Hi, my name is
Jarod Ferguson.

If you had told me 30 years ago this is how my life would turn out, I would’ve gawked in disbelief. I might’ve even laughed at you.

In grade school, I was writing my first lines of code, and by high school, I was using drugs and in and out of the system. I know that sounds wild. How does a bright kid go from coding and watching Voltron to being in an episode of Breaking Bad? 

‍The Beginning:
‍I was born in Dallas, Texas, surrounded by turbulence and dysfunction. My parents were young and not ready to raise me. My father, James, grappled with addiction, and my mother was reliant on my grandparents, Royal and Ann. Adoption was the plan for me. But they couldn’t sign the papers when they saw me and chose to keep me instead. ‍

‍My father would only see me once. Standing in that living room, I believe my dad was also faced with a decision: get it together or lose this family. Looking down at me in my mother's arms, he chose heroin instead of fighting for his son. Three months later, my father was tragically killed in a car crash on October 6th, 1976, at 2:32 am. 

My mom and I moved to Bountiful, UT, with my loving grandparents and six aunts and uncles. When I turned four, my mother and I moved into our own place. Not long after, my Aunt Jacquie joined us. The little I remember about this time is happy, as my Aunt nourished me with all the love and attention a child needs.

‍A Spark in the Darkness:
‍Around my sixth birthday, my mom met an alcoholic Vietnam vet who would eventually become my stepfather. For the next several years, I would live in fear of this man and the physical abuse he’d hand out at his leisure. His violent rage and emotional tirades stripped me of any sense of confidence I might have had.

I turned inward and found comfort in my creativity. I’d spend hours playing with toys, taking things apart, and exploring with my friends. Those quiet moments gave me a way to escape and sparked my curiosity about how things were made and how they could be changed.

When I was seven, my mom signed me up for a summer programming class. That’s where I first learned BASIC and Logo. I’d sit at the computer, spinning in my chair, coding little turtles to scoot across the screen. At the time, it just felt like fun. I had no idea I was uncovering something I was not only good at but would grow to love: my genius.

Then everything changed. My Aunt Ceci saw my stepdad push me backward down a flight of stairs. She called my grandparents, and my grandpa drove six hours from Boise to pick me up. The next day, I climbed into his truck and left that house for good. That was the last time my stepdad ever hurt me.

‍From Stability to Struggle:
‍I loved my grandparents more than anyone in the world. Ann was a nurse and counselor. Growing up in the streets of London during the harsh realities of war, she learned to navigate life with resilience and spirit. Royal was an agronomist born and raised in a small town in rural Idaho. I loved going to work with him. I vividly remember the early mornings of driving in his truck to farms throughout the countryside and walking through fields together. 

One day, as we stood at the top of the stairs, my grandfather asked me, "Do you want to go back and live with your mother?" I didn’t hesitate. "Never," I replied. And that was it; I moved in with my grandparents permanently.

Living with them brought a sense of stability I hadn’t known before. I attended Boy Scouts, raced on my junior high ski team, played competitive soccer, went to church, and enjoyed Sunday dinners as a family. Life seemed peaceful. I started building computers from my Uncle Michael’s hand-me-downs. Those computers gave me a space to escape into a world where my genius could thrive.‍

‍It would be convenient to say my grandparents' love was enough to erase all my pain, but that would be a fairy tale. As I grew into a teenager, the trauma that had laid dormant began to emerge. I began to look for people as broken as me. I searched for connection and my friends' acceptance, which led me to drugs and alcohol. First, drinking beer at parties, then smoking pot, and eventually much worse.

On Christmas Eve, when I was 16, I snorted my first line of meth. Meth consumed me, and the only thing that mattered became doing more at any cost. The next few years blurred into a haze of addiction and reckless behavior. I had no regard for my life. My grandparents tried everything they could to help and put me in rehab several times, but by 19, my choices caught up with me. After a string of crimes, I was incarcerated for nine months.

A Call to Change:
‍My life could have easily continued down this path, and if it weren’t for "The Call," it probably would have. Standing with a cold prison payphone pressed to my ear, I heard two life-changing words: "I'm pregnant." I knew immediately what decision I had to make, the one my father didn't. 

