Interwoven Episode 6: From Chef to Founder: Mat Parkins on Reinvention and Embracing Uncertainty

Before founding his own agency, Mat Parkins lived several working lives: carpenter, chef, agency worker, business development lead. There was little resembling a masterplan, but there was always a sense that something bigger and more meaningful beckoned. The turning point came not in the comfort of ambition but amid pain and upheaval: a serious car accident and the unexpected loss of a job. Instead of retreating, Mat Parkins found himself unexpectedly calm: “I just had this weird, felt like everything was gonna be okay.” It was a feeling few people experience at the moment of greatest risk, and it propelled him towards reinvention.

His first business was less about seeking status or wealth than about meeting life on his own terms, a lifestyle, not a corporate conquest. Along the way, Mat Parkins discovered that everything he’d known before- teamworking learned in kitchens, the grind of sales, the slow unravelling of relationships with clients- could be repurposed. There were missteps: working alone, sustaining himself on a single retainer for months, and grappling with the reality of earning half his previous income. Yet, over time and through genuine long-term relationships, his “close rate in years 3-4 has been amazing.”

This is not the story of someone born an entrepreneur, but of a person willing to be changed by experience, trial and risk, all the while sharing what he learns. For listeners considering starting something new or facing uncertainty about their next step, Mat Parkins’s journey is a gentle reminder that founders are shaped by setbacks, openness to experimentation, and a willingness to keep nurturing relationships, even when the end is unclear.