Matthew Cossolotto

So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.

Thanks so much for doing this interview. My name is Matthew Cossolotto, but in my guest speaking business I call myself The Empowerment Pro. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley. One highlight of my college years was spending my junior year studying abroad at the University of Lund (Sweden). That experience was eye-opening, mind-expanding, life-changing. I highly recommend studying abroad to all students.

A few days after college graduation, I flew to Washington, DC, to become a paid summer intern on Capitol Hill. Shortly thereafter, I found a job working for Congressman Leon Panetta, one of the truly honorable and effective public servants we have.

While on Capitol Hill, I also spent a few years writing speeches for the Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, then moved into the private sector where I focused on speechwriting and speech coaching for top corporate executives. Later on, I served as the speechwriter for the Chancellor of UCLA and, most recently, for top officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In short, my executive communications career has spanned the corridors of power and influence on both sides of the Atlantic.

Along the way, I wrote The Almanac of Transatlantic Politics and The Almanac of European Politics and served as the founding president of the Center for Voting and Democracy (now www.fairvote.org)

During the Covid 19 lockdown in Brussels, I managed to snag a seat on the very last flight for Americans to return from Europe to the United States. So I think of myself, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as a Covid refugee. I was wearing a make-shift (and no doubt ineffective) mask made from an old pair of sweatpants and sporting a shaggy head of hair that had not seen the inside of a barber shop for several months. That trip took me through eerily empty airports in Brussels, Frankfurt, O'Hare, and Cleveland. I now live in the picturesque college town of Oberlin, Ohio – not far from Cleveland.

But geographic locations and career milestones don’t really capture my story, not the story of the person I am today. I’d say my story really begins with a promise I made some 25 years ago. That promise was a watershed moment, a turning point that put me on my current path as a personal empowerment author, speaker, workshop leader, and coach.

Here's that story in a nutshell. I made a promise to my mother on her deathbed that I would finish writing a book she had been encouraging me to write and dedicate it to her memory. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said: “You do that, Matthew. You do that. This makes me very happy.”

We both fought back tears. We were both acutely aware that she would not live long enough to see the book published or read my dedication to her. When it came time to leave, I leaned over her and gave her a kiss on her forehead and a long goodbye hug. I knew this was our last goodbye, yet I left uplifted knowing that the promise I made had brought her some measure of happiness.

I had not planned on making that promise. It was a spontaneous impulse. After I made that heartfelt promise, I knew right away that failure was not an option. I’m proud to say I kept my word. But here’s the rub. The book I promised to write wasn’t really in my comfort zone. It was a self-help book, and at the time I didn’t think of myself as a self-help author. So keeping the promise wasn’t exactly easy.

The promise helped me persevere and plow past lots of doubts and difficulties. Looking back, I think my mother knew something about me that I didn’t know about myself. I think she encouraged me to write the book precisely because she knew it was outside my comfort zone. She seemed to know long before I did that writing the book and speaking about personal empowerment ideas was something I was destined to do.

Needless to say, it's been a long and winding road. I think that pretty much brings us up to the present day.

Tell us one thing you love about where you live now?

It's hard to narrow it down to just one thing I love about Oberlin. I guess I'd have to return to the word "picturesque." Oberlin is a picturesque, quiet, leafy, green, but still lively and vibrant, college town.

Tell us a little bit more about what your company does and how it started? How does it help your customers?

As mentioned before, The Empowerment Pro projects I've been pursuing -- my books and Personal Empowerment Programs (PEPTalks) -- are all rooted in the promise I made to my mother. In fact, the book I promised to publish and dedicate to her memory was called HabitForce! I'm now updating, expanding, and renaming that book. The new title will be Harness Your HabitForce. The dedication in HabitForce to my mother's memory includes an especially apt phrase. I wrote to her in the dedication that I don't think I would have finished writing the book had I not made that promise the last time we were together. And here's the phrase I want to share with you. I wrote: "This vividly demonstrates the power of making a promise, especially to your mother." That phrase -- the power of making a promise -- led to the publication this year of Harness Your PromisePower.