At that moment, everything changed. I was suddenly determined to make something of myself and be there for my child. I now had a responsibility to someone else. I might not have loved myself, but I knew I would love this baby. It wasn't going to be easy. I was a 19-year-old with a record, a recovering addict, and a soon-to-be teen father, but none of that mattered.  ‍

‍After my release from prison, I stayed clean and worked at a machine shop. With the encouragement of my roommate, I applied for a technical job at a call center supporting HP printers. Honestly, given my record, I thought it was a waste of time, but I scored so high on the interview test that the manager decided to take a chance on me. Within a few months, I was awarded the “Best of the Best” as the number one agent within a call center of over 800 people. Being recognized for my abilities felt terrific. 

Finding myself behind a keyboard again, I began writing code, building websites, and completing courses and certifications any chance I could get. I was promoted off the phone and put in charge of creating an inventory database. Software development came to me naturally; I could code in several languages intuitively, and I excelled. I found my voice and rediscovered a genuine love for coding—my passion for creation. The next couple of years were filled with awards and acknowledgment.

Looking for new challenges, I moved on from the enterprise world and spent the next several years working with various startups. I held multiple roles as a software professional and made a name for myself in software architecture. I blogged and spoke about coding, design, data, and APIs. I was awarded Microsoft MVP three years in a row, and a bigger dream to be an entrepreneur grew inside me.

‍Chasing Success:
‍I started my first software business with two friends in 2009. We quickly gained traction while experiencing a lot of those first-time founder challenges. Though we eventually went our separate ways, it was a memorable time for me, and this failure pushed me forward. 

In 2011, I founded Royal Jay and built its first SaaS platform, WebWaitr. To fund the growth of my SaaS dream, I began developing software and consulting for other startups. The dev shop took off. I was the guy people would come to when they had an idea and needed help turning it into a fully operational software product.

My reputation for building software and helping companies find product market fit eventually led me to a disruptive healthcare startup in 2013. Over 7 years, I assembled a talented engineering team and led the architecture and development of their tech platform, resulting in thousands of customers and millions in revenue. Today, that platform connects 2.3 million healthcare providers and handles a staggering 8 billion transactions yearly.

At this point, my business took off. There were new clients, big contracts were signed, and success was the norm. Royal Jay was growing, and I “should’ve” been happy, but that wasn’t the case. Instead of feeling content or accomplished, there was an insatiable desire for more. The continuous pursuit of the next goal became a never-ending loop.

The growth gave me a sense of importance and inflated my ego, further fueling my addiction. We see it all the time in the movies; men wear suits and drink expensive alcohol, and they deserve it. In the startup world, alcohol is everywhere: lunch beers with the engineering team, happy hours with clients, and tech meetups with other entrepreneurs. I would even meet new candidates for a beer before extending an offer to join our team. It sounds crazy now as a sober person, but this was normal in almost every startup I’ve been around, from kegerators to bourbon of the month clubs; alcohol is deeply ingrained in the fabric of doing business.

‍The Unraveling:
‍I increasingly felt overwhelmed by the immense pressure of running multi-million dollar businesses. The kind of weight that makes you want to pull the covers over your head and not want to get out of bed. My personal life began to fall apart, and alcohol became my refuge. It was a dark time.

And that’s where the growth slowly started tapering off. I was delegating everything I liked about being a creator and loading my plate with all the tasks and responsibilities that drained me. I began to pull further away from my genius and the products I was building. 

I joined masterminds and attended entrepreneur events, thinking they’d solve my problems, but it wasn’t long before I realized how misaligned I was in those spaces. I believed more success would fill the hole inside me; I just needed a better idea. So, like a lot of entrepreneurs do when things get hard, I pivoted the company, created new software products, and started new brands looking for a fix.‍

‍I started to wonder why I was doing any of this. What was this entrepreneurial journey all about? Most entrepreneurs glaze over this question with the typical, "We want to make a lasting impact. We want to change the world," but don't stop to ask themselves, “Am I doing this from a place of ego, or is it coming from alignment? Is it fulfilling me or masking a deeper longing?” 

