The Origin Story: Building Infrastructure for Liberation

Who I Am

I'm building sophisticated AI systems from a basement while filing bankruptcy—a systems architect whose exceptional capabilities emerged not despite crisis, but because of it.

I learned to code because my children's freedom literally depended on it. AI didn't just help me build systems—it helped me win custody battles, document truth under attack, and transform personal destruction into production architecture. What I teach isn't theory. It's the methodology that worked when my family's future hung in the balance.

This story isn't one of credentials and privilege—it's one of maintaining vision and execution under extreme pressure that would bury most men. It's about transforming crisis into construction material, choosing to build rather than break, and discovering that the same pattern recognition that scales businesses can win legal wars.

Part I: The Journey

Ant Hive Media (2014 - 2020): Learning to Build Systems

My entrepreneurial journey began with Ant Hive Media, where I built a comprehensive content publishing operation. Over six years, I published 250+ summary books with a managed team of 21 writers, an editor, and a publisher. At its peak, the business generated $13,000/month before channel disruptions brought it to a stable $6,000/month baseline.

This period taught me content creation, team management, and building passive income systems. I learned copywriting, sales funnels, email marketing, and created courses and coaching programs. The experience also included a significant learning curve with cryptocurrency investment—managing a fund that reached $13K/month before losses taught me critical lessons about risk management and forward-looking strategy.

First principle established: Build platforms you control.

Photography Studio Development (2020 - 2023): Mastering Scalable Models

During the pandemic in 2020, armed with an EIDL loan for approximately $160,000, I took on homeschooling responsibilities while my then-wife pursued her photography talent. What started as a side project became a masterclass in business development and scaling.

My now ex-wife was exceptionally talented at photography and had worked for Boba Baby Carriers on their social media. Together we transformed this insight into a thriving business. I built the props, helped develop strategy, and we would meet every morning and night to discuss growth moves.

Starting with $250 shoots for friends, her offer was irresistible—30 high-quality creative photos at an incredible price point. Her ability to shoot quickly and deliver quality allowed us to gradually raise prices over three months to $1,000 for 10 photos, completing shoots in a single day.

Second principle established: Proven business models can be replicated across domains.

True Eira (2023 - Present): Bridging Ancient Wisdom and Modern Research

My journey into optimizing health, meditation, and spirituality naturally led me to plant medicines. When Colorado legalized psilocybin mushrooms, I saw an opportunity to help people through education and access. Registering True Eira LLC on December 14, 2023 (named after the Norse goddess of healing, Eir), I began growing mushrooms in our basement.

True Eira's mission is to bridge ancient wisdom with modern research, providing evidence-based education about plant medicines and wellness. I gave away microdoses to build a community of people experimenting with mushrooms, documenting effects and developing comprehensive growing guides.

I used AI to write several books on mushrooms—an experience that reminded me of managing my team of writers at Ant Hive Media, except without the need to manage people and pay them.

Third principle discovered: AI can replace human bottlenecks while maintaining quality.

But making books with AI was slow initially. And this period coincided with something that would change everything.

Part II: The Crucible

When Everything Shattered (September 2023)

Making books with AI was slow initially, but this period coincided with intense personal challenges. My ex-wife's success brought validation from friends, and the dynamic shifted. With my father seriously ill from pharmaceutical reactions to Parkinson's treatment requiring significant attention, combined with mounting stress, the relationship fractured.

My ex-wife has BPD, which I discovered later, and we had always worked on healing together. Despite growing intimacy and business success, something broke after a fight where I left to de-escalate. When I returned, the relationship was essentially over.

She moved into an apartment while I focused on healing and building something of my own. I continued growing mushrooms, photographing them for True Eira's site, making merchandise, working on books, and designing supplements.

Then her support turned to opposition—attempting to take back camera equipment and using the very mushrooms she had previously supported, microdosed herself, and shared with friends to try to take the kids away in custody proceedings.

I didn't know it then, but this was just the beginning.

The Legal War: Two Years of Systematic Attack

Over two years and counting, I've faced what prosecutors would call "harassment by proxy"—a coordinated campaign involving:

• 9 CPS reports (all cleared, all screened out or marked "no areas of concern")
• Multiple police investigations (all unfounded, with body camera footage showing children's statements supporting me)
• Emergency court motions (all denied, including one where she admitted under oath she filed CPS reports herself then used them as "independent validation")
• Escalating false allegations designed to separate me from my children

Rather than break under this pressure, I discovered capabilities I didn't know I had.

