Jeff Chavez
Nov 26, 20182 min
470
During my sophomore year in high school,
I started selling custom surfboards from my garage. Self-taught, relying on blueprints cut from a 1985 Surfer Magazine, I carefully studied each step of the surfboard-building process and got to work. I sold three — before my mom shut down the operation because the entire house smelled like a chemical factory.
That early venture, though short-lived and unsuccessful, sparked within me a love for entrepreneurship. I started my first real business when I was 22, a small industrial service company — leading to the launch of now, twenty different companies over the years. There isn't a business model, economic cycle, financial scenario, management challenge, or employee situation that I haven't lived through. I've been to the top and back to the bottom many times, and I've got all of the mental, physical, and emotional scars to prove it! More at My Story