In Loving Memory of Matt McGinnis

He started with us in web development, but it didn't take long for Matt's role to become bigger than the job he was originally hired to do. He kept learning. He kept taking on more. He kept seeing things that needed to be done and finding ways to do them. Over time, he grew through new responsibilities and eventually became our COO.

But the title was never the thing that made Matt a leader.

It was how he showed up.

Matt had an ability to bring solutions when the rest of us couldn't quite see the way forward. He could move between teams, understand what people were trying to accomplish, ask the questions that needed to be asked, and help turn a problem into something we could actually solve.

And he didn't reserve that time or knowledge for certain people.

Matt would sit down with different teams, including our newest employees, and take the time to explain something intricately. He didn't just point someone in the right direction, hand them a lead, and move on. He would sit there. He would talk through it. He would walk through it. He wanted people to understand not only what they needed to do, but how to do it.

Those moments don't appear on a job description or show up in a quarterly report.

But they are part of how a person becomes woven into a company.

Like anyone else, Matt experienced the highs and lows of work. There were great days, frustrating days, difficult decisions, disagreements, successes, problems to solve, and plenty of things that didn't go according to plan.

One of the things we came to appreciate deeply about him was his willingness to question a call when he believed it needed to be questioned. Just as importantly, he understood that his own calls could be questioned too.

There was humility in that.

Matt could have conviction without believing he had to be the only person in the room who was right. He could challenge us, and he allowed us to challenge him. That made our decisions better, but more importantly, it made our relationships stronger.

And then there was the part of Matt's life that mattered more to him than any of this.

His family.

We all knew how deeply Matt loved, respected, and honored his wife and family. You didn't have to know him for very long to understand that. It wasn't something he simply talked about. It carried into the way he lived, the decisions he made, the way he treated people, and the person he was at work.

That mattered to us because while we knew Matt as a coworker, leader, COO, and friend, we also knew RivalMind was only one part of a much bigger life.

It is difficult to imagine our days without him here.

There will be moments when someone has a question and we instinctively think of Matt. There will be problems where we wish we could walk over, sit down, and talk them through with him. There will be decisions where we will miss the question he would have asked. There will be meetings, successes, frustrations, conversations, and regular workdays when his absence will be especially noticeable.

Those ordinary days may be what we miss most.

There is something fitting about the fact that Matt began his working life as a finish carpenter.

He knew how to build things.

Eventually, the things he built weren't made from wood. He helped build websites, processes, solutions, teams, careers, relationships, and a company.

And he helped build up the people around him.

Some of what Matt built will continue long after any of us realize where it originally came from.

Matt, thank you for everything you gave to RivalMind. More importantly, thank you for your friendship, for the lessons, the conversations and the laughs, for being exactly who you were, and for sharing part of your life with all of us.

We only wish there could have been more.

Rest in the peace and presence of Heaven, Matt.

We will keep the work going.

We will take care of each other.

We will carry what you helped build forward.

And we will miss you more than words can say.

With love and gratitude,

Your RivalMind family