“Bye, Malakai. I love you!” Matthew Eickman excused himself in the middle of our virtual interview to say goodbye to his son as he headed to school. I was sitting down in my work-from-home set-up at 9:45 PM, PHT. On the other side of the world, in Minnesota, on a fair-weathered Tuesday morning, there was Matt, on his phone, ready to take answers for our scheduled interview. Matt is proud to have built a team from scratch remotely, based in the Philippines, working for Abra Kadabra’s marketing, social media, and customer service. For a pest control company, remote work can be a considerable challenge. One of the significant challenges is the difference in culture, time zones, and the absence of physically seeing how the company operates. But Matt and the team made it work successfully and have been operating since December of 2023. With the right communication channels and trust, Abra Kadabra made it possible. “How our remote team operates is innovative; Working with a team on the other side of the world – literally on the opposite side of the world. There’s not a lot of people that are doing it; not our industry and none of my size because there’s like this fear thing there,” Matt said.
This is just one of the many innovations Matt has built over the course of more than a decade of working with Abra Kadabra. His influence has transformed the company into one of the most trusted and fastest-growing companies in the United States. But this journey wasn’t a linear path. Matt was young and filled with dreams like any other successful businessman in different industries. He is the second eldest of his six siblings.
The Yellow Brick Road to Abra Kadabra
Over ten years ago, Matt ended up red-shirting when he was playing baseball in college due to an arm injury. That event led him down the path of becoming a pest control operator during his last semester. He had an hour of class per week, and then he had baseball. During his free time, he’d spend hours working for Abra Kadabra, who
was owned by his in-laws. Matt finished his studies at Hamline University in Saint Paul with a double major in Biology and Sports Science and in addition to his coaching minor. Fun fact: According to Matt, he has been dating Monica, his wife, since they were fifteen. “She was my neighbor growing up. So that’s pretty unique for most people my age. Out of all the years I’ve been alive – I’ve been with her for more than I haven’t been with her, which is my favorite statistic.”
The biggest thing he learned in his younger years was that everybody was different. Now that he is a CEO, he views every individual as working toward different goals.
“Business is all about people to me – and that mindset of always trying to get better every single day. I have to find those opportunities to keep showing people that they haven’t reached the pinnacle of success, and everything is a continuous quest for learning,” Matt said.
As the company’s current CEO, Matt has the power and responsibility to help other individuals grow. Along the way, there will be objections and differences in belief systems.
Matt on Leadership
“One of the hardest things for me to learn is developing leadership potential and capabilities within other people. Leadership might be a natural ability, but being a leader can be hard.”
During this part of our conversation, Matt emphasized that leaders lead from the front. For him, the position of being a leader can be uncomfortable because you are showing everyone the different parts of yourself—your vulnerable self. In that state, he said, you are given two options: Either you are going backward, or you’re going to change and move forward so you can show your team that you can, and they can believe that they can, too, change.
Matt labels himself as someone who has a pool of ideas in his mind. He describes it as mental aerobics, where he identifies a problem, deep-dive into it, and finds creative solutions. Being someone who fixes a problem and ensures that it is sustainable is what comes along when working for the pest and wildlife industry. With this, Matt found ways to translate his ideas into reality. He’s worked with different creatives in Minnesota and even in the Philippines. Working with various communities also showed that he can collaborate and share his creative ideas with various organizations and professionals from different backgrounds.
Throughout the years, Matt has worked to let Abra Kadabra sponsor different organizations and their events. These events aren’t limited to a specific age range and demographic. They expand to a diverse set of backgrounds for inclusivity. It’s Abra Kadabra’s advocacy to create an impact and provide opportunities for communities. Abra Kadabra has worked with events such as Polar Plunge, Earth Day, Spirit of the Lakes, Lakes Area Expo, Storytime in the Park, James J. Hill Days, and Trunk or Treat.
Matt explained to me how the pest control industry moves at a slow pace and is somehow being deprioritized as a necessity in home maintenance. However, his inventive mind just couldn’t get away from forward thinking. Now, Abra Kadabra can go head to head with industries in home maintenance and offers services that are beyond the standard.
Scaling Business Growth
Abra Kadabra has cemented its position as one of Minnesota’s trusted residential and commercial pest control providers. The business has gathered several accolades and was recently awarded Gold in Minnesota’s Best Pest Control Category. The reviews prove that Matt has worked hard with his team to accelerate the business.
