My Story
My name is Jeremy LaFaver and this is my blog
I started this blog as a side project back in 2020 and it quickly became one of the fastest-growing businesses I ever created.
However, it was a long road to get where I am today.
I can’t even begin to count how many times the internet business bug has struck me throughout my entrepreneurial journey.
Let me tell you, though: self-doubt and perfectionism?
They were my strongest enemy.
These cunning monsters would always find a way to infiltrate my new project. Whispering doubts and placing unrealistic demands on me.
Before I knew it, I’d be throwing in the towel, convinced I wasn’t cut out for this whole entrepreneur thing.
It was like being on a rollercoaster of excitement and disappointment.
I’d get fired up about a new idea, dive in headfirst, and then… bam!
Here’s how it went:
I leap headfirst into new projects, meticulously planning every aspect from the comfort of my computer.
Hours pass as I become engrossed in the details of branding, agonize over web designs, and experiment endlessly with logo possibilities.
I meticulously craft forms, set up countless social media profiles, and don’t even get me started on the rabbit hole of creating LLCs and navigating the maze of business banking.
It’s like I’m building a digital empire before I’ve even left my bedroom!
Everything had to be perfect before launch.
Months of planning and making things perfect so that I had enough confidence to share it with friends – my ways to keep things safe while avoiding rejection and failure.
And when I finally did launch, I’d tell friends and family so they could look at my amazing new, (soon-to-be-unsuccessful) online business.
While sharing your new online business ideas with friends and family may seem like a way to hold you accountable, it backfires almost every time.
It’s all about psychology: when you announce your new entrepreneurial journey, you start believing that others see you as that person.
This boost in status gives you a false sense of achievement before you’ve even put in the work, making it easier to fall short of your goals.
Next, when it finally came time to market myself in the real world, self-doubt took over.
I’d get discouraged when the results didn’t come fast enough, retreat behind my computer, and quit—every single time.
I never fully committed. I stayed in my comfort zone, keeping my personality separate from my business, playing it safe instead of taking the risks needed to truly grow.
If I didn’t put my face to it, it wouldn’t matter when I quit, I thought.
This blog is the first time it worked. Here are my theories why:
- I learned enough about myself to make it work.
- I launched without worrying about things being perfect.
- This blog is under my name, putting my personal brand at the forefront.
- I didn’t tell any friends or family about it until I was making my monthly goal.
Most people who write “About Me” pages focus on how awesome they are and list all of their professional accomplishments.
Don’t get me wrong – I like a success story.
But even more than a success story, I like the story of the person who fucks their life up and then gets it back together.
So here’s my story – I hope it gives you an idea of who I really am.
1982: From Nothing at All to a Real, Living Human Baby
I was born on October 21, 1982, at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Eager to hit the ground running in the 1980s, I was the second-born son to my amazing parents, Terry and Cindy.
We lived in a small house in Kearns, Utah, about 5-10 miles outside of Salt Lake City.
The physicians tried to put me on Ritalin at an early age since I was always way too energetic for my age.
My older brother, and I, were the only ones together up until this time.
For a kid, T.J. was the ultimate big brother.
He was a blast on the NES when we played games like Duck Hunt, Super Mario, and Excitebike.
My mom was a general manager who consistently put in at least 12-hour shifts, while my dad also pulled 12 hours on the graveyard shift at the bank.
At this time, I was in 1st or 2nd grade, and I remember a few memories I’m sure we all realistically had in the late ’80s and early ’90s:
- I had my first disagreement with this child during our recess chicken fights. I remember the whole school calling my name as the other child and I rolled around on the rocks, throwing muscleless punches at each other.
- I used gas station theft to support my addiction to chocolates and WWF. I simply had to have every single WWF tattoo found in the “Bonkers” candies. And back then, P.B. Max Peanut Butter bars were my obsession.
- The first week after moving into a new apartment building, I vandalized a playground. Prior to being billed for the damage, my mother and I had to thoroughly clean it.
t was always my big brother and I until…
In 1989, my youngest brother Zack was born.
