“Now I’m where I want to be”

He runs one of Boden’s fastest growing companies and always has a lot on his plate. Meet the entrepreneur Mattias Kjellin in an open-hearted interview about team spirit, snowcross, commercials and ADHD.

Team Kjellin mining & contracting is at the top of Norrbotten’s highest grossing companies year after year. Today, the company has 150 employees, a massive machine park and assignments from Sundsvall to Kiruna. The heaviest projects are mining in Svappavaara and groundwork in wind power and hydropower. Nevertheless, Mattias Kjellin, founder and CEO, has many times hit the brakes.

– You have to grow in a way that means that you do not lose the team spirit. Our greatest strength is that doing it together is the most important thing. It gives me a great feeling. It is my biggest driving force, we must succeed and be the best.

Mattias did not do so well in school and he did not finish primary school. Instead, he started working early, as a welder, mechanic and machine operator. That competence is today an important part of the company, another part is motorsport.

– The company was born out of motorsport. I started at the elite level in 2004 and ran the team. A lot of doors were opened and that became the basis for the company as it is today, says Mattias.

The successes in snowcross and motocross led to jobs as a stuntman and then on to actors, often as a terrorist or gangster. Around 2007, you could see Mattias in a commercial for BMW, Volkswagen and Vattenfall, but he refused to star in an Ica commercial. In addition to teamwork, growth also comes from a significant dose of risk-taking. Mattias has sold everything he owned and mortgaged houses and homes to invest in many large and expensive machines, sometimes without signed assignments.

– I have taken enormous risks, it is part of my nature and comes partly from the sport and my time as a stuntman, I am looking for the excitement in life. I have put my financial future at stake and pushed myself hard for many years. But I have believed in my gut feeling, that it would strengthen us and show how good we are.

Gives back to the sport

Today’s snowmobile business operates in Bodenbus’ old garage. Interest in sports has grown strongly in recent years and Mattias is happy to share his knowledge and experiences with the athletes of the future. He himself was forced to quit in 2013 when, after a long and hard training period, he fell ill with twar, collapsed and had cardiac arrest.

– It is a sadness I can not let go, the loss has been great. Snowcross has helped me and educated me. I found something to put my energy on, when I was young I did not always put it on good things, so it feels like I owe the sport something.

Now he is putting the effort into supporting Boden’s shooting star Emil Hansson.

– I see myself in Emil. He is a humble and warm man and a real winner, I know he is one of the world’s greatest talents. He is a fantastic role model.

Many things on his plate

Mattias has always been a person around whom a lot happens. In addition to the company, he is involved in a development project for the tourism industry in Harads, the planning of an activity park in central Boden and a completely new kind of snowcross competition for the spring of 2022. He is also starting a meeting place for young people interested in motoring in the old garage in Boden. Here, Mattias and his staff want to create a sanctuary where you can both learn to weld or do mechanical work on your EPA and to support and protect each other.

– All young people who have ADHD, I do not want them to feel worse or end up in exclusion. The day they find a way to channel the energy, they have a gift that no one else has. I have never been diagnosed but I have understood it myself, he says.

Mattias knows how it feels when the head is a single mess and chaos, but he advises everyone who recognizes themselves not to give up but continue to fight.

– Get it in order and it’s a pure asset. Now I am where I want to be, I can help others, even entrepreneurs and I want to be a source of inspiration. #