Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Matis.
Hi Caroline, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always felt my purpose in life is to tell stories and entertain others. As a kid, I gravitated towards theater and cheerleading-anything that put me in the spotlight was where I wanted to be. In school, I struggled in math and science but flourished in English and creative writing. That’s why as young adult, I chose communications as my major at University of Dayton. Communications felt like a natural fit since it allowed for a career centered around storytelling. After working at my first professional job after school for a couple of years, I found myself wanting to move out of my hometown and pursue a career in Chicago, IL as well as a graduate degree in communications from Purdue University.
After earning my master’s, I felt a strong pull to get back out in front of others in some capacity. My career was fulfilling my want to tell stories but wasn’t giving me an outlet to entertain others. So, I thought about what I was already doing on a regular basis that might translate into an activity that could fill the void. At the time, I had picked up running and was averaging 25 miles a week while also hitting the gym around four times a week. I decided fitness was my next stop and auditioned to become a spin instructor at Cyclebar. Teaching my first class brought tears to my eyes as I was finally living my two passions.
A year later, I felt another strong pull, but this time it was to move to Nashville, TN. I had visited Nashville a couple of times and loved it. From the live music to the food to all the friendly people, I knew it was the city for me. I found a new job, packed up my things and headed down south. Once I arrived, everything fell into place. I was able to keep teaching spin, joining the Cyclebar Franklin family, and my new job gave me the opportunity to speak at a national marketing conferences across the nation.
Throughout my career in marketing and communications, I’ve helped brands tell their stories in order to drive sales. Now, in addition to helping brands, I’m telling my own story. I launched my blog, carolinematis.com late last year in hopes of creating a fun, helpful place for women to find cute clothes, top beauty products, and more as well as share fitness and career advice. To entertain, I teach spin three times a week at Cyclebar Franklin and I’ve turned my Instagram handle into a one-stop shop for reality TV recaps of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette as well as commentary on The Real Housewives franchises.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
To get to where I am today, I had had to persevere when the going got tough-and believe me, it got tough. When I first graduated from college, I struggled to find a professional job. It was 2013, the economy was still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and I felt like a total loser. After ten months of searching and taking on a part-time job to fill time and earn money, I finally landed a job at a local nonprofit in Dayton, OH. After that, working full-time through graduate school was the next struggle. Not only did graduate school kill my social life, it depleted all of my energy. It was difficult to focus during work hours knowing school work was waiting for me at home.
Each one of these struggles led me to where I am now in Nashville. My first job took a while to get but it solidified that I loved communications and wanted to get a master’s degree. I learned a lot about time management throughout graduate school which always comes in handy when prioritizing tasks at work or in my personal life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
For the past decade, I’ve built my skills in marketing and communications, using them to help brands ranging from nonprofits to medical devices to tech tell their stories and sell products. I specialize in creating integrated marketing and communications campaigns that not only drive sales but are fun and digestible for target audiences. I am incredibly proud that throughout my career journey, I have become a marketing thought leader. I’ve traveled around the US to speak at marketing conferences in hopes of helping other professionals do their very best work. To me, my most prized talent and what sets me apart from others is my public speaking ability. Whenever I am speaking to a group, in a video, or leading a spin class, I try to put myself in the audiences shoes and meet them where they are while entertaining them along the way with light-hearted humor.
Now, I’m using these skills to create my own brand and tell my own story through my lifestyle blog, carolinematis.com.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
One thing that often surprises people about me is how much I hustle. With a full-time, part-time job and blog, I’m constantly having to manage my time appropriately and stay on top of deadlines. While exhausting, being a hustler is incredibly rewarding. I live my life by the motto of “figure it out.” Whenever I’ve come across a challenge or wanted something, I have always managed to figure it out.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.carolinematis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caroline_matis/
- Other: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/carolinematis
Image Credits
Caroline Matis