Now, Abra Kadabra is more than just a pest control company. The level of attention that the business provides to its customers is stellar. From detailed service notes with photos and videos from pest technicians, use of technology, and integrated pest management to eco-friendly solutions – It is evident that the company has evolved and is continuing to grow. If you see Abra Kadabra’s website, you will immediately recognize Matt. He’s everywhere in the best way. He gets his hands dirty while molding the company he’s always envisioned to have.
Matt on Gratitude and Family
Despite his busy schedule, Matt finds ways to integrate his business into his personal life. He doesn’t believe in balance. It’s a matter of prioritizing what’s important. In the pursuit of balance, some people experience the struggle of picking what to prioritize. What happens mostly is that there should be a certain way in how you act at work, at home, and with your friends. There could be chances of living a double life and being away from your true, authentic self.
Matt starts his day with gratitude. He believes that he is blessed to wake up daily healthy and see his family in a comfortable state. For him, the reason that he runs the business is for his kids and extended family and to create opportunities for everybody else. He doesn’t want to let anyone down.
“I’m so blessed to have the opportunity to be where I am now. My state helps me stay grounded. I stay to become more humble and not act like I’m the best. I haven’t reached the Pinnacle because there’s no Pinnacle. This is an eternal pursuit – and I want to have fun and do cool things to impact more communities across the country.”
Abra Kadabra’s Advocacy
Speaking of impact and helping communities, Abra Kadabra is well-known for its eco-friendly and noninvasive procedures for dealing with pests and wildlife. As the world progresses, humans experience new technologies and developments. Life gets easier.
The technology we have presents better opportunities to create an environmental impact. We are in an age where using products with harmful chemicals is considered a red flag. Most regulatory bodies across different states and countries have already set up laws to block manufacturers that produce products that can potentially harm the environment. As of the moment, there are lots of alternatives created to replace counterintuitive methods in dealing with pests and wildlife. Ironically, no matter how advanced technology we have, some of us aren’t still conscious and conscientious about the environment. But with the right education and with more ethical brands coming up the top, it’s easier to kick unethical procedures off the curb.
Part of Abra Kadabra’s core ethos is to promote environmental sustainability. When new products come out, they are created in ways that don’t harm the environment. As a matter of fact, Abra Kadabra is one of the most approachable companies for environment-conscious individuals and businesses. Everything is chemical-free and it’s being made possible by remodeling structures to prevent pest and wildlife entry. For Matt, it’s where Abra Kadabra is set apart from the industry. They don’t treat pests and wildlife as enemies. They are treated as equals.
“Pests and Animals were designed on this earth to survive. So inevitably, they are programmed to modify their biology and behavior, and everything continues to exist with the least amount of effort,” Matt said.
On the other hand, Matt is proud to operate the business on a zero-waste basis, where all transactions are mostly done digitally rather than on paper.
Matt’s Thought Process
Matt shared with me what Aristotle wrote, a quote he lives by, which says: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Being able to look at and evaluate different values without necessarily adopting them is perhaps the central skill required in changing one’s own life in a meaningful way
This quote by Aristotle encapsulates and captures Matt’s thought process. His ideas and visions can sometimes be misinterpreted and read as too ambitious—every leader experiences that. Nobody believed the men who invented ships and planes that it could happen, but they kept on going and made the impossible possible. Now, we live in a world with technologies that were once a recollection of crazy ideas. These technologies are solving our everyday problems and making our lives easier. These ideas were once thought; somebody entertained that idea, committed to it, and turned it into a mission.
Every individual is wired differently, with different experiences and backgrounds. But it’s a skill to explain an idea and make a group of people believe in you.
For me, Matt is a safe space to be creative and express your ideas. He doesn’t entertain drama and loves to dive into the work instead.
In Conclusion
He is many things – a father, brother, son, boss, leader, and a human being. Now, he enjoys training his boy, Malakai, in the sport he once played in college. For once, he mentioned that the injury he had back then took a toll on him, but he rose above it, and it’s a complete canon event for him to end up coaching baseball teams for years now, including his son’s. Now, he leads a company and a household. Just like any of us, he thinks. But what makes him a personality is how he turns his ideas into reality. The first ten years of Matt with Abra Kadabra have already been promising. Imagine the next ten years.
This article is the first part of our employee spotlight series, where we get candid with Abra Kadabra’s personalities and uncover their stories. Stay tuned for more.
If you have any pest and wildlife-related concerns, feel free to call us at 763 – 363 – 4375 or schedule an appointment.
We appreciate your support for Abra Kadabra Environmental Services. We won Gold Minnesota’s Best under the Pest Control Category.
