Today we’d like to introduce you to Tye Friis.
Tye, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I come from a pig and corn farm in a small town in Iowa, same Midwest kid trying to get to LA story but like many others, I had a lot of hardships along the way. Mother committed suicide when I was ten so it caused me to spiral at a young age. Dropped out of high school sophomore year and left home at 15. I just never felt like school was what was going to get me where I needed to be, this is long before new generations were listening to Gary Vee say the same thing I was doing. In my town, it made some waves because you don’t do that in small towns to follow dreams. I just knew I was meant for more than the farm. I always wanted to do something to change the world and be someone people could feel inspired through. I’ve done about every job you can think to see where I fit in and none panned out. Fought MMA circuit for a while, was a foreman for construction companies, hair school and started cutting, modeling and acting, you name it I tried it.
When I came to LA, I decided to pursue my music career dream. I grew up drumming in school and always loved it, was always a passion I just didn’t know how to get there besides playing in garage bands in Iowa. I believed I could do it and make it, so I followed the path and worked HARD. I wasn’t able to keep up with the life and living expenses first try, so I lost everything and was homeless on the streets of LA, sleeping in stairwells and parks, I did whatever I had to do because I had no option no one to fall back on. It took months of sleeping on the streets, riding buses to background work jobs in acting to make $25-$50 a day but that led me to make a friend that let me pay to stay at a hostel in LA with foreigners visiting. I finally had a little stability, music dreams seemed impossible, but I wasn’t giving up. I remember walking from a job that didn’t pan out on Sunset Blvd. around midnight just trying to get back to the hostile cause I didn’t have the money for a bus. When walking I came across a lit-up building with tons of people out front, come to find out it was a nightclub. Someone asked me if I wanted to come in for a drink, I was down and out so I said yes, what do I have to lose. I threw my bag over a fence in the Jimmy Kimmel outdoor lot (lost that bag and the clothes I had of course) and went in. I sat there and observed what was happening. I wasn’t there to party; I was there to see how it worked. I didn’t understand nightclubs, how they functioned and how these people made money. Come to find out, all you have to do is ‘bring people to party’… I couldn’t even comprehend that someone would pay me to bring people to have fun.
I had an angle every one of those ‘promoters’ didn’t, I stayed at a hostel with an endless number of foreign guests ALL wanting to party. I dove right in and used my charm to move fast. I was at the top position within months and had an ability to get a roof over my head, eat and continue to grow. I put my music career dreams on hold and put my everything into running nightclubs. I did GOOD. I was at the top of my game and was gaining connections, truly what you imagine the LA life is. Well, fast forward, I had been doing so well that I got my music career off the ground by using my position in clubs to book myself to drum and that led to shows all over the country. Residencies in Vegas, drumming for Verizon phone releases, drumming with huge artists, billboards… I was on my way drumming for some of the biggest out there. I toured for years and leaned hard into the lifestyle. I didn’t feel like I fit in this position, but it seems to give me stability and growth, so I kept going. I ended up putting all my off time into creating a new band and sound which led to a big record deal. I was sold on the glits and glamour of being signed, not thinking to protect myself and take it slow. I mean, record labels wouldn’t ever do me wrong, right? I left all my other jobs, put every dime I had into perfecting the group to get signed. Shortly after, the record deal was pulled and I was signed out of my own group. Not only signed out but not allowed to drum for anyone, do videos or residencies. I had within two weeks lost EVERYTHING again. It shattered my world yet again. The second time I lost everything as was going to be on the streets but this time, I had my two dogs and cat, so I had to make desperate moves. I borrowed $3,000 against a very bad job I had to take for a medical marijuana company. I bought a motorhome with it and thought I’d be ok.