So, my current business efforts as The Empowerment Pro were promise-born. During the most recent few years on my journey, I've been putting all of the pieces together that will help me fulfill my personal empowerment mission: to help millions of people around the world reach their peak potential. I'm pulling together the three main strands of what I call my Triad Empowerment System, which is fueled by three essential “power tools” — Habits, Speaking, and Promises. This Triad and my three main speaking programs are based on the three books I’ve been working on and talking about for several years. I think of the three elements of the Triad as the "Technology of Personal Change and Achievement."

The Joy of Public Speaking is the first book in my personal empowerment trilogy. This is the book where, among many other things, I take readers on a journey from stage fright to stage delight. The second book in the trilogy was published a few months ago: Harness Your PromisePower, featuring an extensive and revealing foreword by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. The third book in my trilogy -- which is due to be published in the coming months -- is Harness Your HabitForce. This book highlights the seven habits of FAILURE and SUCCESS. I won't go into detail here. Suffice it to say that these two powerful words in our culture feature prominently in the book in the form of two side-by-side, easy-to-remember, seven-letter acronyms. I refer to HabitForce as a software program or personal operating system.

I’m especially motivated now to use these three books and my PEPTalks to fulfill my overall mission. I'm determined to spread the word about the crucial role public speaking plays in personal empowerment and authentic leadership, along with the role that empowering SUCCESS habits and the power of promises can play in changing lives and transforming the world in wondrous ways.

If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?

Beware of disempowering doubts and negative thoughts. Spend time with people who have succeeded in launching similar businesses. I often tell the story about how I failed to launch Comedy TV. It can be a rather long story. Suffice it to say here that I had this great idea for launching Comedy TV at the dawn of cable TV. Comedy Central did not exist. And despite having creative programming ideas and despite many brainstorming meetings and even a session with a top attorney in Washington, DC, to start drawing up incorporation papers, I failed. Long story short, I blew it cuz I didn't pursue it. I talked myself out of the idea. My mind was filled with all of the reasons I should NOT launch Comedy TV instead of focusing on the steps needed to make it happen. My doubts and fears won out over my enthusiasm for the idea.

So I would encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to monitor their thoughts and focus on the positive. Don't listen to naysayers -- especially to the voice in your own head that will say things like: Who do you think you are? You're not qualified to start this business. It's out of your league. How are you going to raise the money for this venture? Be realistic. You get the idea. Those thoughts can demotivate you if you don't shift your mindset toward empowering thoughts of success and achievement.

At the risk of sounding too self-serving, I would encourage any entrepreneur to turn the goal into a promise. That single step will help get you through lots of doubts and difficulties. I'd also suggest reading some great self-help books -- like Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Jack Canfield's The Success Principles. You might also want to read my books and sit in on one or two of my workshops. I employ two extremely powerful tools across all three of my PEPTalks. I'll just mention them briefly.

First is what I call the Empower-Me Band, which at first glance looks like an ordinary rubber band. But used properly, it transforms into the most powerful tool for personal change and achievement ever devised in human history. I'm exaggerating, but only slightly. I use the band across my Triad Empowerment System, supporting my programs on habits, speaking, and promises.

The second is The Six Axioms of Personal Empowerment. The Six Axioms of Personal Empowerment (see graphic) also run through all three areas. Together, these ideas create a shared conceptual foundation for my books and PEPTalks.

The Empower-Me Band is:

-- A constant reminder of a goal or promise: Worn on the wrist, the band keeps an important commitment in view. I encourage people to turn major goals into heartfelt promises. A goal can be changed or ignored but you can only break a promise. A promise carries stronger emotional weight. As I often say: A promise is like a goal on steroids.

-- A HabitForce metaphor: A relaxed band represents the comfort-zone of existing habits. Stretch it, and tension develops. That tension mirrors the discomfort people often feel when attempting to change familiar habits. The risk is snapping back into old patterns. The band reminds the wearer to notice that backwards pull and to break free from their comfort zones with new, empowering mindsets.

-- A signal to interrupt negative self-talk with a gentle SNAP! I ask participants to give themselves a snap with the band whenever they notice a discouraging or disempowering thought. The aim is awareness, not punishment. The snap creates a pause to pivot into more positive territory. That pivot-pause gives the person a chance to recognize, reject, and replace negative thoughts with more positive ways of thinking.