T.J. and I were taken back, but it turned out to be one of the most amazing events of our lives.
Ultimately for TJ and me, this phase of our lives pretty much peaked in the early 1990s when we got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas.
Previously, I spent many days at the Smiths Marketplace, playing the Street Fighter Arcade with any quarters I could scrounge around the house.
Oh, and I am ashamed to admit that I began stealing at a young age.
I would steal anything from the store that I could, just to fund my Street Fighter arcade quarter roll.
This resulted in me and my older brother being detained and handcuffed for the first time when I was nine years old.
As a result, we were both assigned community service hours, requiring us to visit the homes of the elderly and read to them on an almost weekly basis.
Which, since I found reading to be so simple, I didn’t see it as a punishment.
Life was getting real though. Almost too real.
1990: The Stress of Girls and Social Darwinism
During the summer of 1990, three significant events took place:
I started third grade, my family moved to a new city, and I developed a secret crush on girls.
I tried to keep this a secret, but it seemed like all I was thinking about was girls, and I stopped caring about school pretty quickly.
She resided in the apartment building next to my house, just over the fence, and I still recall our first encounter.
We used to run around all recess playing kissing tag.
Every day after school, I would jump the fence, and we would spend what seemed like hours just rolling around in the hallway and kissing.
I think I really thought that’s what love was back then. That’s too funny.
We always had alot of kids that lived in my neighborhood and I probably knew where every kid lived that was in my grade.
In these years, bullies never really saw me as a target. Well, outside my little group of friends, I suppose.
My big brother was always one of the biggest kids in the school, and he beat up a kid in 5th grade; that really set the stage that we weren’t to be messed with.
Nevertheless, our classes were in pods, and I remember being afraid of mixed classes.
I still positioned myself in the best possible way to escape any bullies.
I think I achieved that by being a competitive athlete and making an effort to make friends with the biggest student in the class.
When we played football at recess or for PE, my friend Tyler would constantly toss me Hail Marys, and we were unbeatable.
I like to think that in Kickball, Basketball, Soccer, and other sports, I was always in the top three in my grade.
Up until the fifth grade, I believe I held the school record for the quickest mile (6 minutes, 26 seconds).
From the fourth to the sixth grades, I also competed in the school spelling bee, placing second, fourth, and eighth.
Those were so much fun, man. I still remember every word I lost to.
Much better times than when I tried to play an instrument in the fourth grade.
The trombone!
Don’t remind me.
Imagine if there were ten trumpets, six clarinets, four flutes, and me as the lone trombone in the class.
My teacher was too distracted with the other students who were actually attempting to be proficient players of their instrument to give me a full five minutes of instruction on how to blow into the thing.
I still don’t think I was able to play more then two notes on the instrument.
I can still picture the horror my parents felt when I tried to play jingle bells for them when I came home, and they realized how much money they had wasted renting me that stupid instrument.
However, things improved.
I followed my big brother into playing football and was able to release all my energy on the field.
Over the next two years, I avoided conflict, was really good at being athletic, got my first real girlfriend (hand-holding at its finest), and prepared for middle school.
But still managed to be a menace to society. 😏
Life was now 100% real. And it was about to get even more real.
The Late 90’s to Early 2000’s: My Teenage Years
I continued to play football for Granite District in the seventh grade. I had to Z down a grade level because I was so small.
And the way my birthday landed I was almost a couple years older it felt like.
I went through a brief uncomfortable time. Definitely didn’t really fit in with the guys on my team because of the age difference.
I had already stopped wearing MC Hammer parachute pants in the seventh grade and instead began to worry about what saggy disaster I would wear to school the next day in an attempt to impress the girls.
I hated my wealthy neighbor friends who’s Dad owned our football league and the renown “Haggen Daaz” ice cream shop since they were always wearing Girbaud pants and Doc Martin shoes.
