#1 East Meets West - Matt Monihan, Dan Clifton

Mercenary Podcast

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I am Matt Monihan. I am a software designer for a business intelligence company called RJMetrics. I’ve designed software that helps hundreds of businesses run more efficiently by visualizing their data. I spend my time trying to find the common threads among the businesses we serve, and propose software that will save minutes, sometimes hours of time.

For most growing up, they choose an occupation from a list that their college advisor gives them without much research into what it’s like to be that person. I don’t just want to know what a person does every day, but what it feels like. To be known as a doctor, a plumber, a software designer, etc. Without realizing it, how our work reflects onto our view of ourselves has a major impact on our well-being.

I’ve spent my life being fascinated by the most obscure ways that people spend their time and make a living. After 27 years, I still find people who make money in new and unexpected ways. There’s so much to learn.

I know that there are some incredible jobs out there, and people that lead extraordinary lives. I created this show to document the lives of those people.

I am Dan Clifton. I am film producer who produces projects through my Los Angeles-based production banner Cliffbrook Films. Since 2012, I've also worked for The Safran Company President Peter Safran (Scary Movie, Buried, The Conjuring) as a producer on his independent film projects including Hours, Best Night Ever, SuperFast, The Atticus Institute and The Choice.
I look for original and provocative material to produce, then find new and inventive ways of doing so.

Ultimately, I’m fascinated by what successful people do on a day-to-day basis. How do people working in completely different industries deal with similar challenges? How are different people pushing the frontiers of technology, creative and communication? Results matter but process is everything.

Although we now live on different coasts, Matt and I grew up together and have always had an inkling to gather as many interesting/bizarre people together in the same room and hit the “play” button. The Mercenary podcast is a closer, albeit more practical, runner-up to that scenario.