He was part of the National Honor Society, elected a student body officer his senior year, and he did all of the morning announcements. 

 

Matt was a mentor for students with disabilities.  It really opened his eyes about how people with disabilities were treated.  He wanted to transform that and let everyone in the school know who they were.  Matt was ranked #37 in his high school.  Captain of the varsity baseball team.

 

Matt is a huge Gonzaga fan.  He watches every game.  He loves the Mariners and Seahawks and goes to the games frequently.  Matt enjoys golfing.  Matt was a lefty but changed to righty for golf.  Matt took on skiing.  His whole family loves it. 

 

Matt has a brother and a sister.  He is the youngest.  He is close to his brother in law.  Matt’s family is large, 28 first cousins locally.  His father is one of eight children.  Matt’s father had to step into the role of father figure to his siblings because Matt’s grandfather passed away young.  Matt says his father is one of the most selfless and hardworking people.  Matt’s father is a CPA.  Matt’s mother was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor when he was in 5^th grade.  She did not want anyone to know or worry.  Now she is deaf on her right side.  In high school she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  Matt left a playoff baseball game to see her in the hospital.  She had 87 lymph nodes taken out later.

 

Matt graduated from Gonzaga with a business degree with an emphasis in marketing and finance.  Matt was involved in Gonzaga’s program where students spend time with individuals with special needs.  They bowled and play basketball together.  Matt met J.T. who was completely non-verbal.  They would text, Face time each other, and formed a strong friendship.  Matt has stayed in contact with him since leaving Gonzaga.  Matt truly cherishes the friendship. 

 

Matt was part of a Gonzaga service/leadership organization where they did service in the community.

 

A friend reached out to Matt to run his shave ice company in the summer.  He did all of the finances, hiring and firing, etc.  Matt brought the profits up 150%.  He did local street fairs, farmers’ markets, business events, etc.  He received college credit for running the business. 

Gonzaga made him very driven and tested him.  It is a phenomenal school and really made him who he is. 

 

Matt is a commercial lender/relationship manager at the Coastal Community Bank - Smokey Point office. 

Matt is one of the youngest commercial lenders in Snohomish County and possibly King County.  He has been with Coastal for a year and a half.  Coastal is a community bank headquartered locally.  There are approximately 187 employees.   In July Coastal went public.  Matt works on a team with 5 individuals and was one of the top lenders at Coastal.  He loves the people he works with and is tested each and every day. Matt does lines of credit, commercial construction loans, and will look at anything and everything.  Every customer is different.  Everyone has a story and history.  Matt looks at the financial statements and is hands on with the clients. 

 

Matt has incorporated the “Golden Circle” in his life and work.  Many know what they are doing, few know how they are doing it, but many don’t know why they are doing it.  Start with the “why” and go to the “what”.  This changes the perspective of why they are doing what they are going.  Matt has shared this with his company and students at Arlington High School.