What if the life you’re searching for is hidden inside the things you’ve stopped noticing?
Matt Hranek — founder of WM Brown, bestselling author, and storyteller — joins Marc for a conversation about curiosity, craftsmanship, ritual, and the beauty of slowing down in a world addicted to speed.
From photography and magazine culture to watches, coffee, saunas, and storytelling, this episode explores how presence and observation can completely reshape the way we experience life.
Show Partners:
Connect with Marc: https://konect.to/marcchampagne
Timestamps:
01:00 — Becoming “the world’s most interested guy”
02:00 — How Matt’s father shaped his eye for observation
03:00 — The first camera that changed everything
04:30 — Studying photography and art history in Europe
06:00 — The energy of 1990s magazine culture
07:30 — Why Matt knew digital photography would change everything
09:00 — Transitioning from photographer to editor and storyteller
10:00 — Why photography permanently changes how you see the world
12:00 — Developing a visual language and creative instinct
13:00 — The tactile beauty missing from modern life
15:00 — Analog rituals in a digital world
17:00 — Why Matt doubled down on print magazines
18:30 — Creating magazines people would never throw away
20:00 — The emotional philosophy behind A Man & His Watch
22:00 — Why every great creative project starts personally
24:00 — Funding the first magazine after a tree crushed his car
27:00 — Building distribution one relationship at a time
29:00 — Why creative critique is essential for growth
31:00 — Matt’s process for creativity and ideation
33:00 — Why enthusiasm matters more than expertise
35:00 — Sleep, coffee rituals, and protecting mental clarity
36:00 — Why Matt sees himself as a “field agent”
38:00 — Curiosity as a mental fitness practice
40:00 — Why inspiration already exists where you live
42:00 — Observation, storytelling, and everyday life
45:00 — The challenge of commercial storytelling
47:00 — Sauna culture, ritual, and slowing down
50:00 — Why rituals force us to become present
52:00 — The deeper ripple effect of slowing down
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Special props 👇
Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud
📷 by Peter Millar
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