My Story…
What is up, people?! Most of you know me as that singing, dancing, pink-haired “old” Fortnite pro. That guy who could totally be Ninja’s dad, who crashed into the Fortnite scene with equal amounts of meme-worthy fails and epic achievements. Who spouts my (sometimes toxic, often inspirational, always entertaining) views about life and the world, and encourages everyone to be fully themselves. But . . . was I always this way? And how did I get here??
I was born in a small town in the Midwest (check out this YouTube video for more of that story). My family was toxic and abusive in many ways, and the main thing the small-town scene taught me was that I wanted a life that was much bigger.
When we moved to Los Angeles in 3rd grade, it opened my eyes to so much more possibility.
My energy level matched the high-paced life of LA, and I wanted to grow beyond the limits that seemed to exist in the small town world. So when my parents moved us back to the Midwest, I called my dad’s old boss and convinced him to give my dad a job again, so that we could move back to Los Angeles. I was in 9th grade. I knew what I wanted, I went for it, and it paid off. I never looked back.
After high school, I went to UCLA, briefly succumbing to the outside pressures to work towards “getting a real job.” I majored in aerospace engineering, then changed to creative writing before pulling my head out of my ass and honoring what I had really always wanted, which was to become a rock star. I decided to start a band. Did I play any instruments? No. Didn’t matter. I spent tireless hours teaching myself to play the guitar, realized I could also be the lead singer even though my elementary school music teacher told me I was tone deaf, and my band Souldriver nearly signed to Columbia Records in the 90’s.
But the rock-and-roll lifestyle was taking its toll, and I knew I had to get sober. I moved to Portland, Oregon, wrote two more albums, and continued touring the U.S. as a one-man band called The Wanteds. This is the music you hear every day on my Twitch stream, and you can listen to it on Apple Music and Spotify.
The music is great, right? It was gaining popularity, and there was even a documentary made about me during the last year of touring. But the Universe had other plans for me. Two weeks after breaking up with my Portland girlfriend, I found out she was pregnant. Even though my relationship with her was over, I knew I wanted to be a different kind of dad than the one I’d had. I wanted to be around for my kid. I wanted to coach his Little League team and volunteer at his school and cultivate a healthy relationship with him. And I knew I couldn’t do those things if I continued to live the rock-and-roll lifestyle. So I chose my kid and my own healing journey, giving up music to become the dad I always wished I’d had.
It was one of the best decisions of my life.
As I’m writing this, my son is 16 years old. Here are some of the things I’ve done since he was born: I went to therapy to heal my childhood trauma (specifically EMDR, which is incredibly powerful, and which I believe would benefit everyone). I ran a recording studio in my basement. I worked nights as a bartender so I could coach my son’s football team and volunteer at his school and be an active participant in his life. I went to film school. I became an award-winning actor and director. I wrote, directed, starred in, and produced a TV show on Amazon Prime. I met my lady, who is an actor, writer, and incredible healer. And she’s HOT. You’ve probably seen her on stream, so you know.
Oh, and how did I end up here, as this Twitch-streaming content-creating Fortnite pro? I had hit a wall as a writer and director, struggling to determine my next move, and wondering if I was on the right path. To be honest, I had quit my bartending job to pursue filmmaking, and we were racking up massive amounts of credit card debt. I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty stressful. So to blow off steam, I was playing a lot of Fortnite. Duo fills, specifically, because my son stopped playing. And nearly every kid I played with would ask “are you streaming right now?” Streaming? I didn’t even really know what streaming was when they first started asking. No, I wasn’t streaming. “Oh,” they’d say. “You sound like a streamer.”
So I did a little research. Discovered Ninja and Tfue and Nickmercs. I was mesmerized. I thought, “I could do this.” And what’s more, I could do this well. I could do this with my own flare, my own style. I might really like this.
The potential, you might say, is LIMITLESS.
And here we are. Growing this amazing online community together. Launching this new line of LIMITLESS merch (along with a lot of other amazing new and vintage merch too), inspired by our development as an online community and every single life experience that has brought us, collectively, to this point. And here’s what I want you to know. YOU ARE LIMITLESS. That’s the simple truth. I know it, because I live it. So can you. We all can.