MATTHEW BISH
Entrepreneur. Diver. Visual Artist.
Begin
Entrepreneur. Diver. Visual Artist.
I grew up in Georgia with a camera in my hand and a Christian home behind me. I believed in God early — actually trusting Him took a lot longer. The family business exposed me to a working environment at a young age, and by seventeen I was shooting sports, working corporate production, and trying to break into the film industry. I saw some of the best and worst the industry had to offer. For quite a while I worked in unhealthy environments where “green” workers were hazed, underappreciated, and taken advantage of financially. I never forgot what that felt like.
I’ve built and tended businesses that went on to dominate their markets and eventually sold to the satisfaction of their shareholders. I’ve helped develop curious people into avid underwater explorers. I’ve shot for professional sports teams, multi-billion-dollar businesses, and organizations that make this world a better place. I met and married the great love of my life, Kaleigh. Presently I work at Kimberwick LLC. Along with Kaleigh and two employees, we produce photography and video assets for businesses and non-profits. My primary focus in our operation is to value and support our employees.
I look eagerly toward what God has in store for me next. I pray that He will give me opportunities to be courageous in my pursuit of serving Him and the people I am privileged to share life with.
As general manager, I ran ICA, a high-performance managed service provider located south of Atlanta. The company grew during my years there and sold shortly after I left.
In those same years I helped build an adjacent business, Swift Link Wireless. This small wireless ISP provided high-speed internet to a rural community stuck on DSL right in the middle of COVID.
I build businesses to serve people, to provide employment for people who are overlooked or unappreciated elsewhere. I want my employees to have the agility to live the life they want, to have time to spend with their families, and to feel strong support from their employer.
I was sixteen when Cancer Treatment Centers of America became my first real client — a high schooler with a camera and a contract I probably had no business winning. I spent the next several years learning how their corporate environment worked while expanding my business into covering swim meets across the East Coast. The swim decks led to the 2018 Olympic Trials, and the Trials led to pro sidelines, where I still shoot today. I split my time and attention equally between photography and video, which let me build a strong knowledge base in both practices.
Eventually the small one-off jobs became a production house busy with long-term clients and a staff of four. As the industry grew in Georgia, we co-founded a full-scale post-production business that currently specializes in VFX and motion graphics. The work has taken me all over the world producing and shooting documentaries, photographing important events, and coming to know many wonderful people along the way.
I became a dive instructor for a reason that had almost nothing to do with diving: I wanted to learn how process holds up under real stress, and to teach people how to move through fear. I trained in Panama City Beach under Carlos, a Navy diver who taught me resilience, and a crew of veteran cave divers who taught me to stay calm when it counts.
Growing up, I never believed I would venture far outside of Georgia, much less explore the world. One December evening, God put a spark in my mind and led me down a path of research into the points-and-miles community. Nearly ten years later, I am tremendously grateful to have explored over forty countries across six continents. The stories I have heard and the people I have met will live with me for the rest of my life.
Life is a blessing... I contend it’s meant to be spent focused on the One who made us, and on the wonderful people we get to live it with.