I went searching for a solution as I wrestled with these profound questions. I spent a small fortune hiring coaches, talking to therapists, and trying to understand myself at my core. At first, I was under the belief that my discontent was a systems problem, a problem of how efficiently I was running my life. And sure, that was true to a point, but something deeper was underneath the surface. I’d heard the typical business Guru's advice to ignore our feelings and push through the discomfort, and it didn't feel right. It is human to look for a savior, but the truth is that the savior is within ourselves.

‍Journey to Self-Awareness:
‍It wasn’t until a year-long ontological coaching program and a journey into psychedelic therapy that I began to gain a deeper understanding of what was truly driving me. I realized I had been living in a constant state of survival, shaped by unresolved pain from my past. Beneath it all, I was still trying to prove myself to others, terrified of failure.

Once I started healing the fractured pieces of me from my childhood, I developed the awareness to see life differently. I found a way to comfort the scared seven-year-old inside me and convince the 16-year-old that he was safe. I began to love all that it is to be human with courage and compassion, starting with me. 

Psychedelic therapy provided a gateway to see into my subconscious. To see the repressed memories lurking in my shadow and allow me to process the traumas driving my behaviors. Being a student of Ontology gave me the framework to explore my ways of perceiving, being, and interacting with the world. As I reset the thinking patterns that were not serving me, the muted palette of my life was flooded with bold colors.

You see, healing isn’t about arriving at some final destination. No therapy or experience can erase the discomfort of being human. Instead, it’s building the capacity to sit with discomfort, accepting it as an integral part of life rather than something to resist or fix. What I’m most grateful for is through this work, I no longer need alcohol to numb this stress and pain of life. What a gift, not just to myself but to those around me: my wife, kids, and everyone I care about. I’m a better partner, parent, and version of myself in every way that matters.

‍Living in the Present:
‍After years of self-reflection, I’ve come to understand this obvious thing: that I am responsible for me. Sure, my past shaped me, but I ultimately reached a point in life where there's nothing left to blame, not my parents, not my circumstances, not myself. Instead, I forgive, step into the present, and embrace life as it is. This acceptance brings compassion for those who came before me and for the long chain of lives that made mine even possible. It fills me with gratitude to wake up each day and experience the highs and lows of this incredible world (even when it sucks sometimes).

Things happen, and they always will, but within those challenges are lessons and opportunities for growth. I’ve learned to find balance by consistently coming back to awareness and walking the middle path— staying grounded, doing what needs to be done, and letting go of the need to define myself through achievement or avoiding discomfort.

True joy isn’t found in big wins. It just isn’t. It’s in the simple moments: a tasty meal, laughter with my kids, quiet time with my partner, meaningful conversations with friends, and even moments of stillness alone. These moments remind me that life is a gift, full of love, connection, and wonder. And in those moments, I’ve realized I’m never alone. Life is amazing.‍

A New Calling:
‍I’ve integrated my understanding of psychology and performance with my problem-solving, technology, and leadership talents into tools and models designed to create meaningful change.

The future is full of opportunities for growth, innovation, and creativity, and I’m here for it. I’m drawn to working with driven, like-minded individuals who have faced life’s challenges head-on, using their resilience, ingenuity, and creativity to rise above. Those who dream big and build boldly, yet sometimes feel isolated, stuck on the lonely peaks of success, searching for the link between their creativity and their role as leaders.

I don’t claim to have all the answers; no one does. But together, we’ll co-create an environment where you can connect with your purpose, think deeply about what matters, and craft a plan for meaningful action. We’ll uncover what’s right for you and your unique vision. Transformation starts with breaking unhelpful patterns, amplifying your creativity, and finding harmony between your goals and your perspective on life.

Every day, I strive to live authentically, tapping into my inner creator to fuel my passion and growth, even when faced with fear.

• I am mindful, balanced, and authentic.
• I create regularly both in my business and personal life.
• I lead multiple teams, making significant impacts on the tech world.
• I coach tech entrepreneurs and founders on bringing back joy, fulfillment, and growth into their lives and businesses.