15ish Minute Coffee Chat with Anna + Selena
Season: 5 Episode: 50
Podcast:
Today’s Topic: Keeping Connections Strong with Matthew Shanks
When you take time to enjoy the moment you are in, you are nurturing the connections that you have made and honoring time spent with them. Join hosts Selena, of Hauoli Socially Inspired and Anna, of NomadAbout, with guest Matthew Shanks, creator of the Kovii App, for this special Father’s Day Edition. We’ll talk about making connections, nurturing connections, and leveraging connections.
Guest & Bio:
Matthew is a Military husband to an Army Nurse, and dad to a 20 month old son. He has a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering and worked for the Navy to help submarines be quieter.
Prompted by a permanent change of station in the Navy, he switched to triathlon coaching full time and also raced in the professional category. And in true Military ever-changing fashion, this time evoked from the turmoil of COVID, he went on to create and launch the Kovii App.
He created Kovii not only to help more people connect, but also to allow users to be able to mark and see when other users are available to chat. This was born from Matthew wanting to talk to people without having to schedule calls and to allow people to reach out to him when he marked himself available and was in the mood to chat.
Calling himself socially reserved, he loves this feature because you can always decide when you want to talk to someone in your free time or when you’d like to take that free time for some personal recovery or quiet time instead.
Toolkit: Kovii App- www.kovii.com
Mental Health Barista Question from Lauren Bruhn, AFMT:
Q: What activities do you find to be restorative? Which ones do you find most draining?
Though launching his app has left him feeling drained at times, knowing he can make an impact with others is what really restores his energy and motivates him to keep going!
Espresso Shot:
Q: How do your connections help you as a father, an ironman triathlete, and a business owner?
Though Matthew loves being a parent, it is too much work for him to do all by himself all the time, and that is where his connections come in handy. His mother and mother-in-law help give him time to focus on his app and come back to his son refreshed and ready to give him all of his attention and energy.
His training partners keep him accountable and give him something to look forward to when he might not want to get up and go do a workout.
For his business, he says connections are everything. Matthew tried to get people interested in his app only for it to fall flat, but connecting with other business owners that need something like his app allows him to help them with their mission and for them to help him with his. It’s a win-win!
Find our Guest:
On Instagram @thematthewshanks