Direct Application with Matt Harrington

Direct Application with Matt Harrington

Welcome to Direct Application with Matt Harrington - where our leadership approach focuses both on the head and heart of leading others. What You’ll Find on This Channel: - Podcast Episodes: Candid conversations with thought leaders, HR professionals, authors, consultants, and operators. - Solo BlogCasts: Short, solo episodes where Matt reads and expands on his weekly blog posts—covering topics like resilience, influence, change, and trust. - Leadership Trainings & Keynote Clips: Watch snippets from Matt’s live training sessions, retreats, and keynote presentations. www.HarringtonBrands.com

  1. 11월 25일

    Leading Beyond the Grind: Lessons in Learning Before Earning, Health, Hustle, and the 20-Hour Work Week I Direct Application with Matt Harrington

    ABOUT OUR GUEST Bennett Maxwell is a serial entrepreneur whose journey defies the traditional career playbook. Raised in Utah as one of nine siblings in a single-parent household, Bennett learned the art of sales and grit at a young age - knocking doors, selling products, and hustling long before he ever founded a company. After a two-year Mormon mission in Mexico, Bennett returned home, briefly pursued pre-med, then dropped out to follow his passion for communication and sales. From pest control, AT&T, and smart-home systems to solar, he built his career across multiple industries - eventually co-founding and selling a solar company in his early twenties. In 2021, he purchased a tiny, delivery-only cookie shop called Dirty Dough, and within three years helped scale the brand to 450+ franchises sold and 100+ locations opened. Along the way, he sparked a very public “cookie war” that drew national attention and only fueled the brand’s momentum. Dirty Dough was later acquired by Craveworthy Brands, where Bennett now helps franchisees grow scalable models across multiple high-potential concepts. Behind the scenes, Bennett also transformed his life physically —losing 120+ pounds, restructuring his mindset, and building his own version of sustainability through what he calls the 20-hour work week grind. His approach blends Eastern philosophy, resilience practices, and radical transparency - making his leadership philosophy as unconventional as his entrepreneurial path. IN THIS EPISODE Matt and Bennett dive into a fast-paced, energizing conversation about: • Learning before earning: Why Bennett intentionally changed industries every year in his 20s• Radical transparency: Including sharing near-bankruptcy stories publicly• Hiring & firing: Choosing the right leaders—and recovering from choosing the wrong ones• Advisory boards & mentorship: Why leaders need people smarter than them• Resilience & mindset: How failure shaped him more than success• Health & leadership: Losing 120 pounds, quieting the mind, and why physical health fuels business success• The 20-hour work week: What it actually looks like—and why he believes most work can be automated• Reinvention: How to pivot again and again without burning out• What’s next: The future of franchising, CPG, and Craveworthy Brands CONNECT WITH BENNETT MAXWELL Website: https://dirtydoughcookies.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bennett.maxwell/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennettmaxwell/Craveworthy Brands: https://craveworthybrands.com/ CONNECT WITH MATT / HARRINGTON BRANDS Website: https://www.HarringtonBrands.comDirect Application Podcast Page: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/directapplicationInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/harringtonbrandsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattharrington802 Direct Application is where leadership theory meets real-life practice. Host Matt Harrington brings on CEOs, founders, creatives, and change agents to unpack the strategies, failures, habits, and breakthroughs that leaders can apply directly to their own work.

    35분
  2. 11월 19일

    Team Meetings Are Your Playing Field I Direct Application with Matt Harrington

    In this episode, Matt Harrington breaks down why team meetings are the true playing field of high-performance teams. Drawing from his experience on a state-championship football team, Matt explores how real excellence doesn’t happen in theory — it happens when the team is on the field, working together, making decisions, and holding each other accountable.Whether you lead a small nonprofit, a corporate team, or a growing department, this episode will help you rethink how you structure, run, and maximize the power of your team meetings.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:🏈 Why meetings are the “playing field” where team performance is made—or lost🧱 How structure drives performance, including agendas, roles, and time-bound outcomes🤝 Why accountability belongs to everyone, not just the leader🔄 The power of rotating roles to build ownership, engagement, and effectiveness📉 Why teams are 30–33% more productive when they adopt true teaming modelsDirect Application Questions to Take Into Your Week:- Did your last team meeting start on time and stay focused on outcomes (not just updates)?- Are roles—note taker, facilitator, process observer—being rotated to build accountability?- What one change can you make this week to improve the effectiveness of your next team meeting?You can dive deeper into this topic by reading the companion post: Why Your Team Meetings Aren’t Working - and What High-Performing Teams Do Differently, available now over on our website: https://www.harringtonbrands.com/theblog/2025/10/26/why-your-team-meetings-arent-working-and-what-high-performing-teams-do-differently🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube👍 Like • ❤️ Heart • 🔁 Share • ✔️ Subscribe for more leadership content that’s practical and immediately applicable.

    6분
  3. 10월 14일

    Responsible Authenticity: Owning Your Story at Work Without Losing Your Seat

    An Interview with Cat O’Shaughnessy Coffrin on Direct Application with Matt Harrington What does it really mean to be authentic at work - without oversharing, burning out, or losing your leadership credibility? In this episode of Direct Application, host Matt Harrington sits down with Cat O’Shaughnessy Coffrin — executive communications strategist, founder of CaptivatingCo. She has partnered with global brands like Bayer, Starbucks, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - guiding executives, founders, and C-suites through brand positioning, internal comms, and leadership storytelling. She’s also a published thought leader, with bylines or features in Fast Company, Business Insider, The Business Journals, Medium, and more —where she unpacks the human side of leadership, communication, and culture. Together, they explore: How to lead with honesty without oversharingThe risks and rewards of personal storytelling in professional spacesWhy Millennials' search for purpose has sometimes led to self-exploitationHow Gen Z is shifting the authenticity conversation- The balance between personal brand and company identityWhat it means to show up authentically on a Monday morning—especially when the stakes are high Cat shares her journey of building a consulting business while navigating divorce, grief, and reinvention - and how radical honesty on LinkedIn helped her grow her audience from 5,000 to 17,000 in under a year. Whether you're a CEO, team lead, HR professional, or rising talent, this conversation unpacks how to own your voice without losing your seat at the table. 📝 Resources mentioned in the show: https://www.captivatingco.com/tipsandtools/free-resources-writing-prompts-amp-writing-calendar 🎧 Available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your leadership content. #AuthenticityAtWork #LeadershipPodcast #CatCofflin #ExecutiveCommunications #PersonalBrand #DirectApplication #FearlessLeadership #LinkedInGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #MillennialLeadership #GenZWorkplace

    52분

소개

Welcome to Direct Application with Matt Harrington - where our leadership approach focuses both on the head and heart of leading others. What You’ll Find on This Channel: - Podcast Episodes: Candid conversations with thought leaders, HR professionals, authors, consultants, and operators. - Solo BlogCasts: Short, solo episodes where Matt reads and expands on his weekly blog posts—covering topics like resilience, influence, change, and trust. - Leadership Trainings & Keynote Clips: Watch snippets from Matt’s live training sessions, retreats, and keynote presentations. www.HarringtonBrands.com