Not barely.

Not close.

I literally stood in front of the room…
froze…
and said:

“I’ll take the F.”


But that moment didn’t start there.

It started years earlier.


In 5th grade, I moved to Bel Air, Maryland.

New school.
New environment.
No friends.


And for whatever reason…

I became an easy target.

The b...

I was living it.

I just didn’t realize it yet.


I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania…

The son of a steelworker
…and a business-savvy entrepreneur.

Two very different worlds.

But together?

They taught me a ton.


My dad was one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known.

He worked at Bethlehem Stee...

Not because I didn’t have opportunities…
But because I had too many.

All good things.

But I felt like I was being pulled in 10 different directions…
…and getting nothing meaningful done.

That’s when a line from Essentialism hit me hard…

“They eventually become spread so thin that getting anything done b...

...the passing of President Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865.

In the darkness of April 14th, 1865, John Wilkes Booth's bullet pierced Lincoln’s head, altering the course of our nation's history. 

The weight of the moment was intense as doctors rushed to attend to President Lincoln, but the seve...

It’s not the mic.
It’s not the host.
It’s the conversations.

And in Q1 of 2026, the conversations on Stories With Traction have been 🔥

Here are just a few highlights:

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐀𝐐 with MICHELLE B GRIFFIN

→ Breaking down how to actually apply storytelling in real business scenarios

𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧...

1 - The "start with why" mantra will actually hold you back when it comes to LI. I know too many people who spend forever figuring out their "why." This is a time suck, and your why doesn't even matter when you first start out, so just freakin' post. I started creating a lot of content in September ...

In this episode of Stories With Traction, Matt Zaun sits down with marketing advisor Tim Parkin to unpack what magicians and great marketers have in common: the ability to capture attention, control focus, and follow a repeatable process to create results.

Tim shares how a childhood love of magic a...

In this episode of Stories With Traction, Matt Zaun welcomes back Ricardo Gonzalez, founder and CEO of Bilingual America, to dive even deeper into culture, beliefs, values, norms, and the accelerating impact of AI on trust.

Ricardo breaks down what culture actually is (beyond the buzzwords and post...

In this powerful and personal episode, Matt Zaun sits down with executive coach, keynote speaker, and author Ken Sher to unpack career disruption, leadership integrity, and the role of trust in long-term success.

Ken shares the emotional story of being laid off after 25 years at Johnson & Johnson a...

In this episode of Stories With Traction, Matt Zaun sits down with executive coach, keynoter, author, and Vistage Chair Danielle Baldwin for an honest conversation about inspiration, identity, and fear.

Danielle shares how losing titles in her life (mother, daughter, corporate leader, wife) forced ...

...and his former office/meeting space in Ann Arbor, Michigan…

…and I’m excited to say it marked my 19th presidential site. 🇺🇸

Every one of these visits teaches me something different about leadership, decision-making, timing, pressure, and legacy.

Gerald Ford is fascinating because he’s often overlo...

Then he got laid off.

25 years at Johnson & Johnson.

Two kids in college.

One in high school.

And suddenly the story he had been telling himself about the future… was gone.

What hit me hardest in our recent podcast episode wasn’t just the career loss.

It was Ken’s honesty.

He openly shared that the experie...

This time, I’m going back to the Detroit area. 

Excited to work with leaders in Novi & Dexter. 

We’ll delve into how to utilize strategic storytelling to:

-Boost sales 
-Transform company culture 
-Radially improve internal communication

This week is going to be awesome! 


P.S. if you have any restaura...

I remember standing in line with my dad at the grocery store (in high school).
 
He leaned over, pointed to the magazine rack, and said, "wanna know why muscle mags like that are still in business? Even though working out can be boring, the magazines always make it interesting." 
 
He was right.
 
These a...

They have a clarity problem.

I recently spoke with Ricardo Gonzalez on my podcast, and he shared an exercise that you should be concerned about...

→ Put 10 executives in a room
→ Ask each one to define your company culture
→ Watch what happens

You won’t get alignment.
You’ll get 10 different answers.

And t...

Not as a gimmick.

As a strategy.

In my latest Stories With Traction episode, Tim Parkin shared one of the most memorable takes on marketing I’ve heard in a long time:

“Magic is the art of getting attention… and keeping it.”

That line alone is worth the listen.

Tim went from magic club kid…
to software dev...

SHOW NOTES:

In this episode, Matt Zaun sits down with talent agent and founder Monique Sar to unpack what it really takes for executives, founders, and high performers to break into the professional speaking world. Monique represents speakers and influencers, helping them land deals and build speak...

SHOW NOTES:

In this episode, Matt Zaun sits down with Joshua Altman of Beltway Media to talk about why communication is a core function of business, not an afterthought you bolt on three weeks before a product launch.

Joshua shares what happens when companies call him at the last minute, how poor ...

SHOW NOTES:

Matt Zaun sits down with Todd White, founder of Clearpeg, to unpack the causes of organizational chaos and how leaders can reduce stress by clarifying decision authority, strengthening leadership behaviors, and aligning on values. Todd, a self-described “recovering engineer,” shares how...