Matthew Porter, President and CTO of EmpowerMe Wellness, is the epitome of grit, resilience, and gratitude. In this 142nd episode you will walk away with action steps to build a better culture, encouragement from Matthew's story, and hear how you can make a difference in the St. Louis area.
Bio: Matthew E. Porter is father to three amazing kids, husband to a phenomenal woman, geek, trail runner, ultramarathoner, and entrepreneur. He currently serves as President & CTO of EmpowerMe, which provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy services to residents of senior living communities. Everything we do is motivated by helping seniors identify and achieve their goals.
Porter graduated from Saint Louis University with a BS in Applied Computer Science (1999). Porter was later publicly recognized by his alma mater and inducted into the John Cook School of Business Smurfit-Stone Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame (2010).
Before founding Contegix, Porter served as Director of Professional Services for Demand Management Inc. (DMI) in Saint Louis. At DMI, Porter built a team of senior developers and consultants to implement the next-generation of enterprise supply chain management. This product was instrumental in Logility’s acquisition of DMI. Porter has also held the position of Senior Application Developer for World Wide Technology and senior engineering positions at TelcoBuy.com and IBM Global Services.
Porter founded Contegix, a cloud computing firm, in 2004. He served as CEO from its founding until recently. In late 2016, Porter merged two companies into Contegix and sold a majority to Strattam Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX. He realized this was the time to hire his replacement and assumed the role of Vice Chairman. He retains a minority share and a board seat while taking a stab at retirement.
During his tenure, The Saint Louis Business Journal named Porter both “30 Under 30” (2007) and “40 Under 40” (2012). Porter was featured in the New York Times (2011) and the Wall Street Journal (2014). In 2015, Forbes featured Porter for his work as an “angel vendor” supporting startups, many in Saint Louis.
Porter currently serves on numerous boards, including Regional Council for Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), YPO Saint Louis Gateway, and Friends of T-Rex. With a passion for mentoring early stage entrepreneurs, Porter runs towards chaos by also serving on boards for select startups. This embraces his desire to help others and his philosophy - “I try to learn from the mistakes of others who have taken my advice.”
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the charity that matters most. He is on a selfish mission to ensure his friend with cystic fibrosis remains healthy and in his family’s life for a long time to come. He currently serves on the Board and Executive Committee and was recently elected as Board President for 2018. Porter chairs their FestivAle event. It has grown 5x under his leadership and been transformed it to the starting point for engaging CFF’s Young Professionals.
Porter’s desire to serve others is driven by his family’s mission statement. “We have a debt to those before us and an obligation to those that come after us. We maximize life and potential through heart, intelligence, and grit. We focus on our bond. We do all of this together because we are always stronger together. Mostest.”
Porter is most likely to be found on a trail. He began trail running in 2010 after his 6-year-old daughter questioned whether he would make it to her far off in the future wedding. He has completed numerous ultra-marathons – from 50k to 100k. He attempted the 100-mile Leadville race in 2016 but missed cut off times after running 87 miles on a torn hamstring.
Porter, his wife, and their three children reside in Weldon Spring, Missouri.
Matthew's Something Extra: Paying attention to your talent. This is something that sounds so ordinary, but truly pay attention to them. Oftentimes what people are trying to tell you is what they need to be successful. They're trying to tell you what is going on in their lives and they will help you achieve whatever the goal is, but this is the big thing that is something extra.
Links and Mentions:
Connect with Matthew
The Daily Dad
St. Louis Gateway National MS Society
Credits:
- Lisa Nichols, Host
- Scott Crosby, Executive Producer
- Daniel Williams, Recording Engineer
