Storytime with Uncle Matt: Finding Humor and Hope When Life Hands You Lemons

What do you do when everything is going right and suddenly life pulls the rug out from under you?

In November 2024, Matt Preschern was a successful global C-suite marketing executive who had built a career driving multibillion-dollar growth for some of the world’s leading technology companies. Then, without warning, a severe inner ear injury left him with permanent hearing loss, debilitating vertigo, and a forced pause on the life he thought he would continue living.

This is not a story about defeat. It is a story about rediscovery.

In Storytime with Uncle Matt, Matt shares raw, honest, and often humorous reflections on resilience, reinvention, giving back, and choosing perspective over self-pity. From public family scandal in Austria to immigrating to the United States with little money, from corporate boardrooms to personal health crises, Matt shows how setbacks can become springboards.

Through deeply personal stories, he explores:

• How to bounce forward instead of simply bouncing back
• Why walking away sometimes takes more courage than pushing through
• How crisis can become the catalyst for reinvention
• The unexpected power of giving back
• What it means to live intentionally

As Jeff Hayzlett, President of the C-Suite Network, writes:

“Life has a way of throwing haymakers when you least expect them. Matt’s book talks about lemons and lemonade well, I’ve watched this man grab the whole damn lemon tree and turn it into an energy drink and a way to live your life and business. He leaned in, faced it head-on, and showed all of us what courage and clarity look like under pressure.”

Hakan Cakar, former colleague from NTT Ltd., reflects:

“One lesson that both Matt and I learned early in life is that nothing is guaranteed. Opportunities do not always come twice, and when they appear, you must recognize them, claim them, and make the most of them.”

Caribbean Roatan Developer Scott Miller says:

“Matt’s got a heart of gold, a heart for the kids, and serving the community … that’s readily apparent. Sterling, the mayor of Roatan, has told me, ‘Hey, we want people like Matt on the island … volunteering and helping charity organizations, building houses, schools, and churches, doing good in the community.’ Like Sterling, I value that mindset tremendously.”

This book is for anyone facing change, loss, uncertainty, or transition. It is for leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, parents, immigrants, and anyone who has ever asked, Why now? Why me?

Because life happens.

And when it does, you have a choice.

You can give up!

Or you can RISE.