IAM1222 – Founder Helps His Clients Live a Healthy Lifestyle through a Low Carb Diet

After going to school to become a computer engineer, Matt decided to follow his passion and start a food blog and YouTube channel with his wife 6 years ago. Their content focuses on living a healthy lifestyle through a low-carb diet. They grew their website to more than 1 million monthly pageviews in less than 1 year and currently have close to 1 million YouTube subscribers. They are now working on acquiring, building, and operating a portfolio of content websites.

• CEO Story: After trying out so many side hustles, Matt left his Engineering career and pursued  Ketoconnect together with his wife.
• Business Service: They provide healthy recipes and dessert alternatives. They also run a food blog with hands-on photography and a YouTube channel.
• Secret Sauce: Matt and his wife’s personality and chemistry are onscreen, entertaining content that people can relate to. Content that is appropriate for YouTube.
• CEO Hack: Waking up early and reading are essential. He likes to listen to Jim Rohn who notes that the size of your library is your worth. The book that made the biggest difference in his life was Mastery by George Leonard.
• CEO Nugget: Invest in yourself – your earning power and knowledge power are a lot higher. Being a lifelong learner.
• CEO Defined: Waking up every day, and you do it whether you want to or not, you’re taking whatever it is and pursuing it very seriously.

Website: www.ketoconnect.net

Ebooks: www.ketoconnect.net/keto-products/our-cookbooks

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

00:23 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:47 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Matt Gadke of Ketoconnect.net dot. Matt. It's great to have you on the show.

00:56 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

00:58 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, super excited to have you on and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing and building. And before we jump into that, I want to read a little bit more about Matt so you can hear about some of those awesome things. After going to school to become a computer engineer, Matt decided to follow his passion and start a food blog and YouTube channel with his wife six years ago. Their content focuses on living a healthy lifestyle through a low-carb diet, and they grew their websites to more than 1 million monthly page views in less than one year and currently have close to 1 million YouTube subscribers.

They're now working on acquiring, building, and operating a portfolio of content websites. Matt, super excited to have you on the show. Hear about all the awesome things you and your wife are building. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:37 – Matt Gaedke

I am, but unfortunately, you're not speaking to a CEO. My wife told me to tell you this. I'm the CTO. She says she's the CEO.

01:46 – Gresham Harkless

Okay, that makes sense. But I always say teamwork makes a dream work. So that way we have both of you in spirit and great to have you on the show. So we'll call this the CTO. I am a CTO podcast. How about that?

01:57 – Matt Gaedke

Sounds good.

01:58 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. And I know you, you talked a little bit about like how you got started. I read a little bit. Can you take us through what I like to call your story when they get started with all the awesome work you're doing?

02:10 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah. So I guess the story kind of goes back to just me constantly trying different things on the side. Like a lot of side hustles, people will call it today. And just trying to kind of make something of myself. I tried like you know, selling stuff on eBay, a bunch of different stuff. I think a big transformative experience for me was like probably about four years. Trying to be like an online poker pro really teaches you a lot about life, a lot about just like crushing defeats, getting back up, that type of a thing. When we started Keto Connect, which was six years ago, I was working just like a really boring job.

It paid the bills, and it was a computer engineering job, so making pretty good money, but definitely didn't want to do it for a really long time. My parents did that. They did like the 45-year type of thing for Ford Motor Company. So I knew I didn't want to do that. Uh, my wife had just graduated from law school. She was studying to take the bar exam. So I guess kind of thinking back, one of my lines of thought was like, hey, let's try this thing that maybe is not as competitive because it's like a mom type of thing. People who do food blogs generally, like probably 80% of them, it's just stay-at-home moms doing their little side thing.

So I was like, hey, maybe we can do something here if we take more of a tactical business approach to it. A lot of timing and luck also went along with it because the keto diet is what our food blog is about, ketoconnect.net. and that really picked up like pretty soon after us starting it. But the funny thing with that is, a lot of people have this limiting thing in their head where they're like, it's probably too late. Like it's everyone who's already made it in this niche or whatever has already made it. I'm not going to be able to make a difference. And like, you could have said that at the time that we started. That's kind of like a thought that entered my mind and then, you know, it like 20 times from there in popularity. So that's the story.

03:53 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate you so much and sharing that, especially that, that tidbit as well too, because I think you can always feel like, oh, we missed, we missed the rush, we missed the opportunity. But there are always other opportunities, especially in niche niches, because there's always another niche. It's always something people are searching for. And I think we often forget the way that we do it as well, too, can be replicated because we are, especially in blogs and podcasts and things, a lot of times your personality, your spirit, your values kind of come through. So I love it, and I appreciate you mentioning that.

04:19 – Matt Gaedke

Thank you. Yeah.

04:20 – Gresham Harkless

Wanted to drill down a little bit more with ketoconnect.net. could you take us through a little bit more on how you're serving clients and the impact that you're making?