Driving the motorhome on the 405 freeway it broke down, I had no license, no insurance, my animals. I was sure this was going to be the end and I wouldn’t be able to recover. I sat and screamed and cried and was just defeated. On the freeway, they have tow trucks that randomly stop to move cars off the freeway, well my mom was looking over me this day because the tow truck stopped, saw me losing it and offered to tow me to where he was going in Compton for free. I accepted and felt like maybe I had a chance out of what could have been a horrible situation. I parked the broken-down motor home outside the worksite I was on for about eight months. I disappeared from the world, worked 20 hours a day and sacrificed eating and sleep to save every dollar I could. I showered from a garden hose in dec, ate canned food and focused on getting back, whatever it took. I was scared every day having no protection and what seemed like no hope, but I just kept grinding. I remember sitting in my motorhome one day completely lost. I was contemplating taking my life and the closer I got to it, the closer my dogs got to me. I just sat and looked at them and the only thing that stopped me was them. I made a commitment to them. That one day changed everything for me. How I dealt with people, how I went about business, the decisions I made changed to gut decisions and trusting my first move rather than contemplate failure every time. I remembered that I started this journey to change the world and I can’t do that from 6 feet under. I made a promise to myself and dogs to always remain positive and work to see the good in the world while being the good in the world for others to see. I worked day in and day out started a consulting company for medical marijuana industry builds. I moved fast to gain partnerships and truly get back up once and for all.
The industry was booming so I grabbed a hold and used all my obtained skills to do it better than others. I would study other companies designs, builds and what they did different to succeed. I took those elements, tweaked and made them better from my agriculture background where they weren’t pushing development and made those systems my own. The day sitting there with my dogs also brought me back to a passion I’d always put aside as I chased what I thought was ‘success’. Little back story: I grew up training dogs with my dad. I learned everything you could ever imagine and naturally had a way with training. When I got my first dog, MayHem, I had no idea what bad people did with dogs out here. Back yard breeding fight and bait dogs, fight rings. Here’s what happened that led to the start of my dog rescue. Being in the marijuana industry, sometimes you come across bad people out there not following the rules and leading profiting into bad spaces. I was with a client and ended up walking into a dog fight gambling ring. I couldn’t react due to the unsafe outcome if I did, so I had to be there with the company dying inside watching what these humans did to these dogs just to make money. It crushed my soul that night but also lit a fire that had been only sitting as a pilot light inside me for so many years. I wanted to take down every single person in that group and help those dogs and decided that was my path.
The next entire year I worked on my dog rescue every day and night and built it up doing investigations and gathering intel for law enforcement. Just one year later, I was able to shut down not just the ring I had been taken to but three connected to it. I had found where I belonged. In a life of service protecting and advocating for animals. Fast forward yet again, a lot of road bumps but I didn’t stop grinding every single day, saving every dollar and every dog I could. I built an entire dog rescue in downtown LA around all the bad areas that dogs needed help in. We operated well for a bit, but I knew the growth wasn’t done yet. I found a 10-acre property in Leona Valley, CA just outside LA. I originally got the property to continue my CBD company I had been developing for treating dogs with cancer. Behind the scenes, I had been grinding on the company and doing what I do best, working nonstop. I obtained the property after sitting and talking to the couple selling. They loved my story and drive and wanted to help me to get the property even with shit credit and me being honest, I had lost everything twice. I took a risk and put my heart out there to make them try and believe in me. They did. I got the property and got to work. Within the first year, I took my consulting company to three times the amount of business we’d ever done.
