We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew Lunt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Matthew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
I was raised on a grass-fed Cattle Ranch in South East Arizona. After emigrating to the US, my father and mother purchased the homestead to raise Santa Gertrudis cows alongside their young family. It was a golden childhood. My brother and I came of age on horseback and in the corrals, working with cowboys that were rough but truly gentle men.
After college, I went to work on a Ranch in South Eastern Montana, finding over 1000 head of cattle in the heart of Big Sky country. I wanted a break after pursuing my Theatre degree in dark black box stages. So I got back in the saddle, which is where I met the best boss I’ve ever had.
Ron Goddard was a life-long cattle man, with a colorful history to match. He managed his first ranch at 14, spent a stint in jail for a bar fight at 21, and turned 68 hunched in the mud next to me doing everything we could to save a young colt from pneumonia. Personal milestones took second place next to saving a life, no matter the species.
Ron truly defined Holistic Leadership. He kept an excellent herd and managed the land with an eye to the future. But what made him special was his fostering of an important resource: the people closest to him.
He always ended the day, no matter how hard, with social time with his employees. He often asked us our opinion on how to run the operation. Rest was a requirement and he always made dinner for everyone on Sundays. Joyful tenderness was a virtue. When his Border Collie had puppies, he brought all six tucked into his coat to the employee quarters (with their Mama in tow), making sure we all had our hearts melted by new life. Even when he supported his wife through health issues, not a single extra task was put on our list, although we would have gladly moved the Earth for him. He gave each employee a place and delivered on his promise as a leader to foster and grow those under his watch.
When I left the Cinch-Buckle to return to Chicago, Ron left me with this advice: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, bring your friends.”
It is my hope to carry Ron’s legacy and grow alongside a collection of humans. To be trusted with leadership is a sacred thing that one must not cloud with ego. Creating Art is the same thing. It is a gift, if done well, that is given to others selflessly. I could not have asked for a better example.
Matthew , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I feel that our most distinct feature as a species is a deep need for story-telling. I was seized by it in my Kindergarten Thanksgiving pageant and have chased the high ever since.
Out of my story-telling journey has come several business lessons. Interpersonal skills, quick thinking, and due diligence by far the most important.
I first shaped my interpersonal skills in the rehearsal process. The high-pressure but passionate collaboration of creating a play demanded a quick read of emotions. One cannot offer their best work if they do not feel heard and considered. As an actor, learning to empathize and communicate on an emotional level with others truly strengthened the bonds I felt between myself and my coworkers. As I spend more time on the business side of production, I rely most on my ability to connect with others through radical empathy.
Quick thinking comes standard in live-storytelling. Any artists who has not encountered the unexpected is lying to themselves and the world. They are denying their humanity. Miles Davis famously said “There’s no such thing as mistakes”. I feel that he was freeing himself from judgement by saying that. Improvisation has served me well in business once I accepted the unexpected. It is the only expectation worth betting on. The more I throw out my rigidity, the quicker my mind lands on solutions.
Finally, due diligence has been the artistic gift that keeps on giving. The audience will almost always applaud at the curtain call, but only you will know if what you created was the best it could be. Playing a live human on stage takes a ton of unseen work. Any line that doesn’t feel connected, every physical choice that feels forced, each textual question left unanswered drives me to greater curiosity and joy. Research is the reward and the performance is just gravy. The certainty that comes from back-flipping on the highwire only serves the audience for the better. No business solution is iron-clad, but due diligence insulates us from crippling doubt.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Anytime I tell a non-creative that I work as an actor, they assume the goal is fame and fortune. It is telling that our society equates Artistic success with financial success. We are all made insecure at the thought of falling short. Of not having enough dollars in our pocket. To be good at playing a human onstage is not enough if it doesn’t create wild financial success.
Being an artist within the boundaries of capitalism is strange. To ignore money’s power is to be willfully ignorant. But to deny ourselves time spent in wonder is a crime far greater. Art is the product and the cause of a stable and healthy society, yet it’s extremely difficult to make a living within it.
What I would urge all business owners to consider is the return on investment in terms of one’s humanity. To place solvency and purpose at the same level should not be intimidating, it should be required. They are in a dynamic relationship, but one that is essential. I will always continue to pursue the growth of Art alongside my businesses growth. It can be truly galvanizing
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I was dead-set on being accepted into a prestigious acting program called “The School at Steppenwolf”. It was a chance to learn in the same building built by the likes of Malkovich, Shepard, and Metcalf.
One would write several essays, get a letter of recommendation, submit multiple headshots, and then pray for an audition. If an invitation came, one would choose from a stack of scenes knowing that the best in the country would be performing the same lines. Then hours of coaching and study to be prepared for the 15 minute audition. The day of the audition was spent waiting in a room full of other nervous actors all hearing the scenes being performed on the other side of a thin door. “They sound really good” one might think, “better than me”.
I did this three times. Each time culminating in a boilerplate rejection email that would arrive in the middle of family events, work hours, and even other auditions. A dart that would land between the ribs, deflating the day or even the week.
I didn’t apply the next year, finding it foolish and too painful to try again. I instead took classes, something much safer than sticking my neck out for hire. But when the deadline passed, the relief I expected arrived as painful anger. I gave up on myself.
I started my application the very next day for the following year. I already knew the requirements by heart.
I was focused on the success of the process and not the end goal
The work was the reward and I felt deep satisfaction when I hit “submit” months later. An even deeper satisfaction followed after my audition.
I got in.
Now I work with all of my friends from the program. We’ve started a successful Theatre Company where we continue to enjoy the satisfaction of working. The Art that results is just the side effect
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brambletheatre.org/arts-loft
- Instagram: @brambletheatre
- Facebook: Bramble Theatre Co.
- Other: [email protected]
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