04:27 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah. So ketoconnect.net, um, what we do is, uh, we provide recipes. We run a food blog primarily. So I guess like the primary mission and the guiding light of just everything is just to help people live healthier in an approachable way. I think a lot of the time people are shooting for perfection and people get tripped up because they're already planning to be perfect. And if you fall a little bit short, then you totally fall off track. So really approachable ways to eat healthier. So we have a bunch of recipes on there that are replacements for desserts, like typical desserts you would have.

It doesn't seem to be working the whole life overhaul. When you're counting calories and you're exercising 2 hours a day, the New Year's resolution type of diet, that doesn't work. That's the guiding principle of what we do. So what we over the past five years have gotten really proficient and good at is creating recipes, and doing really nice food photography. So there's a lot of elements to it and that's sort of a differentiating factor with food blogs is it not as easy, so it's not as competitive because a lot of the blogs out there are just info content. Like if you think like Healthline.com, you pay a writer in India to do the research for like two cents a word and write and link resources and stuff like that.

So that's highly competitive. And it's just like a commoditized product, basically. So with food blogs, it's a lot more hands-on. You're taking the photos, your personality is more into it. And we have like the YouTube channel and our personalities are very in the front of what's going on with it. So I would say that's kind of a big part of what we do and why it's successful. Jeff?

06:16 – Gresham Harkless

<p>Yeah, that's awesome that you share that, especially, as you said, understanding that there might be some opportunity because people weren't going that extra mile. That sounded like within the industry and you had the opportunity to do that. And so would you consider that to be what I like to call your secret sauce? And this could be for yourself individually or the business or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and mixed, shiny?

06:36 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, I think it has to be our personalities and chemistry on screen. Uh, me and my wife. That probably is definitely, like, the unique thing that we have. And I think, um, doing not too many people do. Uh, like. Like, if you run a food blog, typically you have one set of kind of videos you make, and it's not really conducive to what people are looking for on YouTube. Like, you'll probably just film your recipes or whatever, and post them on YouTube.

But people that go on YouTube, usually look for more of, like, firsthand experiences, like, entertaining content, and people they can relate to. Sometimes you'll look for recipes, but it's not really, like, the forefront of what works well on YouTube. So kind of doing content for YouTube that's appropriate for YouTube and doing a food blog to go with that is something that I would say not too many people do.

07:30 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense that I've heard, you know, people kind of refer to the different platforms, especially related to social media, as, like, languages and understanding, like, how to speak and how to connect there. And it sounds like that's what you're alluding to, is just understanding. Like, this is what performs well on YouTube. So let's make sure that we translate that.

Our spirit and the mission that we have into content that would be, you know, really engaging there on YouTube. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

08:02 – Matt Gaedke

Well, I got a couple. I guess waking up early is essential, and mandatory, in my opinion. Some people say they're night owls. I don't really believe it. I've never seen one in the wild yet, but I guess they exist. I mean, waking up before everyone else is awake and getting in a couple of hours of work is, to me, essential. But, I mean, reading, I think, is an essential habit. I always listen to Jim Rohn, who I think is just, like, the best. He's just, like, one of the best people ever. And he always talks about, like, the size of your library is your. Your worth, basically. Like, that's what you're passing down to your kids.

So I think developing a reading habit, which I just have done in the past few years, and it's hard to give a book, because the more books I've read, I realize it's not the book. It's the period or your mood or just where you're at in life at the time. So the book that made the biggest difference in my life is Mastery by George Leonard. But I don't know if the book is amazing or if it's just because right at that time, it was just a transitionary phase in my life, and I needed that book. But it could have been a different book probably, too, if I read it at that time. And that would be my book. So, yeah, those are probably my big two CEO hacks.

09:15 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. No, I love that. And I appreciate you for sharing that as well, too because I think so many times we forget that when you read a book, sometimes if you read it again, you know, maybe a year, two years later, it might be a completely different way that you look at it because the timing has as much to do with the book itself and the knowledge within it as anything else. So I love that. I love, you know, each of those, you know, different hacks and then understanding.

As I heard, like I think Tony Robbins said, in order to win the day, you have to win the morning and get ahead of the day, a lot of times before those things kind of take hold. It's so important. As a reformed night owl, I used to be in the wild. I was able to kind of reform myself and realize that you can get so much more done by getting a little bit earlier.

09:56 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, yeah, totally agree.

09:57 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call CEO nugget. So this could be more of a little word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your business self, okay, so.

10:09 – Matt Gaedke

The thing I would sell my younger self, I have a lot of these, but the thing is, the younger, my younger self wouldn't listen. And I don't expect, you know, that if there's any kids listen to this, you're not going to listen either. So it's kind of wasted. But, uh, that's, that's life. So what I would say is, like, people, like, investing in yourself, I guess, is a really easy way to put it, but, like, you got to think of, uh, what you can do. You're your most valuable resource and investment. So when you invest in yourself, your earning power is a lot higher. Your knowledge is a lot higher. So instead of, uh, it's actually from.

