Hi there!
I’m Matthew
I specialize in marketing and experience design. My aspiration is to create experiences, optimize, solve problems and provide solutions to serve users and customers, and help society or businesses do better with the opportunities that new technologies create.

Welcome to my website!
This site should give you a brief snapshot of who I am, some experiences I’ve had, and a few of the things I’ve worked on. Have a look around, discover more about me and let’s connect together!
About me.
Here’s a quick summary – I’m a final year MSc student in Digital Marketing and Corporate Communications with a minors degree in Strategy & Experience Design. Also a “side-hustling” freelance web-designer, marketer, and occasional gigging musician. I love Jazz, gaming – when possible, potato chips! and exploring new places. Fun fact! I once hitch-hiked to the Shire (from Lord of The Rings) in rural New Zealand. See my Bio below.
Here’s why we would connect well:
Communication oriented
Highly communicative with strong interpersonal skills. Excels at also expressing ideas and solutions.
A "campaigner"
Enjoys using insight and creativity to help others and think about innovative ways to improve things.
A people-person
Adaptive, sociable, positive, warm, polite, and diplomatic. Driven by people-centricity and growth.
Diverse work & life experience
Diverse experiences have shaped me to who I am; through work, travel, cultural exposure, and education.
Prospective outlook
A curious mind that loves exploring environments that influence human experience, and value creation.
Positive-growth mindset
Willing to share, evolve, and learn and expand my job description. Next step is the unknown, ready for challenge.
My Bio
Matthew is Canadian-born with Irish dual-citizenship from his parents, raised in Aurora Ontario 40km north of the greater Toronto area. Matthew has experienced living in 4 different countries and traveled to many, has passengered a two-seater cargo bush plane to live on a small Tasmanian island for 4 months, has hitch-hicked with a friend to the Shire (movie set location from Lord of The Rings) in rural New Zeland, surfed the frigid cold waters of the Irish-Atlantic, he’s performed at a music concert for an arena of 800 people, and met his lovely Finnish partner of 10 years-strong in the sunny city of Brisbane, Australia.
In the past, he’s worked at an aquarium retail store, has been a drum builder’s apprentice, a short-order cook, event catering server, an in-store sales representative for a well-known Canadian apparel brand, a boarding school teachers’ assistant, to helping develop a family-run business, then later working for a unit of the United Nations, digital agencies and startups. His curiosity, eagerness to explore, learn and diverse background has helped him to not only step out of his comfort zone but also approach things holistically in everything he does with a positive impact.
In 2013, he started his formal education journey in Finland, studying a bachelor’s in tourism, raising his interest in experience economy, mobility, and destination marketing. Having done a thesis focused on contexual localization in the travel industry, it influenced him to pursue a master’s degree to deepen his knowledge in the dynamic field of digital marketing. Matthew also has a fascination with psychology and environments (physical and virtual) which influence behavior. During his time as a student, he’s been taking on freelance side projects (e.g web design & optimization) and engrossed in internet business and the functions that drive it. For example, one of his latest accomplishments involves helping a traditional small business become more digital-centric, which now generates around 80% of its leads and on-going revenue through its web presence. Though not limited to, Matthew gravitates his interest towards industries like retail, hospitality, transportation, music, entertainment, and of course design, marketing, and advertising.
Being growth-oriented, Matthew is always ready for the next big challenge and step into the unknown. He most enjoys working with value proposition, creative endeavors, and people-centered roles. In pop psychology assessments, Matthew scores high in Openness to Experience in his Big Five profile with moderately high scores in Agreeableness and Extraversion. You can find Matthew at your nearest music venue, gaming by building virtual cities, at the gym, and spending time with friends, and his partner.


