The District Magazine Vol. 2 Issue 3, Fall 2017 | Page 28

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Matt Masifilo Founder of Kavafied LLC www.getkavafied.com Matt has been living and working in Tampa for the last five years. Originally from Hawaii, Matt studied Product Design engineering at Stanford University while starting on the football team. Midway through his 2012 rookie season with the San Francisco 49ers, Matt was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has been living in the Tampa area ever since. While with the Buccaneers Matt shared Kava, a relaxing root beverage from his Polynesian culture, with his teammates. He soon saw a need to develop a quick and easy way to make Kava after years of struggling to prepare it in the locker room. “A messy and tedious manual process”, says Matt. With an opportunity to finally put his Stanford engineering degree to work, he invented the world's first kava maker that now serves as the foundation to his Kavafied business. What is your favorite quote? “The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”-Vince Lombardi What would the closest person in your life say if we asked them, what is the one characteristic that they totally dig about you, and the one that drives them insane? I think my fiancé would say that overall I’m an easy going kind hearted person. The one thing that I know drives her insane is that I get really impatient when it comes to doing anything. What time does a normal day start for you and what are the first three things you do every day? I’m a night owl and the furthest thing from a morning person so I usually start my day around 10am. Then it’s Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. What are your top five attributes to success? Persistence, adaptability, empathy, sacrifice, integrity Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on your success? Why and how did this person impact your life? David Kelley, one of my advisors back at Stanford, had a huge impact on my entrepreneur pathway. When he first introduced Product Design to me I immediately knew that creating new products and experiences was what I was meant to do. 28 28 CONTINUED ON PAGE 30