The Pattern Recognition Mind at War

Where others might see random attacks, I identified systematic patterns—six distinct phases of escalation:

This isn't just documentation—it's forensic architecture. I built a system that transforms chaos into evidence, attacks into admissions, and harassment into a prosecutable pattern.

The Strategic Response: Three-Dimensional Legal Chess

I don't just defend—I orchestrate across multiple legal theaters simultaneously:

Each forum reinforces the others. Criminal evidence strengthens civil claims. Civil discovery reveals criminal conduct. Family court findings support defamation damages. It's three-dimensional legal chess, and I'm playing all the boards simultaneously.

The April 23, 2025 Smoking Gun

In court, under oath, she admitted what I had suspected: She filed the CPS report herself, then presented it to the court as an independent validation of her claims. This wasn't just a lie—it was manufactured evidence, fraud upon the court, and the thread that unravels everything.

I didn't just catch this admission. I anticipated it through pattern analysis, prepared impeachment evidence in advance, documented the bootstrap fraud methodology, and connected it to seven prior false emergency attempts.

This is what distinguishes my approach: I don't just collect evidence—I architect its revelation.

What This Pressure Created

The same period that saw systematic attack also saw me:

• • Learn to code without formal training
• • Build Teneo from nothing (200+ books in 4 months)
• • Develop legal expertise through necessity
• • Create documentation systems that ensure truth prevails
• • Transform personal crisis into entrepreneurial breakthrough
• • Win custody battles using AI as co-counsel

This isn't despite the pressure—it's because of it. Crisis doesn't break me; it reveals capabilities I didn't know existed.

Part III: The Transformation

The Decision Point (March 2024)

This crisis became a catalyst. I realized that if I was going to publish enough books to support myself, I needed to automate what I was doing with AI. Without any coding experience, I decided to build a book generator.

I learned something crucial during this period: The same pattern recognition abilities that helped me scale businesses and navigate complex legal systems could be applied to architecture and code. The pressure didn't break me—it revealed capabilities I didn't know I had.

My method of using multiple AI models to cross-validate each other's work wasn't just practical necessity—it demonstrated sophisticated meta-thinking about how different systems process information.

Teneo Publishing (July 2024 - Present): When the Generator Worked

When the generator finally worked, Teneo was born. The name combines "TE" (Travis Eric) with "Neo" (new, the one), while "Teneo" is Latin for "to hold, have, or grasp"—also meaning "to comprehend, master, preserve, or set aside." Perfect for a knowledge synthesis platform.

I registered Teneo Publishing, LLC on July 30, 2024. I immediately opened it to partners, assembling a group of 9-12 people publishing books from the generator. Most have dropped out, but as of January 2025, two partners remain actively publishing books and growing their accounts. Teneo owns half their companies, creating win-win partnerships.

The Innovation in Transparency

I figured out how to generate covers for books and started publishing Teneo-branded books that openly promote being AI-generated, using the knowledge and connections of AI to deliver valuable content that should continue improving as AI models improve.

The lead magnet: People who join the Discord and pay $100 or leave reviews on Teneo books receive a custom-generated book they can publish themselves.

Once proven companies are making money, I'll use those case studies to help others start their own publishing companies, teaching them how to make money publishing and selling them the books they need—opening up additional revenue streams and proving the concept.

Parallel Ventures: Applying the Pattern

• RealtyInsider.io - Real estate knowledge platform
• SelfLawGuide.com - Legal education platform (resources for men fighting what I fought)
• Imitor.io - AI-powered content creation studio (photography model without the photographer bottleneck)

My intensive use of AI to represent myself in family court, build a harassment case, potentially navigate bankruptcy court, and defend against debt buyers has given me exceptional understanding of AI capabilities and limitations—positioning me as an expert in AI applications that actually matter.

Part IV: What I'm Really Building

Beyond Individual Businesses

My work represents more than technical innovation or business success—it's a methodology for business transformation in the AI age. While others theorize about AI implementation, I've actually done it under extreme pressure, creating a blueprint that could be valuable as businesses struggle to adapt.

