S1E29 A Candid Conversation on Life, Leadership, and the Stories Behind a Global CEO with Chad Mattix
This episode of The Wired Garage with Pops features Chad Mattix, founder and CEO of Kinnetix, an IT field services company supporting customers around the world. Chad shares how an entrepreneurial childhood, a paper route, and early exposure to ham radio and custom PC building with his father set the foundation for his career in technology and business. He walks through, starting his first company as a Miami University junior, scaling through law firms and regional clients, navigating tough economic cycles, and learning to balance risk, integrity, and perseverance as a leader. The conversation also explores the human side of entrepreneurship—marriage, family, grief, faith, friendship, travel, cigars, bourbon, and shared rituals that keep him grounded while leading teams across multiple cultures and countries.

Keywords: leadership, entrepreneurship, personal growth, mentorship, family, technology, business challenges, networking, resilience, life lessons
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SEO-friendly keywords: The Wired Garage with Pops podcast, ​Chad Mattix interview, Kinnetix IT field services, Entrepreneurial leadership story, Building a values-driven company, Leading teams across cultures, Handling failure as a founder, Perseverance and resilience in business, Work–life balance for entrepreneurs, Mentors and role models in tech, Miami University entrepreneurship story, Law firm technology and WordPerfect history, Family fatherhood and legacy, Faith and returning to church, Cigars and bourbon conversations, Travel, F1, and bucket-list experiences
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Key Takeaways

• Failure as an efficient teacher
• Chad reframes failure as an “efficient” way to learn, especially when you strip out emotion, ask whether the idea was structured wrong, and iterate quickly instead of getting stuck.
• Many people let one big failure become their permanent stopping point; disrupting that narrative is essential to keep growing.

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In this episode of The Wired Garage with Pops, we pop the hood on global IT field services with Chad Mattix, founder and CEO of Kinettix, a field service provider that gets skilled IT technicians onsite in over 90 countries, often within 24 hours, 24/7/365. Kinettix supports large retailers, telecoms, banks, restaurants, and multi‑site enterprises with everything from wireless access point installs to CCTV, large displays, and data center infrastructure deployments.

👤 Guest: Chad Mattix, Founder & CEO, Kinettix
🌐 Kinettix: (add website / LinkedIn links here)
🎙 Host: Pops (The Wired Garage with Pops)

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Chad walks us through how Kinettix went from SmartSheets and SharePoint to a global dispatch engine that coordinates multi‑country projects, break‑fix work, and even highly remote satellite deployments, all while navigating VAT, currency, and compliance challenges. We dig into how AI, agent‑to‑context models, and better data are changing labor procurement, rate negotiations, photo validation, and end‑of‑day reporting at scale.

We also explore how IT leaders should think about:

• Relying on contingent field services vs W‑2 employees
• Building a global field tech network without sacrificing quality
• Platform choices (ServiceNow, Salesforce, Azure) and avoiding fragmentation
• DevOps, citizen development, and governance for AI and automation
• Roadmapping ITSM and AI investments over the next 12–24 months so you don’t get crushed by technical debt or obsolescence

Tags / Keywords
global IT field services, Kinettix, Chad Mattix, IT field technicians, multi site IT deployments, retail IT infrastructure, telecom field services, data center deployments, contingent IT labor, IT service providers, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Azure platform, DevOps, citizen development, ITSM roadmap, AI in IT operations, AI for field services, IT governance, shadow IT, portfolio management, global dispatch, The Wired Garage with Pops

These reflect core topics and phrases from the episode (global field services, contingent labor, AI, ServiceNow/Azure, governance).

If you care about large‑scale IT rollouts, multi‑site operations, or how to safely bring AI and citizen developers into your service delivery stack, this one is packed with field‑tested lessons.

🎧 Topics we cover:

• Why Chad founded Kinettix and the market gap he saw in global field services
• How Kinettix delivers IT projects in places like mainland China, Cairo, London, and remote mining facilities in Australia
• Moving from basic tools to a purpose‑built dispatch platform (and the $3.5M investment behind it)
• Using AI for ticket routing, skill matching, photo validation, and deliverable audits
• Managing margin, scale, and quality in a commoditized services business
• Citizen developers, Power Apps, and the “Wild West” risk without governance
• How IT leaders can protect against shadow IT and risky AI usage while still empowering teams

If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe and share it with a fellow IT or field services leader.

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🎙️ Episode Summary

🎸 Guest: Dave McCarty, guitarist
🎙️ Hosts: Brian "Pops" and Steele
🎧 Show: The Wired Garage with Pops

In this follow-up conversation with guitarist Dave McCarty, *The Wired Garage with Pops* shifts from gear talk to the deeper story — what it really means to keep music alive across decades of real life. Dave opens up about balancing gigging with family, how his relationship with the guitar has matured emotionally, and why playing in a band at 55 is less about ego and more about belonging. From going on the road at 18 to nearly quitting and buying all his gear back two weeks later, Dave's story is a relatable, honest look at music as a lifelong identity — not just a hobby.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Music doesn't retire — you adapt it. Dave has been playing since 13, and rather than quitting, he's continuously adjusted how music fits into his life around work and family.
• A supportive partner makes all the difference. Dave credits his wife of 31 years as the reason he's still playing — her patience and understanding gave him the freedom to continue.
• The people you play with shape who you become. Older bandmates on the road at 18 kept Dave grounded and away from bad decisions — a lesson in the power of musical mentorship.
• Ego fades, band chemistry grows. In your 20s it's about standing out; in your 50s it's about how well the whole band sounds together.
• Just do it — life's too short. Dave's direct advice to anyone thinking about dusting off their instrument: if it brings you joy without wrecking your life, plug back in.
• The younger generation of live musicians is disappearing. Both Dave and Brian observe that the local music scene is aging out, with fewer young players stepping up to fill venues — a broader cultural concern.
• Music as a mental anchor. Whether it's gigging twice a month or jamming in a home studio, music keeps you moving forward — especially important heading into retirement years.

📝 Show Notes

Dave McCarty returns to *The Wired Garage with Pops* for part two of his conversation with hosts Brian ("Pops") and Steele. This episode goes beyond the gear and into the heart of what keeps a musician playing through the seasons of life.

Dave shares stories from his earliest days — hitting the road at 18 with older bandmates who became mentors — to the present, where he's still gigging a couple times a month at 55 with bandmates in their 60s. He talks candidly about nearly quitting, selling all his gear, and buying it all back within weeks.

The conversation also touches on passing music down to the next generation, the challenge of getting kids interested in live music today, the shift from 80s shredding to 90s groove-based playing, and why Iron Maiden fans will absolutely call you out if you improvise a solo.

Whether you're a weekend warrior musician, a lapsed player, or just someone who loves honest conversation about life and identity — this one's for you.

🔑 Keywords guitarist lifestyle, adult musician, keeping music alive, hobby musician, band life, music and family, aging musician, Dayton Ohio music scene, cover bands, Iron Maiden tribute, local live music, music mentorship, balancing music and work, returning to music, music identity, gigging at 50, home studio, 90s music, 80s guitar, in-ear monitors, wired garage podcast

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