Meet Matthew Solomon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Solomon.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Matthew. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My path has not been a predictable or straight-lined one. While I have always been interested in relationships and communication, I saw my career path being in the entertainment industry. And so, I pursued that for many years and had some great successes as a musician, an actor and ultimately as an award-winning filmmaker.

Simultaneously, I participated in as much personal development work as possible; always seeking to be a better partner, a better father, a more-successful business-person and a better man.

I grew up in West Hollywood, went to John Burroughs Jr. High School (now John Burroughs Middle School), Fairfax High School and then USC on a music scholarship. I had what I realized later in life to be a very unique experience in that the schools I went to were very mixed as far as race, religion and sexual orientation. I grew up with everybody and several of those folks are still good friends of mine. As a result, at a young age, I became very aware that my experience as a straight, white male–how I was treated and how I saw the world– was very different from my friends who were Black, Latinx and Asian. I learned to really listen and pay attention to what my friends shared with me about what was happening in their world. My eyes were really opened up during my time at USC, where in addition to studying music, I became interested in sociology, anthropology and how societies were constructed and maintained. I happened to be learning about institutional racism at the same time that the Rodney King beating, the LA Riots and the OJ Simpson trial were happening.

I continued on my path in the entertainment business, was in a couple of well-known local LA bands, found myself acting in tv commercials and worked in casting. I became certified as a stress-reduction facilitator in my 20s and began diving more into new-age spirituality; I studied everything from Kabbalah to Buddhism to Tantra, kinesiology and more. I know it is very LA of me. I was married at 30 and am the father of 3 kids; a teenage daughter and twin almost-teen boys. During my marriage, I read all of the major books on understanding women, understanding myself and trying to find the “perfect” tools to make my relationship work. I tried everything, but ultimately that relationship was a square peg in a round hole.

When my marriage was ending at the end of 2011, I took a seminar called The Landmark Forum, which shifted my whole life’s trajectory. It was here that I really began to understand how we all have our own perceptions and points of view of the world, ourselves and each other, and that at our core, we all really desire to feel heard, loved and understood. I stayed in programs at Landmark for 5 or 6 years, became a program leader myself and found that I was incredibly lit up by interacting with people and giving them the space to discover breakthroughs for themselves. In addition to working with adults, I also led programs for teens and young people and really loved everything that came out of that.

Around 2016, I became passionate about coaching and began what has been a very rewarding journey. I started out coaching individuals and couples and then began consulting for corporations and colleges in helping them to create connection, partnership and develop a mindset of inclusion through a very unique process I have put together. In short, I teach people how to connect at a very deep level, which is the space necessary for healing and transformation.

As a result of my ability to listen and hold space for people, I was asked to author the book: “Man School: Relating with Women in the #MeToo Era,” which quickly became a #1 new release on Amazon. Out of that, I began writing a weekly column for The Good Men Project, and have been a guest on over 40 TV, radio, web and podcasts.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think it is ever a smooth road in re-inventing oneself. It certainly hasn’t been for me. Every career path of mine has been one that inspired me and that I was sure would be “it.” Being in it, at times, everything occurred as success and then failure. Stepping outside and looking from the point of view that I have now, and seeing how everything I have learned along the way has been crucial to what I do now, it all makes sense. I think to be good at supporting people through various challenges and setbacks in their life, you kind of have to have navigated a version of that yourself.

I get asked sometimes how I can be good at coaching couples if I am divorced and not currently in a relationship. My response, with a chuckle, is that I have been collecting data and experience. Likewise, the fact that I did not finish college is a sticking point for some people. I don’t think there is any better experience in dealing with unique personalities and building relationships than doing that inside of the entertainment industry. There is literally nothing anyone can share with me that will throw me off.

Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
In short, what I do is teach people how to connect and communicate on a deep level. I have helped couples who haven’t been able to stand each other for years, reconnect to their love and affinity and reinvent their relationships. I have also supported couples through loving breakups; reconnecting with their love, recognizing it was time to part and doing so in a healing and amicable way. I have helped individuals connect with themselves on a deep level; heal illnesses, begin traveling, find love and more. And with organizations, I have been able to open up a space for conversation, listening and healing that creates a bond and commitment to each other and has the organization thrive.

What I am known for is holding a loving and non-judgmental space and then firmly but gently guiding and supporting clients in moving in the direction they are committed to.

I am proud of all of my clients–the ones whose marriages are thriving, the ones who have gone on to have healthy relationships post-breakup, the ones who are living happier and healthier lives…

And I love working with larger organizations as well and seeing it all click with those participants. I have to share that at one of the colleges I am working with, I was teaching my “Generous Listening” technique during my 3rd round on campus. At the end, one of the students exclaimed very excitedly: “This thing you just taught us, is what you have been doing all-along, isn’t it?” And he was right. In fact, at that college, the program has been so successful that student leadership demanded that all staff and faculty participate in my workshops.

What sets me apart? It is really the unique combination of my experiences, my personality and how I am trusted to provide for people. This is what they tell me anyway. I love that I am able to support men and women equally, and I am very humbled to be a straight, white man who is invited into non-white and non-male spaces to participate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion conversations. I do not take any of this lightly.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory was seeing Star Wars, the original, at the Culver City Drive-In with my parents in the back of their Oldsmobile station wagon. I still remember seeing Luke standing at the edge of his Uncle and Aunt’s farm, gazing out past the sunset.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.CoachwithMatthewSolomon.com
• Phone: 3233569512
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/mattytheglue
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/coachwithmatthewsolomon
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mattytheglue
• Other: tiktok: @therelationshipguy

Image Credit:
Photographers: Navae Lukas (the black and white photos), Jordan Ancel (personal photo and suit jacket photo).

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