We were lucky to catch up with Matt Stewart recently and have shared our conversation below.
MATT, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
During COVID i was working for a car dealership. They ended up closing and there wasn’t much work. I have always enjoyed working on car’s from a very early age. I decided at the moment that i was going to buy cheap auction cars, fix them up, customize them ( where my artist mind comes in) and then sell them. Business took off and i sold around 12 cars in next year and half. At the same time i decided to start the youtube channel (findfixxflip). It was originally supposed to be more about the entertainment, vlog style, but ended turning into a DIY or do it yourself videos on how to fix specific issues on many different styles and types of cars. Here it is 6 years later and the channel is still going strong. I’m finally getting it back around to original entertainment based builds, car shows, meets and live events. Channel growth in the last 6 months is the fastest it’s ever been. So i’m very much looking forward to the future (sky’s the limit).
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was born in Southern California, but moved to Northern Calif (humboldt county). Around the beginning of high school ended up moving back to South (RIVERSIDE) and finished school there. I always was interested in cars, and began working on them at around 14 years old. I attended small engine, AUTOMOTIVE all through high school, and a few years of College as well. Every time my friends wanted to go a party, i would be under a car, or working on an engine. This was always something i enjoyed and my brain works very mechanical. I learn by doing much more hand’s on approach. I have worked on all makes and models. I have rebuilt and customized at least 20 cars to date which some were never even shown on the channel. I think the thing that separate’s me from the competition is, i do just about everything in house myself. I do all the mechanical, paint, electrical mostly, and have been a one man band since i started this. FINDFIXXFLIP the brand continues to grow, and the builds continue to get more involved. I know i can’t do this alone, so i have been trying to build a team, but good editors are hard to find that can actually align with your vision. I will continue to do DIYS as well as my original subscriber base loves these. I also plan to keep doing these 20k-40k view LIVESTREAMS that help connect with my audience and let people get to know me un-edited. There are big moves coming this year so it’s gonna be a wild ride..
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have made some big mistakes in my life. During the early 2000’s i got really into the club scene and party drugs. I was doing PRIVATE VIP hosting and had all VEGAS clubs on lock. I maintained this business for almost 10 years. However this lifestyle had it consequences. I ended up being sent away for many years. During this time i had alot of time to reflect on my life and the choices i had made to get me there. I stayed sober and got into fitness. I really had a mindset change when i started going back to school. I ended up focusing and graduated with an AA in business management. I made the dean’s list for top students in community college. I also learned to type as well. I spent my time there looking around and realized that i didn’t belong there. Fast forward 8 years later i had a new outlook on life. This experience really humbled me, and i stopped caring as much about material things. I now had confidence and realized i was actually talented in many fields. It’s been 6 years since and now i’m focused on building something that can benefit society, or just make someone’s day better. It’s been a long road, but it has made me a better person.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Oh wow, so this is a good one. Many people think it’s easy to start a YOUTUBE CHANNEL. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are so many things you need to learn to get good at. From video editing, thumbnails, SEO, tag’s, Post times, etc… My advice would be to take it slowly. First major step is to decide what your channel going to be about. I think the biggest challenge is posting your first video. You have to excute this and not care how many views it get’s or if does well or not. Next biggest one is CONSISTENCY which has been hard for me. It is very difficult to maintain video upload’s weekly if you have a 9-5 job. It’s not impossible, but your channel isn’t going to grow as fast as you think, and you must maintain some other type of income while you are growing it. As you build you will learn the process of what works, become better at videography and editing. Also look at your video metric often, so you can see what resonates with your audience and double down on that. Remember youtube is marathon, not a sprint, and if you can stay the distance 3-8 years then it can change your life forever. Don’t give up try different ideas until one fits and run with it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @findfixxflip
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/findfixxflip
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@findfixxflip
- Other: I have a tiktok as well under same findfixxflip.
