BNI Keynote Presentation

Your Failures Don't Define You

Your Pivots Do

Mathew Torres Bold Media Group

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"I've been in this BNI chapter for a while now. Some of you met me when I was with Comparion. Then Toro. Now Bold Media Group."

You've watched me pivot... a lot.

If I'm going to ask you to refer me,

to trust me with your contacts—

You should probably know WHY.

Age 7 Act 1: The Early Lessons

Born to Build

I was born in 1983. And I've been building things since I was 7 years old.

Christmas cards door-to-door
Paperboy in junior high
Olympia Sales Club catalog sales

Age 12

The Neighborhood Newsletter

Every time a family moved into our new housing development, I'd interview them, write an article, print it up, and deliver it door-to-door.

$5 per month subscription

Twelve years old. Subscription-based media business.
I didn't know that's what it was called. I just liked giving people a platform.

Age 17

Big 5 Sporting Goods

"Well, we don't actually need you.
We just need a warm body."

I was 17 years old. And that phrase never left me.

I decided something that day:

I never want to just fill space.
I want to matter.

The First Big Failure

Arizona State University

Music major. Trumpet. Marching band.

I was not ready.

Failed All my classes. Flunked out.

What do you do when you fail out?

Detention Officer

Maricopa County. Graveyard shift. Lower Buckeye Jail.

But I had a dream...

Age 21 Deadline

The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps

Drum corps—the top level of marching performance.
You age out at 21. That's it. No more chances.

I saved every paycheck. Had my dad record me on a VHS tape—me marching, me playing. Mailed it across the country.

They called back.

Lead Trumpet Spot

I quit my job. Flew to New Jersey.

Summer 2005: The Championship Tour

33 shows across America

26 1st Place Finishes

99.15 Finals Score

2005

DCI World Champions

The Championship Summer

Lead Trumpet

On the Field

Macy's Parade

Trumpet Line

Performance

Brothers

Lesson 1

Failure is not the end of the story.
It's just a pivot point.

Act 2

The Hard Hits

2007-2010

Building Something Real

Debt settlement industry. Learned to really sell. Had a great mentor.

Built my own debt settlement operation
Recruited and trained other businesses
Built their tech infrastructure
White-label service provider
Residual income coming in

And then...

The Dodd-Frank Act

New regulations. Killed the compensation model overnight.

I went from building something real...
to out of business.

Lesson 2

External forces can end things.
You can't control that.
You can only control how fast you adapt.

2012 - The Admats Business

A Fundraiser Idea

Give restaurants free placemats and menus. Sell ad space.

I had an idea to use it as a fundraiser for my old high school marching band.

$3-4K in interest generated

A man asked me to transfer the funds to his business account.

Something felt off. But I didn't listen to my gut.

He took the money and disappeared.

I had to call everyone—the school, the businesses—

and tell them we'd all been scammed.

That broke something in me.

I didn't want to sell anymore. Didn't want to put myself out there.

It took years to rebuild that confidence.

Lesson 3

Getting burned doesn't mean you stop.
It means you get smarter about who you trust—including yourself.

Army ROTC - The Impossible Test

Combat Water Survival Test

I had a problem.

I couldn't swim.

Not "I'm not a strong swimmer." I mean—I could not swim. At all.

Two Years of Training

Year 1: Anxiety attack at the pool. Couldn't complete the test.

Found a swim instructor at the YMCA. She built a training plan.

When the Y let her go, I hired her privately. Trained weekly for 2 years.

Senior year, Fall: Failed the test.

Spring. One last chance.

I Passed.

In the eleventh hour.

Serving My Country

Sun Devil Battalion

Swearing In

12-Mile Ruck

Dress Blues

DINFOS Graduate

Det. Commander

Lesson 4

Some pivots aren't about changing direction.
They're about refusing to quit until you break through.

Act 3

The Convergence

May 2015

Commissioned Officer

Signal Corps—data and telecommunications.

Started working at MetLife, selling employee benefits.

2017-2020

The Acting Chapter

Took acting classes. Got an agent. Learned about lighting, sound, film production.

Asked every crew member every question I could think of.

On Set & On Screen

SFX Makeup

Film Premiere

Star Trek Cast

On Set

Video Village

2017-2020

Film & TV Credits

Television

Dying to Belong Oxygen

Inside the Manson Cult FOX

Film

Mr. Orange Kurt

Paper Cuts Ernest

Justice Angel Featured

Rhea Featured

Searching Malware Featured

IMDb: Mathew David Torres →

Then COVID Hit

Acting work dried up

MetLife consolidated—move to SF or Dallas, or leave

Tried Beam Benefits. Commercial real estate.

Nothing stuck.

2022 - Back to Roots

Code Fellows Bootcamp

Six months. Software development. I loved it.

Graduated. Started applying for jobs.

Then Amazon, Meta, all the big companies—laid off hundreds of thousands of developers.

The Path Here

Paychex Payroll Sales

Fusion Growth Real Estate Strategy

                            Comparion
                            Joined BNI
                        

Toro Insurance AI & Automation

Bold Moves Podcast

Interview people about their bold moves,
then talk about risk.

"The insurance guy who helps you protect your bold moves."

The Pivot at Toro

AI & Automation

Started as Account Manager. Mentioned my software and AI background.

The owner's ears perked up.

Built AI voice agents
Automated lead intake
Set up the whole tech infrastructure

The Moment

A Conversation with MJ

He had clients who needed podcasts.
I had the skills.
We had the relationship.

Another BNI Connection

Digital Strategic Media

Through BNI, I also connected with Adam Roberts.
We developed a working partnership doing tech implementation.

Adam Sales & Client Relations

+

Mat Tech Implementation

The part I love—building the systems while someone else handles the sales.

We Built a Studio

From empty room to professional podcast studio

Day 1

Blank Canvas

After

Starting

Building

Where the Magic Happens

And I realized something...

Age 12

I started a neighborhood newsletter.

Every time a new family moved in, I'd knock on their door. Interview them. Write their story.

I was giving people a platform.

Helping them tell their story to a community that didn't know them yet.

That's exactly what I do now.

helps business owners tell their stories.

We produce podcasts. We give people a platform.
We turn their expertise into content that builds trust with an audience.

This Is What I Do

🎙️

Podcast Production

Full-service recording, editing, and publishing

🎬

Video Content

Professional video for social and marketing

📢

Distribution

Get your content on every major platform

Distributed everywhere via Transistor FM

+ 15 more platforms

I've pivoted more times than I can count.

Sales Tech Video Production Storytelling Automation Leadership

And all of it—every bit of it—led here.

So when you refer someone to Bold Media Group,

you're not just referring a podcast company.

Why I Do This

Every pivot, every failure, every lesson...

It's all for them.

Building something that matters. Creating a legacy.

You're referring someone who...

Has been building things since he was 7 years old
Knows what it's like to have a messy, complicated story worth telling
Spent his whole life learning how to help other people share theirs