Naturally, though, I became friends with them, and occasionally I was able to borrow a cool shirt from one of them once in awhile.
Mostly though my only option was to steal my big brother’s clothes.
He started hanging out with a huge group of friends and they all would lend each other clothes.
And that’s when I finally started to get my Steez. Karl Kani, Tommy Hilfiger, Rocawear, and of course, NBA and NFL jerseys were poppin’ at that time.
My Dad would take me to the 99-cent store to buy a windbreaker suit and a couple pairs of pants.
I was able to divide that into a whole week’s worth of outfits using just one 2-piece windbreaker suit and the jeans.
I used to steal shoes that were often two or three sizes too big for me in the morning by crawling into my brother’s room on my knees because I never truly had nice shoes.
In the summer time I always kept myself occupied with the roller skating rink(girls), friends, and sports. I think the 49th Street Galleria where we skated, was when I started to gain some popularity.
We were a group of 5-7 dudes that were die hard rollerbladers or dancers and we put a little crew together that could dance on blades and we called it “Jammin” or “The Jam”.
We was pullin’ phone numbers like crazy!
And we didn’t mess with nobody that came from the other skating rink(Classic), guys or girls.
We were all loyal to our rink and didn’t like outsiders.
When school came back around, I recall spending a lot of time after school watching Talk shows like Sally Jesse Raphael and Ricky Lake.
Oh, then there was MTV, of course (back when they used to play music).
For Christmas, I used to ask for blank VHS tapes so I could spend the entire day recording my favorite MTV music videos.
I would get blank tape cassettes, which allowed me to record my preferred love songs directly from the radio.
At that time, Boyz II Men, Black Street, and All 4 One were huge, and I was addicted!
In junior high school, I struggled academically and had to work very hard to receive C’s and D’s.
The old demons of wanting to fit in from childhood and seeing my mom smoke in the house my whole life led me to develop a newfound relationship with cigarettes and weed at 14.
I found it was the perfect social lubricant—it made me fit in and feel good, and with everyone else doing it, I didn’t see the harm.
That’s kind of when I just really stopped following the rules and did whatever I wanted from there on out.
I swear I must have given my parents a full head of gray hair from the age of 14 to 18.
I snuck out EVERY night, partied with my friends, vandalized a lot of things, and got in my fair share of dumb situations.
We once tossed all the chairs into the communal pool and proceeded to bounce on them, leaving scratches on the bottom.
In order to remove all the marks, we had to swim down with a toothbrush.
My friend Jacob and I set a blue newspaper bin on fire in the same complex, then hid in the bushes to watch the fire department arrive and put out the raging blaze.
Thankfully, we weren’t able to completely burst the bubble that covered the tennis courts when we attempted to pop it in the dead of winter with a pocket knife.
I figured out marketing at a very young age when I would sell my dad a matchbox that had maybe a bowl in it for $5.
It was the dirtiest weed and he probably didn’t even smoke it but that was his nice gesture of supporting whatever I was doing at the skating rink.
All I needed was enough to get admission to the rollerskating rink so I could rollerblade down and practice before the “Big Weekend”.
So, that led to me starting my very first business. Too bad it wasn’t a legal business. But damn I was good at it.
Eventually I was delivering so much weed from Ogden to Provo that the cops got a whiff of me and my house was basically raided by my friends dad that was a gang enforcement officer.
I was 15.
This was my first big appearance to the system with a couple felonies for distribution of marijuana, and that led to two years of drug testing and probation.
All that meant for me was I needed to try out new substances that would be easier to pass a Urine Analysis test, so I dabbled with Ecstasy, Ketamine, Nos, Psychedelics, and Cocaine.
Pretty much anything except heroin and pills. Ravers didn’t like downers back in those days. 😳🍃
And the whole time I really thought I had it all under control. Baaahaha…Kids…
2000 – The High School Years: A Downward Spiral in Slow Motion
By the time I reached high school, I was huge into the rave scene.
