New Hires: Say Hi to Matt and Kyler

Tell us a little about yourself and where you’re from.

Kyler: My name’s Kyler. I grew up in the East Bay area up near San Francisco in a town called Danville. Came down to San Diego for school over at Point Loma Nazarene University, and just wrapping up my marketing degree there with a Nonprofit Management minor.

Matt: My name is Matt. I just moved to San Diego actually about a year ago after spending the last 12 years in San Francisco after graduating from Santa Clara University

Why did you choose Community Boost?

Kyler: Community Boost is really the perfect transition and I’m excited to be starting on this team as an SDR.

Matt: I worked in scaling startups. A lot of them with ties to the nonprofit sector, which really led me to Community Boost and it was a great transition.

What have you learned so far?

Kyler: I’m learning a lot about what it means to be accountable for the work and be responsible for the actions each and every day, holding myself accountable to making calls and connecting with nonprofits and really having the opportunity to interact with professionals each and every day. Learning a lot about what it looks like to do digital marketing in nonprofit organizations, which has been super fun.

Matt: I’ve definitely learned to be bold in most situations. Your confidence that you project really leads into the confidence that others see in you and it really helps create valuable trusting relationships.

What is one thing you’re passionate about?

Kyler: For three summers during college, I spent my summers with Sunshine Ministries, they’re a summer camp that works with youth. Then throughout that experience, I really became passionate about seeing the youth of all ages and of all backgrounds be able to find the mentorship and the support they needed. In my first couple of months with Community Boost, it’s been fun to reach out to camps across the country, youth support, and mentorship organizations, and it’s been cool to see the support that we’re able to provide the organizations I’m passionate about.

Matt: Similarly about youth, but specifically LGBTQ youth. It’s something that’s been really close to my heart, especially in San Francisco. I had a lot of opportunities to work with organizations like the Trevor Project and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. And it’s just been really cool to be on the precipice of some movement that we’re really seeing action taking place now, politically moving from grassroots to now we’re seeing some more political action being taken place.

What is your favorite core value of Community Boost?

Kyler: As a graduating college student and moving into a career, I’ve had that opportunity to learn for so long in such a formal setting, but the core value of “Always be Learning” and embracing that learning mindset. As I move into this, I’ve had the opportunity to learn from great mentors here at Community Boost. I just hope that throughout my career, I can embrace that mindset of continuing to learn and grow more. Digital marketing is an ever-changing field so being able to stay on top of that with all the new content and information that’s out there. I’m excited to be here and have that be a core value of the company.

Matt: I think my value is almost seamless with that, but “Commitment to Excellence.” Really, at Community Boost, we have a team of almost, not perfectionists, but people who are really trying to get the best for their clients. What that entails is a lot of learning, a lot of being honest and open but really that commitment to excellence is just a great thing not only for the organizations we work with, but for driving ourselves professionally.

What is your favorite part about working at Community Boost?

Kyler: It’s been awesome. I think the big part that kind of stands out is the team and the comradery that comes with that. Even in a virtual and remote world at times, with different calls that are happening throughout the week, there’s really a sense of teamwork and comradery that’s going along with that, as we learn together to inspire and support nonprofit organizations.

Matt: Very similar to that, but the culture that has really been created here at Community Boost. There’s this culture of trust where we really trust to hand people off tasks or responsibilities, knowing that it’s going to be committed and completed with the full-on excellence that Community Boosts here holds true to our heart and our core values. So really that culture of the team having each other’s back and really being there for each other.

What is one thing that people might not know about you?

Kyler: My roommates and I own a boat. We bought this thing off the Facebook marketplace about a year ago now. We fixed it up and have gone through a couple of different impellers and have spent 10+ hours underneath it and cranking on the engine. It’s a lot of fun for a bunch of 22-year-olds to own a boat that’s older than us. We took it on Mission Bay yesterday and had a lot of fun enjoying San Diego.

Matt: I was a performer and a drag queen in my past life in San Francisco and definitely learned from the really bold personalities there. I’ve learned to take that throughout my life and those fun lessons learned there.

What is one place you would love to travel to?

Kyler: I’m a west coast baby, so I really haven’t gone too far. My bucket list of travels is relatively sad, but I’ve never been to New York, Chicago, or Boston. I really would love to visit some of the American cities and experience the culture there. I think that would be incredible. Obviously, some countries out in Europe as well are on a bucket list, but I think that before I go see the foreign cultures, I would love to just experience the full facet of American cities.

Matt: I’ve always really wanted to go to Tulum, especially recently, as I know it’s getting more and more populated and people are starting to rush in there but I love those original American ruins. It really fascinates me, especially as we learn more and more about the history of the Americas. 

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

Kyler: That’s a difficult question. When you think about eating one thing for the rest of your life, it’s probably not your favorite food. I would say sushi is probably one of my favorites foods, but I think that raw fish and rice would probably get a little bit interesting after a while of eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I think could probably go something safe, like a chicken dish with some pasta and maybe a Caesar salad on the side. Get the grains, get some protein, everything in there.

Matt: I definitely went with Kyler’s mentality a little bit there, but I think I went a little more hardcore. I just said plain arugula. I can eat just plain arugula out of the box. Like, it’s good and that’s just one thing like Caesar salad has a bunch of things in it, but arugula is just arugula.

James Hall