It’s been a sweet career path for this Fox alumnus

Six years ago, then-senior financial analyst Matt Bouton, FOX ’09, was asked if he wanted to pack up his East Coast life and head west to California. There was a new opportunity at an ice cream company.  

But it wasn’t just any ice cream company. It was Halo Top, the pint-sized light ice cream phenomenon that was taking the industry by storm. And his brother Doug was Halo Top’s co-founder. 

“Doug and his business partner were looking to build out a corporate finance department and asked me if I would be interested in joining to help them grow, scale and eventually sell the business,” Matt Bouton says. “I sat down and I thought about it really hard; this was a risky maneuver for me.” 

Bouton had built a solid, secure career path since earning his degree in finance at the Fox School of Business. But hadn’t he already taken a few risks to get there?  

“The amount that I knew about Philadelphia and Temple University was extremely limited,” he says. “But after I was accepted, I did some in-depth research and decided to go with Temple. It ended up being a phenomenal fit for me.” 

That decision didn’t come without a bit of risk.  

“I never visited the campus until I showed up there,” he says. “So, I show up on day one, and for me, coming from the country to North Philadelphia, this was a bit of a culture shock. But I like to say that I have a very adaptable personality and I'm able to fit into any type of unique situation or circumstance. And I did.” 

Once on Broad Street, Bouton began to take everything in. 

“I still I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, in my career, but I knew I was interested in business,” he says. “I love math and I love being able to apply mathematics to the real world. That's how I saw business at the time. 

“I wanted to explore and see what else was out there for me. I found some incredible undergraduate professors who just went out of their way to help me succeed and really apply myself.” 

But just as Bouton was about to graduate in the winter of 2008-09, the world of finance changed dramatically. 

“That's right when all the major banks in the U.S. collapsed,” he says. “So, if you can think about it from the perspective of a finance major at that time, it's about the worst thing that can happen.” Because of the upheaval, his dream-come-true job offer was withdrawn, leaving Bouton to look for another opportunity. 

“I was upset, I was crushed,” he says. “But I ended up working for an incredible organization, Main Line Health. I started as an accounts payable analyst, paying bills.  

“For me, this was quite the opposite from that dream job. But knowing my personality and using everything that I've learned at Fox and heard from mentors, students and professors, I took the opportunity. I looked it in two ways: I could either complain about it and get down on my luck or I could be a sponge and soak everything up.” 

Bouton chose the latter, quickly excelling at Main Line Health, moving upward and gaining knowledge. 

“I was really demonstrating my ability to learn and not give up on myself and keep on fighting,” he says. “So that helped me along the early path.” 

What followed were financial leadership roles at Comcast and Johnson & Johnson, well-known, major players in the business world. Then came the call to join Halo Top. 

“I thought, ‘I'm giving up this great security at Johnson & Johnson,’” he says. “This is very risky, but I ultimately decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the 10 years of experience that I had in the professional world and apply everything at Halo Top. 

“So, I took my experience—accounts payable from Main Line, financial systems from Comcast, supply chain finance from Johnson & Johnson—and put it to work.” 

Within a year, Bouton grew the finance department and managed a team of 20 employees. As the company expanded, so did Bouton’s role. He eventually became the vice president of finance for Halo Top. 

“I got to oversee things, really put my stamp on it, and create something very special," he says. 

As the brothers had hoped, the business continued to grow and in 2019, Halo Top was sold to Wells Enterprises, Inc. 

“I got to go through that sale process as the finance lead,” Bouton says. “It's been a tremendous experience for me seeing what a sale process looks like. As part of that deal, my brother and I negotiated the rights to sell and distribute Halo Top internationally and we created a separate spin off called Halo Top International.” 

After the sale, Bouton served as chief financial officer for Halo Top International and for Gatsby Chocolate, a candy company founded in 2021 by his brother Doug.  

“After working together for six-plus years, my brother and I are coming out of this much stronger than we went in and that was my hope,” he says. “It’s been an amazing time. But it's time for me to branch off and do my own thing.” 

His next thing has already arrived: he’s been named chief financial officer for Japonesque, a beauty and personal care company based in San Ramon, Calif. It’s the next challenge for Bouton, but he’s ready. 

“For me, it's been helpful to be able to shift and to adapt,” he says. “I think back to when I graduated from Fox and heard professors say it’s OK to not always know what you want to do, to take risks.  

“That's a lot of what I communicate to others who reach out to me for advice. I tell them all the time that I'm still figuring things out.”