Combined with the Six Axioms of Personal Empowerment (see graphic), the Empower-Me Band method reflects a wider principle in my personal empowerment work. Thoughts influence actions. Actions become habits. Habits shape character and direction. The Empower-Me Band and the Six Axioms bring that process of change and empowerment into daily life through constant reminders and easily remembered mindset shifts.

What was one feedback from a happy customer/client that you won't forget about?

I'll never forget one participant in a HabitForce workshop. He heard me talk about several habits of FAILURE -- habits that hold people back -- and the corresponding habits of SUCCESS. Afterwards, he came up to me and said I had solved a big problem in his life. He had been procrastinating about creating an exhibition of his father's artwork for years. And he realized after hearing my remarks that he had been talking about this project, but not actually doing anything about it. He was trapped in what I call Idle Talk (No Action). So he left the workshop determined to change things. He was going to stop talking and start doing. About six months later he sent me an email explaining what he had accomplished since the workshop. It was a remarkable transformation. The exhibition was already scheduled in New York City. This gentleman was so proud and empowered about his amazing turnaround. This example is exactly why I write these books and do these workshops. The "Technology of Personal Change and Achievement" that I talk about really works.

Where do you see your company in the future?

I'm expecting to do more speaking engagements in the U.S. and around the world. I'm also planning to launch online courses so I can spread the word about the Technology of Personal Change and Achievement. At some point, I'll probably host a podcast called "What's Your Promise?" focused on sharing uplifting promise stories. I envision several more books related to PromisePower. My vision is to have a global impact -- helping millions of people turn important goals into heartfelt promises, make the shift from stage fright to stage delight, while they also recognize, reject and replace the habits that hold them back with the seven habits of success. The rallying cry will be: Success is an inside job and you have nothing to lose but the disempowering thoughts that hold you back from achieving your goals and dreams. That's what the technology of personal change and achievement is all about.

What has been one of your biggest struggle building your business and how did you deal with it?

I think I covered this question with my Comedy TV fiasco. But I will add this thought: It isn't a failure if you learn from it. So always be on the lookout for lessons you can learn and course corrections you can make. And by all means, make sure you harness your PromisePower and harness your HabitForce.

Who was your favorite music artist and athlete growing up?

No question: I was a big fan of the Beatles, and I still am. I'm sure this dates me. As a San Francisco kid, I was a Giants fan during those years when the team included real giants of the game like Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

Any shoutouts you want to make?

Yes. Thanks for the opportunity.

First and foremost, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my mother for believing in me and encouraging me to write that first book about the habits of FAILURE and SUCCESS.

Secondly, a very big shoutout to Jack Canfield for grasping immediately that there is something special about making a promise. If I could, I'd like to share words from Jack's foreword:

"When Matthew first told me about the heartfelt promise he made to his mother and that he was launching a special day called “Make A Promise Day” on May 4th, I was hooked. You could say he had me at 'I promise.'...There was something very attractive, almost magnetic, about this concept. And I say that as somebody who has been intimately involved in the personal development field for many years. I’ve seen and heard just about everything."

A little later in the foreword, Jack writes: "There truly is something special about a promise, and I congratulate Matthew for shining a spotlight on this unique power through this book, his speeches and his workshops."

Finally, a sincere shoutout to Tanya Rosen-Jones for her recent photographs of me, a few of which are on display in the article.

Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?

Your readers can start by taking a look at this article in Times LA: https://www.timesla.com/jack-canfield-co-creator-of-the-chicken-soup-for-the-soul-series-contributes-an-extensive-and-revealing-foreword-for-matthew-cossolottos-new-book-harness-your-promisepower/. This article might also be of interest: https://www.barchart.com/story/news/3866178/from-stage-fright-to-stage-delight-former-nato-speechwriter-matthew-cossolotto-reveals-the-mental-joyjitsu-of-public-speaking. My website is a good source of information: https://matthewcossolotto.com. Googling "Cossolotto The Empowerment Pro" or "Cossolotto PromisePower" or "Cossolotto stage delight" will result in lots of links to articles and interviews.