High school conditions weren’t the best situation for a spiraling party kid like myself.
Looking back now, I probably wasn’t quite ready to handle this new freedom.
I tried to stay responsible for a while.
During my Sophomore year, I met a lot of new friends who lived in the area we moved to.
Once again, I was riding the tail of my bigger brother and still didn’t have to deal with much bullying at a new school because he was 2 grades ahead of me.
I tried to get good grades but could never quite shake my bad habits.
My sophomore year was when all of my bad habits caught up with me.
First, I started truly failing classes and gained a newfound inability to show up.
In previous years, I mastered tiptoeing that fine line between pass/fail – only showing up for the friends and skipping everything else.
However, with this attitude comes a dangerous precedent.
Once you get away with it a few times, your line in the sand keeps shifting, and once you continually miss those important classes, there’s no going back.
At this point, I was failing enough classes to get kicked out of school.
Although I was struggling inside, I always tried to hide it from the surface.
While consistent substance abuse brought its fair share of problems, it also brought its share of thrilling rewards, such as aspiring to become a DJ, the attention of women, and making good money while supplying the school and my friends with “schwag” weed. Which ultimately turned into psychedelics as well.
But I finally had enough money to buy any clothes and shoes I wanted. And boy did I splurge.
I was fresh off probation and I wanted to be cool and go “smoke” by skipping another class.
This ultimately resulted in me getting busted (again) for marijuana distribution within a thousand feet of the school during school hours.
I had ten one-gram baggies of weed when I was stopped for truancy while waiting outside my friends grandmother’s house.
I was taken directly to lockup by the officer and had to wait weeks to find out my fate for my new felonies.
The crazy part is I had just gotten off 2 years of probation and drug testing for the exact same charges.
And so it started…
All over again…
After that, I was placed in a probationary school by a court order, and I was chosen to take a unique woodworking course at Salt Lake Community College.
Kicked Out of Community College.
Long story short, I got kicked out of community college, put back on probation, and went on the run again.
That led me to, of course, getting caught and put back in lockup.
From there I was sent to a juvenile facility (Genesis) right next to Utah’s main prison at the point of the mountain.
This is still one of the craziest stories of my life because I was only there 9 hours before I formulated the craziest plan to escape after everyone went to bed.
And it worked. I actually got over the barbwire fence and got away.
But after a couple years of being on the run, I was really at my lowest point and simply wanted to finish the process and turn myself in so I could return home and start living my life normally.
There was so many low points during that time that I contemplated suicide by drugs many times.
I had turned 19 by the time I was apprehended again, so the judge in juvenile court assigned me to an adult drug court program.
Having served time in jail for dirty urine tests and driving on a suspended license throughout the program, I am happy to report that I have not been involved in any legal issues since 2004.
Crazy to think how much time was lost over marijuana charges during all those years.
And there were a ton of occasions when I was genuinely unable to envision my own destiny.
Although I was never able hold down a job, I managed to obtain one of my favorite positions at Guitar Center.
At last, a job I was interested in.
I was receiving a 50% discount on all professional audio and DJ equipment but I wasn’t making crap for money.
Literally only worked there for the discounts because back then I made plenty of daily cash selling weed.
I managed to assemble a few home studios, but I was still unsure of how to proceed with any of it.
I basically just blurted out a lot of songs and beats that, strangely enough, I still like bumpin’ once in awhile.
So I began escaping some of my problems by sitting behind a computer and helping others with DJing—audio production, video production, coding, social media, web development—anything I could get my hands on.
While still unable to shake most of my bad habits, I caught a couple of court cases from people trying to rob me on weed drop-offs.
Some were pretty traumatic events, but nobody ever got hurt.
Except for my ego!
Both of those cases were eventually dropped, and I haven’t spent time in jail again since 2009, when I got into a fight with my older brother.
With that case, the charges against me were dropped on the grounds that I was acting in self-defense.
“Don’t ever regret your past, because that’s how you were made into the person you are today.”
