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乘坐一个不断增长的业务的浪潮：马特施罗德' 17
《Inc。 5000》杂志公布了美国发展最快的公司名单 马特·施罗德，17岁 得知他的公司， 潮波控股有限公司。 排在第37位。 “我们在办公室打了个赌，”马特说。 “My bet was that we would land at #150。”
TidalWave is a third-party logistics company, providing end-to-end print, fulfillment, and management for e-commerce businesses。 他们不仅在全国排名第37； they are listed at #2 in the state of Tennessee and #1 in the city of Chattanooga。 And for good reason。 的y have moved warehouses three times in the last four years and doubled the number of employees in the last year。 “We are a young company with young employees,” says Matt。 “这对我们所有人来说都是第一次。”
从工程学到经济学
马特来到威尼斯人平台作为足球新兵从高点，北卡罗来纳州。 He originally planned to attend a big state school, but after visiting campus for the first time, he was hooked。 “我被《威尼斯人平台》的社区和文化所吸引，”马特解释道。 “的 beauty of the campus, welcoming student body, and academic rigor is what made my decision final。” Covenant was a shaping influence in his life, helping him learn more about himself and preparing him for his future。 “Going to a new school where I knew nobody truly allowed me to find out who ‘adult Matt’ really wanted to be。 Covenant was an incredible place to figure out my strengths, weaknesses, try new things, and fail forward。”
For the first two years, he was a pre-engineering major, but then switched to economics in his junior year, realizing it was a better fit。 His education at Covenant built a foundation that helps him in his work today as his job requires constant problem solving and thinking through the second- and third-order effects of processes。 “I knew I always wanted to own a business that provided value to customers,” says Matt。 “I had no idea what that would look like, but I truly believe my calling is to build things in this world。”
作为企业家工作
Evaluating processes and improving efficiency is a gift Matt found early on and one he uses daily in his work。 After his freshman year, he had an internship at a manufacturing facility where he was tasked with improving processes and making stages of assembly more efficient。 他发现他喜欢那份工作。 After graduation, he worked at TVA for two years while at the same time running an e-commerce brand selling t-shirts。 它变得如此成功，以至于他能够辞掉工作，全职经营它。 Three years later, he sold the business to focus solely on business services (e-commerce fulfillment and screen printing) with TidalWave Holdings。 His partner in the business, Bradley Sewell, he met at Covenant as he was a student for a couple of years。 Matt’s primary role at TidalWave is management of day-to-day operations。
“的 academic rigor of Covenant forced me to ‘learn how to learn’ and get very good at multitasking and prioritizing,” Matt describes。 “My job pulls me in 1,000 directions every day, and the ability to stay on top of all the important tasks is something I don't think would have been possible without a solid foundation in college。”
As an entrepreneur and business owner, Matt finds that his “Big C calling” shapes his “Little c calling” in many ways。 的se concepts were new to him when he arrived at Covenant, but they now inform how he views his work every day。 “My understanding of theology and how Christianity is so intertwined with how we act in the world, is not necessarily something I had top of mind before coming to Covenant。 How you act, in all facets of life, needs to reflect what you believe。”
他对待员工和客户的方式尤其如此。 “My industry is full of ‘bad actors’ who overcharge, instill hidden fees, and underpay employees,” he laments。 “我完全相信，这不是经营一家好企业所必需的。 God instructs us to serve those around us, and in my case, this would be my employees and my clients。 我们不诚实，对任何人都不公平。” Matt continues, “I truly believe the success we have found has come from prioritizing people first, and letting the finances follow suit。”
潮水公司的下一步计划是什么？ 的ir quick growth and success have certainly come with challenges。 但如果这个名字是真的，他们将经历一段疯狂的旅程。