Employee Spotlight: Matt Gray

What's your full name?

 Matthew Gray

What do you do at TJM and how long have you worked here?

I handle all of the shipping and receiving as well as general maintenance. I've worked here for 18 months.

What's your favorite aspect of working here?

This might sound a little mundane, but my favorite thing is the hours. I have worked 12- to 16-hour shifts for the majority of my life, and having a "9 to 5," with nights and weekends off, has always been a bit of a dream.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?

I enjoy collecting vinyl (3000 records and counting), restoring phonographs, turntables and gramophones, Talk radio/podcasting, engineering — both mechanical and audio. I love vintage television, anything from the '50s, '60s and '70s (Get Smart, Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, Dragnet). Cars and working on them. Science and everything to do with it. More than anything else, I love spending time with my daughters. I love teaching them things, exposing them to new and exciting things, showing them the world.

Tell us a little about your family.

My fiancé and I have been together going on three years and I have two beautiful, amazing daughters, Isabella and Violet Gray.

What do you like most about living in central Florida?

I guess I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Florida. I love Florida because it's home, it's where I was born and raised and it's all I really know. I want to spend some time, and possibly even live, in Tennessee (the birthplace of American music), as well as Canada. I'm fascinated with so many different things in Canada.

Any exciting things planned in the future?

Expanding my disc jockey company, as well as a clothing brand in the works.

Anything else you'd like to tell the world about?

I live by a motto that was told to me as a small child, and that is "Life is too short to be unhappy. If you're unhappy with something, change it."

(Ed. note – Matt was also featured in Ocala Magazine’s “40 Under 40” for 2016. Read more about him on the Ocala Magazine Facebook Page)