Featured projects I’ve worked on.
Master's Thesis Research
PROJECT IN PROGRESS > Qualitative interviews.
Summary
Currently conducting a thesis on the theme of in-store behavior analytics, shopper marketing, and “connected” store experience. This project page is made as an overview for interviewee prospects.
Content + Website design portfolio
12 featured web projects and writing samples
Summary
Featured website design projects and writing samples of my past and present clients. These web projects include full-service management of their website, content production, online positioning, and advisory.
Music Venue & Gig Listing Platform
Passion-project, web development, and live events
Summary
A Jazz resource platform and directory site, covering festivals and events, jazz venues, gig listings, and musician promotional activities in featured cities around the world. I co-established this project working with web development & design, marketing, content production, data sourcing & collection, user acquisition, and development of the platform.
Project page coming soon…
BA Semester Projects
3 featured company commissioned projects
Summary
A brief overview of my bachelor’s studies in university of applied sciences – featuring three-semester projects: planning & production of a travel trade show event, corporate travel management research, and a brand image & customer satisfaction research. These projects were company commissioned.
Project page coming soon…
Audience Engagement & Insights
Business project & strategic design research
Summary
Conducted research & strategic design consisting of audience understanding, persona and customer journey planning, and communication plan for Aalto Universities’s corporate engagement department (ADCO).
Project page coming soon…
Google Marketing Challenge
Google Adwords (PPC) campaign project
Summary
Strategizing & Running a Google Ads Campaign for Megan Meier Foundation. The project was hosted and funded by Google (GOMC), matching a selected non-profit organization with a qualifying small student team to strategize and manage the client campaign over a 4 week period with $10k ad spend.
Project page coming soon…
Startup Funding Event
“Start-up” venture, event planning & production
Summary
An international collaborated project established by a small team of entrepreneurial-minded young-professionals. Starting from an idea, we established an international event that expanded into four cities and in three countries, bringing together start-ups, world-class founders, and investors.
Project page coming soon…


Virtual CV.
Personal Information:
My Objective:
Education

University of Jyväskylä
MSc: Digital Marketing and Corporate Communications
Minor studies: Strategy & Experience Design (ITP, Aalto University)
Thesis: In-store behavior analytics and shopper marketing (in progress)
Extracurricular: Cultural Planning & Creative Placemaking
(Open university course from Sibelius-UNIARTS Helsinki)
2018 – present
Jyväskylä, Finland

Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences
BA: Business Tourism & Events Management
2013 – 2017
Porvoo, Finland
Work Highlights
Other Experience, skills & interests
Volunteer
- Slush, 2019, Helsinki
Event support, Sustainability Team - Startup Funding Event
04.2018, Rotterdam, NL & 11.2018, Helsinki FI.
Founders team, organized by WhyNot3. - WhyNot3, 0.1.2018-2019
Business ideation and team building small group. - Porvoo Jazz Festival, 2014
Event planning, ideation, and onsite event support. - Lattitude Global Volunteering, 2010-2011
Spent 1 year in New Zealand as a school assistant, followed by 4 months in Australia as an outdoor education assistant.
Achievements & Certificates
Self-Learning Certificates:
- Google Online Marketing Fundamentals Certification
- Google Ads Fundamentals Certification
- Hubspot Inbound Marketing Certified
- TeamTreeHouse Front End development track
Project Certificates:
- Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC)
- Stukent Marketing simulation Certificate
- St.Peterline brand image research project
- Team leader, Matka travel trade show
- Aalto ITP diploma
Skills & Tools
- WordPress (Divi Specialist)
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Basics of SEM and display ads across various channels.
- Copywriting & content production
- Market Research and Analysis
- Solid understanding of web concepts and various areas of digital marketing
Tools & Software:
- WordPress, Wix, Squarespace
- Canva & basics of Photoshop
- Adwords, Linkedin, Facebook, Quora, Adroll
- Google Analytics, Hotjar, SEMrush
- MailChimp, Getresponce.
Professional Interests
- Creative strategy, advertising, brand & creative.
- Experience design
- Growth Marketing
- Retail and Shopper Marketing
- Location-based advertising and mobile marketing
- SaaS, Martech, adtech & retailtech
- Research & development
- Behavioral sciences and psychology
Thought leaders
Industry-related: Rory Sutherland, Paco Underhill, Doug Stephens, Richard Shotton, Robert Cialdini, Mark Ritson, Simon Sinek, and more…
Books of Influence
Key personal traits:
