I Always Knew
My Path.
From a Grade 5 school project to co-founding a company — the through line has always been the same: decide, execute, don't wait for permission.
Architectural Designer. Landscaper. Tow truck operator. Equipment rental founder. Content creator. Podcast host. Coach. Not a winding road — a compounding one.
20+
Years Working the Trades
2
Businesses Founded
Thousands
Following the Build
9+
Podcast Episodes Live
“When opportunities present themselves — if you don't try, you'll never know.”
— Matt Mak
The Real Story
The Blueprint Was Always There
It started with a school project. Grade 5 — build a 3D model of a house. Most kids just wanted to finish the assignment. I wanted mine to be real. I spent hours on it, not because I had to, but because something clicked. That project wasn't homework. It was a preview of who I was going to become. From that moment, I knew: I was going to be an architect and design homes.
I Had a Plan Most People Never Make
While other teenagers were figuring out who they were, I was mapping out who I was going to be. Married at 25. First child at 27. Not a daydream — a decision. I wrote the blueprint for my life before I even understood what that meant. And then I went to work on it. Looking back, that's the thing about me: I've always known my path. And I've always executed.
Architectural Designer — Goal Reached
I set out to become an architectural designer, and I did it. I got the credentials, entered the profession, and proved to myself what I'd always believed: if you know where you're going and you don't stop, you get there. But achieving a goal doesn't mean you stop moving. It means the next chapter begins.
Every Job Taught Me Something Different
Architecture gave me the eye. But the years that followed gave me the edge. Landscaping taught me what it means to work with your hands and build something from nothing. Towing taught me accountability — the call comes in at 2am and you show up, no excuses. Each experience compounded. Not a detour. A curriculum. I was building a skill set most people can't put on a résumé because they never lived it.
Founder, J&J Equipment Rentals
When the opportunity to found J&J Equipment Rentals came along, I didn't overthink it. That's the thing I've learned — and lived — over and over again: when an opportunity presents itself, if you don't try, you'll never know. I said yes. And from day one, I wore every hat in the building. Equipment maintenance. Transporting. Sales. Admin. Mechanic. There was no job beneath me and no manual to follow. You figure it out because the business doesn't care that you're figuring it out — it just needs to run. Now, with a staff in place, those hats have been passed down — and the time that bought me back has gone straight into building our next chapter: proprietary software built through AI. Because that's what operators do. They don't stop when the business stabilizes. They use the margin they earned to build the next thing.
Built Without Permission
Looking back, I discovered something at a young age that I didn't even have words for yet: you truly make your dreams a reality. A Grade 5 school project. A teenage plan for marriage and fatherhood. A career goal set before I had the credentials. A business built without a blueprint. All of it real. All of it executed. That's the story I'm still writing — and it's the same story I coach others to write for themselves.
You truly make
your dreams
a reality.
I discovered this at a young age — before I had the language to describe it, before anyone taught it to me, before I had a single result to point to as proof. A Grade 5 kid building a model house because something inside him said: this is who you are.
That belief compounded quietly for decades. Every job. Every pivot. Every opportunity I said yes to when most people would have waited for certainty that never comes.
I coach from that place — not from theory, not from a highlight reel, but from a life spent proving that the blueprint you write for yourself is the only one that matters.
Grade 5 to Architectural Designer
Set the goal before I understood what it would cost. Achieved it anyway.
A Life Plan at 13
Married at 25. First child at 27. Decided early. Executed on time.
Every Opportunity Taken
Landscaping. Towing. Equipment rental. Said yes when others waited for permission.
Still Building
Co-founder, content creator, podcast host, coach. The work doesn't stop.
Hear it in my own words.
I go deep on all of this — the Grade 5 model house, the teenage life plan, every pivot along the way — in the first two episodes of the Built Without Permission podcast. No script. No polish. Just the real story.
If this resonates,
let's talk.
The founding cohort opens August 2026. Apply now and I'll reach out personally.
Let's Get Started