After working at several different call centers for a while, I was unable to keep a job for longer than six months, mostly because I was bored with everything in life and nothing challenged me.
I worked for Nextel before meeting my son’s mother.
Later, I was a supervisor at Overstock.com, where I also met the mother of my oldest daughter.
I was still trying to figure life out and had already become a father with two baby mommas.
I was still selling cannabis and getting farther and more into debt.
Then something magical occurred, making everything right again.
2013-2017 Turning It Around With Cupbop
In 2013, while working as a general manager at various restaurants, I came across Cupbop, a pretty creative food truck with an amazing concept.
This was my first exposure to the concept of a mentor.
I thrived in this role, rising to the position of general manager in just two weeks before transferring to the position of district manager, where I oversaw the hiring of all 179 employees of the company and oversaw eight food trucks and eleven brick-and-mortar stores.
Within this time I had my second daughter with my 3rd baby momma and it was one of the happiest moments in my life.
My daughter probably never would of existed without this job.
This job gave me the opportunity to realize my full potential.
But it was also a major setback because the owners eventually pushed me out of the company.
I assumed it was the whole plan along.
But they played it off like they no longer could pay me as my value had increased and they had so many different owners and investors coming in that they didn’t have a say in those type of big financial decisions anymore.
So a little string of robberies from one of our employees was the perfect out for them to clean house.
Sadly, they began pushing out all of my general managers (GMs) who had been grumbling about their meager pay of $10–$11 an hour.
I watched them kick out every single person I trained and invested so much into, but I never imagined they would do the same to me.
Regretfully, I had to learn this the hard way and was quickly ejected.
But, through hardships comes ease.
My wife, whom I had met by then, became my new life support, she helped me so much in making it an easy exit then a soft landing.
I had saved up enough and built my credit up to put it all on the line and go off and try to start my own business.
I promised my wife, (then girlfriend), Danielle, when I left that company that I would never let anyone do that to me ever again.
But, after all the hard work I had put into that place and the people…
Still, there are not enough hard feelings to hold in about that company because the positives still outweigh the negatives.
The Korean owners put me in a position to really take over this new, thriving company.
I had never persevered in school before, and part of that was just my sheer fear of being called upon in front of a group of students.
I was promoting the company by using the radio and live news outlets. So I had to go on actual television in front of the whole Salt Lake Valley.
Talk about terrifying.
I was able to make a substantial contribution to the design layouts and store building.
I was also able to organize large events that drew lines of over 300 people to our food trucks. You would think we were some type of local celebrities.
Oh and the celebrities I met personally!
I had to have daily team meetings with over thirty of my crew in addition to investor and lawyer meetings.
I used to manage accounting, HR, and prospecting.
I’d also establish food truck leagues and had the chance to visit Indonesia to create several new locations.
There were countless opportunities.
I learned a lot from the owners, but most of all, they made me realize how valuable I was and what I was capable of.
After working for Cupbop, I finally began to understand myself at the deepest level:
- I learned that my child struggles and friendships was still affecting my self-worth as an adult.
- I spent all my time impressing everyone else around me rather then focusing on myself
- My fear of rejection was holding me back from taking risks.
- I learned that the meaning we put behind others’ actions is inherently a human-made concept and unique to every person – it doesn’t physically exist in reality.
- I better grasped that the past and future don’t exist – now is all that matters.
- Ultimately, I learned that the human mind has infinite untapped potential, and the only thing in my way was myself.
2017: The Start of Something New.
I had moved out into my very first big rental with Danielle the week before my departure of Cupbop.
So now I was jobless and just took out a $5,000 loan to move into our new place.
I had just over $4,000 saved up in my bank.
But no job.
I had to find something.
But how could I do that when I vowed to not work for someone else’s company ever again?
Then my life became forever altered in the form of a YouTube channel called “Tanner J. Fox.”
