Season 1 of The Grit Mindset is complete, and before Season 2 launches, I’m revisiting the episodes that shaped the show most.
There was no better place to start than Episode 1 with Michelle Johnson, former CIO at Freeman, with Fortium when we recorded, and now CIO at Associa. She took a chance on a brand new podcast with a host who had no idea what he was doing yet.
She gave me two ideas in that first conversation that I've carried through everything since.
The first: "It takes grit to quit." Not as a catchphrase. As a real observation. Sometimes the gritty move isn't to keep pushing — it's to walk away from what isn't working so you can put your energy somewhere it will.
The second: "You learn how to do hard better." She was quoting the women's basketball coach at Duke. Not easier. Better. That's the whole show in one sentence. Grit isn't about life getting smoother. It's about getting more skilled at handling what's hard.
Season 2 is coming. Until then, stay gritty.
What is Grit Mindset with Matt Rosen?
The Grit Mindset is where the people who already broke tell the real version. CEOs whose playbooks died. Green Berets and pro athletes who lost the identity they built everything on. Founders and fund managers who watched the money disappear. Not the LinkedIn version — the specific day it ended, the unglamorous middle, and what the rebuild actually cost.
Hosted by Matt Rosen — CEO of Allata and national media commentator on AI and leadership — every episode follows the story through four acts: who they were before, the break, the rebuild, and the bill.
If you're leading through the next five years, these are the people to learn from. Stay gritty.