And I'm just like, quoting all this stuff. I don't know why whenever I do like these types of CEO podcast things. But, uh, rich dad, poor dad, um, like, his number one. The thing that stuck with me is, um, like, when you're 18 or 20 or whatever, it's not about how much you're getting paid at your job. It's about who you're becoming. And that, I think, is really important because, you know, the amount of money you make when you're you're 1618, it doesn't really matter that much at all in the grand scheme of things. But at the moment, at the moment, yeah, it matters a lot because, you know, Friday night, you know, go out with your friends to the movies or whatever.

But really, it's insignificant to what you're learning on the job or reading or whatever. And I think, just, like, being a lifelong learner type of a person is important, too, because I know for myself, like, in high school and stuff, history and, like, paying attention and homework and all that was really boring. But now when I read, like, about Roman history and stuff, it's just, like, super exciting to me because I'm actually interested and I care about it. So I think just being a lifelong learner, sounds dumb and, like, everyone says it, but it is important to do.

11:47 – Gresham Harkless

Jeff. Yeah, it's huge. And I think if you start to look at it kind of like building a foundation and building a house, you start to look at it for the long term, running a marathon, and you start to realize that it's not where you get to a certain point, and then it's over. You continue to kind of invest in yourself and to grow, and you kind of alluded to something that I want to hammer home, too, about that legacy piece that is not just for yourself and your present moment, but for your future generations and so on.

Beyond that, I think a lot of times it changes your perspective on that lifelong learning, because you're not just investing for today, you're investing for years and decades and centuries. It feels like in advance.

12:23 – Matt Gaedke

Jeff. Yeah. You want the information, the knowledge you have when you're in your forties and fifties to be really good so that your kids can ignore it. Maybe I'm hoping mine will be different, but it seems unlikely.

12:39 – Gresham Harkless

There you go. But you plant those seeds, and a lot of times, they'll come back, so you never know. They can't get rid of that. So I absolutely appreciate that. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote, CEO's on the show. So, Matt, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:55 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, to me, I guess going way outside the standard definition of CEO, which is like, you know, someone who, I guess, runs a company, I would think of it more in terms of being CEO of, like, your life, your destiny, your legacy, see kind of a thing. And just like, waking up, being like, like a professional about whatever it is that you're doing, especially if it's something that you're just starting on the side. So, like, really often people will, like, pitch me, like a little startup. They're doing like a small investment, and I go to their Instagram page or whatever and it'll be like a post every, every three months.

And it's just like, you know, you're not, you're not a professional. You're not being professional about this. So to me, being a CEO, I guess, is you wake up every day and you do it whether you want to or not, and you're just, you're taking whatever it is you're pursuing very seriously.

13:44 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. No, I truly appreciate that. And I love how those seeds were planted related to everything. You've been able to kind of build as well, too, because you mentioned, how can I, you know, break through the noise when you were looking at the different food blocks and understanding that you were able to do that by being professional, as you said.

13:59 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah. Especially if your thing is, is like a fun thing, like doing tick tocks or whatever. Like, it's big with the kids these days. If you take that professionally, it'll set you apart and it's, it's tough. I guess that's the thing because, like, we do YouTube videos, you know, it's a very, like, not professional thing, but still having, like, a posting schedule where you don't miss days, you have some sort of, of due dates and you just, at least it's, it's your job, so act like it is and be professional about it.

14:24 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely love that. And I think a lot of times you hear that the secret of success is the people that become successful. A lot of times you hear the word consistency, and a lot of people are not consistent. So when you're able to kind of break through the noise by doing that and approaching it as a professional, that's when really great things start to happen. So, Matt, truly appreciate that definition and I appreciate your time even more.

What I want to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get a hold of you, subscribe to the YouTube channel and find out about all the awesome things you both are working on.

14:54 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, I mean, I guess if you're listening to podcasts like this, you're probably looking for something better in life and to just continually improve progress and, you know, make a difference. So I don't know, just like I stick with it, eventually it'll happen. I like to think of it in a way. If you decide to succeed, you will. You'll find a way. So a lot of times when we dont succeed, it's because we're not really convinced that we're gonna, and if it's a foregone conclusion, it's just a matter of when. How long is it going to take? What do I get to do?

Maybe you start your business and it's one thing and then it kind of turns into something else. There are all these ways to succeed once you decide. So I think that's kind of what I'll end it on. And ketoconnect.net, that is the website, uh, that's where you can find out basically everything about me and my wife, all our recipes and stuff. And then we also have the YouTube channel Keto Connect. And if you just search keto connect pretty much anywhere, you'll find us.

15:47 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. To make it even easier, we'll have the links and information in the show notes. And I absolutely appreciate that last, you know, piece of advice as well too, because I think so many times we look at success as like kind of being, or trying to get into a house or a room and you see, find out the door is locked, you can't get in that way. You find out the windows are locked. You have to, you know, dig here or you have to jump over the fence or do all those things.

But if you understand that success is kind of something that is going to be yours, you won't, you'll find a way to kind of get into that house. So appreciate you so much and sharing that and of course doing that as well too. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:18 – Matt Gaedke

Yeah, thanks for having me. Have a good one.

16:20 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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