S1|E4 — MATT KELLEY

Jim Mahan
Tastemakers Fort Wayne
6 min readJul 27, 2017

“I’m not interested in easy.”

Matt,

In our conversations, a few things consistently stood out. You love this city, you really love music, and you run a stellar boutique creative agency. However, as we conversed about many things relating to those topics, one common trait stood out. That trait is that you’re “not interested in easy.” It could be in music, work, setting an example for the next generation, or even your personal running goals. You continue to take the road less traveled and respectfully challenge the status quo of what can be done in Fort Wayne. As I reflect on that, I realize and remember that it is this kind of mentality that truly makes you a leader within our city.

Full Interview from our YouTube Page

When we spoke about your professional beginnings here in Fort Wayne, you brought up the fact that you didn’t want to be the guy that talked about doing something. Rather, you wanted to do something. Thanks for following through and actually making things happen! I know it can be easy for young people to look at Middle Waves and enjoy it without understanding or giving credit to all the groundwork that had been laid in years past.

As Fort Wayne continues to grow, I hope that we can learn from your example. Your example demonstrates that it’s not always best to take the easy road. Your example shows that it’s more fun to do something rather than just talk about it. If we as a generation are able to take those two things to heart, I believe that we will no longer hear, “I can’t believe that this happened in Fort Wayne.” Instead we will hear, “That’s just another incredible thing about Fort Wayne.”

-Jimbo

Behind the Scenes Photo Series… download and share from our Flickr account

Credit: Hammitt Design

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Jim Mahan
Tastemakers Fort Wayne

I tell stories.. the stories of those who are creating culture for the betterment of culture at large.