Matthew Eickman (Abra Kadabra Environmental Services)

Matthew Eickman is the owner of Abra Kadabra Environmental Services, a pest control company in Mound.

“Matt,” I say after turning on the recorder.

But today’s subject does not want me to address him so casually.

“Do you prefer Matthew?” I ask.

“That’s my name,” he says.

“A lot of people know me by that because I’m so well-known,” he adds, perhaps sardonically, but it’s hard to tell because I’ve only known Eickman for about an hour.

I don’t want Matt to tell me he would have preferred that I used Matthew in this article, so for the sake of harmony, I’ll defer to the surname.

Eickman, along with being a driven entrepreneur, is, in no particular order, a husband, father, son, and brother.

Once upon a time, he was also a baseball phenom, his fastball topping out at 91 miles per hour as he effectively navigated the strike zone, and many a batters’ psyche.

See, baseball is a mental game.

Sure, you have to run, throw, and hit, but if you’re not right between the ears, it doesn’t matter how hard you can hurl a baseball, because the likelihood is as soon as your arm tires or a curveball sends your brain into a quagmire, failure will ensue.

“It’s more about staying positive,” Eickman says of America’s pastime.

“You’re going to get out seven out of 10 times, and still be considered really good.”

Editor’s note: that 30% success rate also applies to business, although even the most ardent entrepreneur knows that 30% as a success rate is high.

For Eickman, he actually hurt his elbow back in college.

It wasn’t one of those devastating tears of the ulnar collateral ligament that requires Tommy John surgery, but it knocked the once arrogant Eickman off his then pedestal.

“I went from throwing a baseball a couple hundred times per day, and that being a highlight of my day, to being the foul ball shagging guy/scorekeeper,” he recalls.

“I was depressed.”

For context, Eickman wasn’t always the ace of the Hamline staff, a D3 school in the Twin Cities where he finished his playing career.

Yes, while growing up, Eickman’s supercharged arm dismantled unsuspecting and incompetent hitters, but when he got to the next level, suddenly batters weren’t as intimated by his heater.

“My head was so big I couldn’t fit through the door,” Eickman says of his initial peak.

“The Bible says pride comes before the fall though.”

In 2011, his first year on Hamline’s campus, Eickman’s ERA was a woeful 18.90 in 3 games.

Going from superb to pedestrian affected Eickman’s confidence, to the point that he debated walking away from the game, but a phone call with his father encouraged him to rethink his dismay.

Instead of lamenting his beleaguered status on the team, he went to work, refining his pitches and his mindset.

That next season, his ERA was a staggering 2.88.

He followed that up with another brilliant campaign in 2013, posting a 2.91 ERA.

Stellar numbers for the 6-1 righty from Brooklyn Park, and even though scouts from MLB never came calling, the turbulence afforded Eickman a skillset that would enrich his life in a multitude of other ways.

Soon after exiting stage right off the graduation podium, Eickman got into pest control with Abra Kadabra, an entity that today employs 40 people.

“We are a customer service company,” Eickman says of Abra Kadabra, which protects homes and businesses from various pests and wildlife.

“We do that in an environmentally friendly way, and we take pride in trailblazing and being as innovative as possible.”

Eickman owns and spearheads the aforementioned innovation at Abra Kadabra, but he also has a couple of his brothers working alongside him, along with his wife (who also owns the company).

“I like to have a lot of fun, and that is representative in the culture that we have,” explains Eickman, who pauses to take a sip of water before becoming more reflective.

“It wasn’t always fun, but we learned, and that touches on another point, which is that in business you are always learning.”

Eickman then says that he loves expanding his mind and absorbing new information, so I ask him why.

“It’s one of those things that my parents instilled in me from a young age,” he shares.

Throughout our conversation, Eickman routinely praises his parents, crediting much of his character development to their efforts.

From my vantage point, Eickman is an enigma.

Inquisitive?

Yes.

But also, mysterious.

He’s the first guy who looks like me to confidently sport braids (I think that’s the term).

I’m too polite to ask if braids is the correct terminology, and regardless of how I perceive him, the reality is he has built a pest control business that is supported by an immensely powerful marketing machine.

Like all sustainable businesses, having his phone ring nonstop was not always commonplace.

To get his phone to buzz more voraciously than the Hilton when Morgan Wallen comes through town, Eickman had to intentionally and effectively invest in marketing.

“In order for the phone to ring, people have to know who we are,” he says, “and in order for that to happen, we have to be present on Google when they search for us.”

It’s at this point that Eickman compliments the marketing firm that has elevated his company into the next stratosphere.

“They are the best marketing company in the country, as far as I am concerned,” Eickman states, emphatically.

Naturally, I have to ask who is responsible for Abra Kadabra’s precipitous growth.

“NorthWing Digital,” Eickman reveals.

Oh.

“They have a good team over there,” he says, succinctly yet profoundly.

“Let’s talk about Homegrown Hustle,” I then transition, because I can’t let Eickman leave this restaurant without asking about a platform that I see all over social media.  

“Let’s do it, Quentin,” he responds.

Me being me, I word my next question in such a way that implies that Eickman hosts entrepreneurs on his podcast to generate opportunities for Abra Kadabra.

Eickman disagrees.

“It has nothing to do with marketing our business,” he claims.

Rather, the focus with the digital platform is to give back to the communities that have helped Abra Kadabra evolve into the Twin Cities staple that it is.

Communal reciprocation is not a matter of empty words or corporate filibuster.   

For example, Eickman collaborates with Nicole Fenstad and Princess Party Pals to bring the magic seen in movies directly to kids.  

“The kids don’t even know what Abra Kadabra is, but it doesn’t matter,” Eickman says.

“What matters is that those families have something to look forward to.”

A father of 4, Eickman relishes giving back.

“A lot of businesses, when they grow, don’t think about that kind of stuff, or they think about it too much, they overcommit, and they don’t actually run a good business because they’re trying to do nonprofit activities,” Eickman says.

In other words, businesses should keep the main thing the main thing, while also being open to supporting the same communities they indirectly ask to subsidize their aspirations when they open LLCs.

Is it possible to encapsulate Matthew Eickman in 5-7 minutes?

I’m not sure, but here is what I’ll leave you with, as it pertains to the former flamethrower turned entrepreneurial wizard:

“I wasn’t given anything, but everything that we have been able to accomplish can be attributed to hard work and good people.” QS

**

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