Understanding that fear has been holding me back all my life…
I was afraid to start a business, or to take risks because of a deep-rooted fear of rejection and failure – one that stemmed from my childhood and stuck with me for years.
I’d learned that by taking action and doing something every day that scared the shit out of me(like getting in front of a camera for YouTube),
I was slowly becoming the person I wanted to be.
Somehow, I was no longer holding myself back. I applied my computer talents and went into the realm of digital marketing. I self taught myself Amazon FBA.
Became knowledgeable about E-Commerce, built an Amazon casting company, created over ten Shopify websites in different niches, and started YouTube channels where I talked about my experiences with hydro dipping, growing organics😊, and Drop-shipping.
I launched numerous Etsy and Ebay stores.
All while driving for Grubhub, Uber Eats, and Doordash to make ends meet.
I’m still learning everyday and honestly feel like I’m just starting to figure out my groove in the digital space.
Where I Am Today
Today, I am a married man to the love of my life, and she has shown me support from another human that I never even knew existed.
I teach the complex world of AI, Blogging, and online Entrepreneurship.
I’ve seen the internet grow from its humble beginnings to the powerhouse it is today, and I’ve kept pace every step of the way.
My mission is to share the knowledge I’ve gained with the next generation of digital entrepreneurs.
Helping them to scale their businesses quickly and effectively.
Through JeremyLafaver.blog,
I aim to provide a unique blend of historical insight, technical know-how, and practical strategies for anyone looking to succeed online.
You’ll find actionable advice, step-by-step guides, and the latest AI tactics to help you navigate the complex world of SEO and Digital Marketing.
I believe in cutting through the noise and focusing on what works—no fluff, just real, practical advice that you can apply immediately.
My blog’s purpose is to document my journey from day one so that we learn together.
Since most of us are building a side income while working full-time, my goal is to give you the strategies and tools to accelerate your growth.
A lot of podcasts, influencers, and popular bloggers started at least 5-10 years ago, and their tactics don’t necessarily apply in 2024.
Plus, the bigger an influencer gets, the less actionable and more generic their advice gets.
For the past decade, I’ve been an avid listener of entrepreneurship podcasts.
However, I noticed a common theme: most success stories began well into the entrepreneur’s journey.
These narratives often skipped over the crucial early stages, leaving aspiring business owners wondering about the initial steps and challenges faced by successful entrepreneurs.
No one ever gave me the blueprint, or step-by-step advice to grow from day 1. I want to change that.
Finally, I love the connections I’ve made, the websites I’ve contributed to, and the results I’ve driven for high-growth startups and bloggers alike.
I don’t plan to gain passive income to go lay on a beach somewhere.
There’s a lot more work to do. I have more content to write, more ideas to contribute, and more bloggers to help.
Because that’s my blueprint – I’m a teacher at heart.
My biggest thrills in life don’t come from making money online but when I’m lucky enough to meet someone new and teach them something that may change their life.
Starting a blog and generating side income can bring you more freedom and change your life in many ways.
It could be launching a side business to support your family or making thousands of dollars every month from your content.
It could be as simple as making some passive income with affiliate marketing or telling your unique story to the world and getting paid for it.
No matter your goals, my dream is to help get you there faster. Life’s too short not to give it a shot.
I Want to Take a Moment and Thank You For Being Here.
If you made it this far, I appreciate the time you took to read this and deeply value every relationship I make from this blog.
I’m here for you as both a blogging guide and as a friend. I try to respond to every message or email and want to hear your story – both the good and the bad.
Here, fresh voices unite to spark creativity, share wisdom, and amplify each other’s success.
As newcomers to this digital frontier, we’re stronger together.
Our community is built on collaboration, mutual support, and smart strategies.
Join me in lifting each other up, celebrating milestones, and navigating the exciting world of blogging as a team.
Together, we’ll turn our passion into thriving online presences.
Thank you for reading.
As you pen your own tale, your unique story has the power to inspire not just yourself, but others around you – so write it boldly, live it fully, and cherish every plot twist along the way.