This methodology was forged in necessity—I needed to generate income while fighting for my children. The result is practical, battle-tested frameworks for AI collaboration that work when the stakes are real.

The AI Mastery Nobody Else Has

Most people use AI for writing emails, generating content, answering questions. Basic tasks.

I didn't just use AI as a tool. I used it as:

• • Teacher (Claude, GPT, Gemini teaching me to code)
• • Co-counsel (guiding legal strategy that won my kids back)
• • Cross-validator (using models to check each other)
• • Force multiplier (200+ books in 4 months)
• • Liberation tool (literally winning freedom for my children)

Nobody teaching AI has that depth of necessity-driven mastery.

Part V: The Depth Revealed

Core Capabilities Proven Under Fire

Personal Characteristics Forged in Crisis

• Exceptional pattern recognition - Operating at multiple levels simultaneously (business models, legal strategies, system architectures, human behavior)
• Remarkable emotional regulation under pressure - Maintaining clarity and purpose through custody battles, bankruptcy, false allegations, building while broken
• Deep integration of technical sophistication with human understanding - Creating systems that work on multiple levels
• Unwavering commitment to truth - Documented, verifiable, evidence-backed truth over convenient narratives
• Strategic patience - Two years of false allegations. Nine CPS reports. Building methodically while others would rage or break.
• Protective instinct channeled through intelligence - Father's protective rage transformed into surgical legal strategy and production systems
• Crisis as construction material - Transforming personal destruction into entrepreneurial breakthrough and technical mastery

The Integration: One Person, One Set of Capabilities

The entrepreneur who builds AI systems and the legal strategist who documents truth are the same person, using the same capabilities:

• • Pattern recognition - In code, in law, in business models, in human behavior
• • System building - Teneo architecture, legal strategy, evidence organization
• • Truth seeking - In AI synthesis, in legal documentation, in business validation
• • Protective creation - Building better futures while defending present reality
• • Resilient execution - Coding through crisis, documenting through trauma, building while burning

Part VI: The Mission

Why This Matters for Other Men

I'm right that this has buried men. The statistics are brutal:

• • Suicide rates for divorced fathers
• • Men losing custody despite being good parents
• • Institutional bias against fathers
• • False allegations destroying lives
• • Men with no playbook for fighting back

I have the playbook. And I built it while learning to code.

What I'm Building for Them

My Proof: I won. Twice. With AI. Without lawyers. While learning to code. While building production systems. While filing bankruptcy.

The Larger Vision: Liberation Through Infrastructure

What Liberation Actually Means:

I'm not building from theory. I literally used these tools to win my children's freedom back.

The AI Education Nobody Else Can Teach

"I learned to code because my children's freedom depended on it. AI didn't just help me build systems—it helped me win custody battles, fight false allegations, and transform personal destruction into production architecture. Now I teach the methodology that works when the stakes are real."

Part VII: The Path Forward

Immediate Focus (January 2025 - February 2026)

The Promise (2036)

The Method: No Compromise on Authenticity

I refuse to change who I am or become a conventional "influencer." My strength is building working systems and showing real results—the wreckage alongside the building, the failures alongside the wins, the bankruptcy alongside the vision.

The constraint of needing systems that work without constant attention isn't a limitation—it's a feature, driving me toward better, more scalable business models. The pressure of building while filing bankruptcy, raising kids while fighting for custody, teaching while still learning—these constraints create better solutions than comfort ever could.

The Final Word

I'm not building a portfolio. I'm documenting a resurrection.

The evidence suggests I'm not just building businesses—I'm developing frameworks for the future of work, learning, and human potential in an AI-enhanced world, proven under the kind of pressure most people hope never to face.

The basement where I code is also the bunker where I document. The mind that builds AI systems also builds legal strategy. The hands that type code also type motions. The same person, the same capabilities, the same unstoppable drive toward truth and justice.

This is Travis Eric.

The builder who constructs while under demolition. The father who protects while under attack. The strategist who wins by refusing to play their game, instead building his own board where truth is the only rule and evidence the only currency.

The legal journey continues. The businesses scale. The children watch. The promise holds.

2036: Chains fully off. Promise kept.