Here's my life story in 10 minutes. If you've been watching my videos, I think you'll enjoy getting to know how I got here. The full version is in my book Un Fn Myself, available on Amazon Kindle, print, and audio.
A military childhood
I was a military brat, born in Michigan. My mom joined the military when I was a year old to provide for us, and my dad — a recovered alcoholic and drug addict who sobered up — became a stay-at-home father who raised my brother and me while my mom had a 20-year military career. I lived all over the world and got used to my life being burned to the ground every few years as we moved, which was hardest as a teenager in Germany.
College, corrections, and the badge
I went to the University of South Carolina, started in engineering and the Honors College, and started drinking in college despite never drinking at home. I switched to criminal justice because I wanted to serve as a police officer (while avoiding being sent overseas to war). I became a corrections officer — miserable but proof I could hang — then a police officer, which I write about in my book Officer Banfield. What broke my idealism was seeing that people with power and status got different rules: I'd be ordered not to arrest someone connected, while anyone else went to jail. By the end I didn't want to arrest anyone.
Finding YouTube
I started a criminology PhD at the University of South Florida, planning to be a professor — then in 2011 I found YouTube and realized I could just run my mouth and have people all over the world hear my thoughts instantly. I quit the program after my master's in 2012 and have been a full-time creator ever since. I met my now-ex-wife on Match in 2011; we married in 2012, and I'm grateful for 15 fun years together.
Sobriety, success, and starting over
In 2014 my dad died, my drinking blew up, and my business was sinking — so I got sober through Alcoholics Anonymous, which changed my life. My business took off: by 2016 I was a top Udemy instructor with millions in sales and over 100,000 YouTube subscribers, then got banned from Udemy and became one of the first crypto YouTubers, supporting my family while my ex-wife raised our two kids. Eventually we disagreed about having more kids and the marriage fractured. I became a top Facebook gaming streamer, got demonetized, returned to crypto YouTube, burned out, and deleted everything in 2025. Then came the divorce, dating again, and a couple of months ago I came back with six new channels and a few hundred thousand views. It's been quite an adventure, and I'm genuinely excited for my life. If you want more, watch my life playlist here.