I didn't set out to heal.
I set out to listen.
I'm Matt Gilhooly. I build things around what happens when someone finally gets asked the right question. That's The Life Shift, a podcast now five seasons and nearly 300 episodes deep. It's two books (one in the works). And it's my day job, where I run content strategy for a fintech brand and I was just named a 2026 HousingWire Marketing Leader for it.
The Life Shift
Every episode is one long, unhurried conversation about a pivotal moment: grief, addiction, reinvention, a diagnosis, a divorce, a decision that split a life into before and after. No panel, no cross-talk, just space for someone to say the thing out loud, maybe for the first time. Now in Season 5, with nearly 300 episodes since launching in March 2022, grown entirely by word of mouth and recognized by Ear Worthy as one of the top independent podcasts in its category, plus a feature in Forbes on podcasts that help people deal with life's hardest moments.
Solo and Scalable
An on-demand course for established solo podcasters who are doing the job of a whole production team by themselves. It's the actual system behind The Life Shift, taught in the order I built it: one transcript into a full content package in your own voice, a pitch inbox that sorts itself, a release day that runs on rails, guests who feel taken care of, and a newsletter that goes out every week.
Built on Claude, for shows with 20-plus episodes and a production workload that's eating the creative work. Every workflow is shown running on a real episode.
The rest of the book.
Everything I make sits somewhere in here. Wander in whatever order you like.
About
The short version of a winding path. Eight years old, a microphone, and most of a career spent learning to ask better questions.
Work
Content strategy on one end, illustration on the other. The actual list of what I make and how I make it.
Writing
Lessons from Building. Short essays on work, craft, curiosity, and the messy middle where ideas turn into things.
Projects
The lighter things that keep me honest. SHIFTS and Line in the Sand, It's Okay If, and my design studio.
Books
Two books, written the same way I podcast. Quiet, honest, and built to sit with you.
Speaking
Saying it out loud, in person. What happened when I finally stood in front of a room.
Building something that needs a voice, a strategy, or the right question asked?
That's the work I want more of: content strategy, brand voice, creative direction, a show that needs a host who actually listens. Reach out and let's figure out what we'd make together.