, getting help to scale at home, women supporting women in leadership, and the realities of entrepreneurship, including taxes, hiring support, and the long sales cycle before momentum arrived in her third year.

00:00 Underdog Mindset

02:26 Why Curiosity Matters

03:03 The Italy Train Moment

05:07 MIT Research Breakthrough

06:03 Writing the Curiosity Curve

09:16 Growing Up in Michigan

12:35 Frito Lay Route Driver

15:32 Hacking Route Sales

18:21 Union Rules and Weekends

19:23 CEO Notices the Spike

24:52 From Driver to Manager

25:45 Leading Different People

33:15 Hard Lessons on Firing

35:57 Women in Corporate America

37:26 Women Supporting Women

39:48 Women Supporting Women

40:11 Fired at Frito Lay

42:57 Risk Taking Lessons

43:32 Reebok Storm Connection

44:30 Coke GM to Global

45:05 Saving Papa Johns

46:30 Calling the President

48:05 Leaving Coke Reflection

48:59 Hired Then Fired Again

50:53 Jack Daniels Lifeline

53:18 Working Mom Survival

56:15 Family Business Culture

57:24 Doctorate Grind

59:37 Curiosity as Driver

01:02:59 Humana Leadership Institute

01:06:19 Called to Entrepreneurship

01:09:13 Founder Reality Check

01:11:02 When It Finally Clicked

01:13:20 Craziest Investor Day

01:15:51 Legacy and Curiosity Curve

01:18:02 Curiosity Framework

01:19:39 Closing and Where to Find

E98 - Hamid Moghadam | 3% of the World’s Economy Flows Through His Company Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

What does it take to build one of the most powerful real estate companies in the world?

In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Hamid Moghadam — Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Prologis — shares how he went from immigrating to the United States as a teenager to leading the world’s largest logistics real estate company.

Under Hamid’s leadership, Prologis grew into a global powerhouse spanning nearly 1.3 billion square feet across 20 countries, with an estimated 3% of global GDP flowing through its facilities annually

We discuss:

How Prologis became the largest logistics real estate company in the world

The 42-year journey from startup to S&P 100 CEO

Surviving the Savings & Loan crisis and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis\

Time Stamps:

00:00 112 Earnings Calls & the Habit That Built a Career: Responsiveness

00:55 Meet Hamid Moghadam & Prologis: The Logistics Real Estate Giant

03:18 Why Vegas? Transitioning from CEO to Executive Chairman

04:46 Industrial Real Estate 101: What Really Happens Inside Warehouses

07:28 Growing Up in Pre-Revolution Iran & Early Education Abroad

12:16 MIT at 16, Stanford MBA, and the Revolution That Changed Everything

15:08 Starting Over in America: Loss, Rejection, and Landing the First Job

20:58 Founding AMB: Bootstrapping, Early Deals, and Building a Reputation

25:37 Why Industrial Won: Funds, Cycles, and the Road to Going Public

33:30 IPO Reality Check & Leadership Lessons: Work-Life Balance to ‘Enduring Excellence’

43:06 Three Phases of Leadership: Paranoia, ‘Scared & Not in Control,’ and What Comes Next

46:38 Stage 3 Growth: Building a Real Management Structure

47:13 Betting on E‑Commerce: Exiting Retail & Doubling Down on Logistics

49:39 Surviving the GFC: Stock Crashes, Leverage Shock & Raising Equity

53:27 The Prologis Merger: The Phone Call, Fast LOI & Analyst Doubts

55:30 Napa Dinner Secrecy: The Awkward Investor Encounter

57:56 Hardest CEO Moment: 2008 Layoffs and Hypergrowth Whiplash

59:53 CEO Reality Check: Bad News, Imperfect Info & Personnel Calls

01:01:19 Culture as the Moat: Survivor Bias, Team Accountability & Consistency

01:03:24 Merging Cultures: Values First, Then Structure (AMBs vs Prologis)

01:06:20 Biggest Leadership Mistake: Backing the Wrong Leader Too Long

01:08:13 Stepping Down After 42.5 Years: What He’ll Miss (and Won’t)

01:12:19 The Responsiveness Habit: Email, Respect & No Out‑of‑Office

01:14:23 Work, Family & Partners: Weekends, a Great Spouse, and Co‑Founders

01:17:26 Advice for Entrepreneurs: Find White Space in a More Efficient Market

01:19:11 Next Frontier: Data/AI in Real Estate—A ‘Bloomberg of Goods’

01:22:17 How to Build a Portfolio Today: Supply Constraints & Fortress Locations

01:24:21 Closing Thoughts: Social Media, Mentoring Limits & Final Thanks

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