With that, I bought my farm for my own CBD raw material, built my lab in Nevada and obtained the 30 acre property next door to the 10 acres I had purchased. I built the finishing lab and shipping center on the 30 acre property. Boss Crew is the company I built that oversees all cbd and products. I do all the work and formulations by hand. My product is different and people can tell by the handcrafted quality you can see and feel when using. I started the company from a passion, something I loved, so I had no intentions for it to get big but dedication, transparency and putting my customer #1 above all has got me to expand six times over now and makeover 50 products in house. I do everything in house from design, formulation, packaging and shipping, everything under one roof. I believe companies should be made with passions and purpose that will lead small startups to grow if the dedication and work is there. I started as just a pet line but the reason I started my human cbd line is because my father (the farmer) had a few surgeries and his pills were ruining him. I convinced him to try my cbd and within weeks, he was off his pills and had his life back. If I could help my dad then I could help someone else’s dad, mother, brother… Point being is my passion helped led me to where I was needed and it’s turned into a large operating company from that. This led me to start many programs for giving with my brand as well. Boss CBD has a buy one get one free program where when you buy a bottle, we donate one for free to shelters and other rescues in need. We also have a veteran discount program, every 4th of July we give over $100,000 of product away to veterans suffering from PTSD and other ailments. We have a senior citizen and senior pet discount program. I’ve made this company a vessel to help the world and through that our supporters have helped us to grow to do so.
As for the dog rescue, I moved us up to Leona Valley on my 10 acres and have been building everything by hand since. We have gained a big following on social media which translates into growing donations and support. This has enabled me to build much faster than other rescues and ultimately save more dogs along the way. I put in the work and do it all myself without teams so I save the money and can build more, if I can do the work with my hands, I call that smart business. It’s a lot of work but passion for saving animals makes the work not even seem like work. I’ve recently started my second nonprofit supported by Boss CBD called Boss Sanctuary (Built On Saving Souls) that is about wildlife rescue and conservation. We currently have four wolves we care for on the property and continue to build as we go. So now we come to present day. Since being homeless twice and losing it all, living in a trailer in Compton 6 years ago starting at zero… I’ve now built two companies that are thriving, two amazing nonprofit organizations that double growth every year to save more, I have two beautiful ranches that provide me the grounds to build a better life and mostly, I have a purpose. There’s been some really bad times, but I remind myself every night when I get into a bed that not too long ago I didn’t have a bed. I appreciate the small things the most and let those fuel my passion for growth.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Mostly losing everything not just once but twice. Having to start all over with no one and nothing. As my life has progressed, I’ve grown my companies and rescues and the hardest part has been reading people and their intentions. Finding good help and loyalty is very hard and I’ve had some big upsets but I have my solid core people now. Our team is small but very strong. I treat them good and like family and make sure they are in this for the long haul because as we grow, people may try to penetrate our team but we can see it through and remain strong and keep getting better every year regardless of what tries to come in our way…
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in the business of consulting to create operations for the medical marijuana and CBD field. I have a company called ‘Boss Crew’ which I built from the ground up that cares for humans and animals ailments with my Boss CBD products. I produce a product I can stand behind and be proud of because I make it and know its abilities. I put the time into quality over anything else. My customers are #1 to me and are treated as family, my Boss Family. I’m currently expanding our products to dog leashes/collars and clothing. – I have a Dog Rescue called, Reversed Rescue. We now operate on my 10-acre property. I rescue some of the hardest cases and rehab them to either get adopted to a loving family or to stay with us and live out their life to the best. I hold a A+ 100% score with Animal Control and the city for meeting every requirement at all times to be a top-rated facility. This is something I’m very proud of because we don’t bend the rules, we put the time in and do everything how it’s supposed to be done. It’s hard but worth it to hold the position.
I have amazing rescue kennels I built that are top quality, better than any other around. I am developing a 5-acre community dog park to help socialize local dogs and help owners. I’ve started building a senior/hospice dog retirement neighborhood which will consist of six amazing fully built tiny homes for dogs to come in and live out their life being loved and pampered till the end. Given the respect every dog deserves. I put a good amount of this content and Boss Sanctuary on YouTube. I have an all-animal sanctuary called “Boss Sanctuary”. Boss means – Built On Saving Souls. I started this on my 30-acre property next door to reversed rescue and currently have started the rescue rescuing and giving sanctuary to four wolves. This operation will grow to be wildlife, livestock and any other animal rescue that needs it. Most of all, I’m proud of myself for not giving up. Being able to show people you really can do it and make a change in your life. What sets me apart is my work ethic. I don’t stop. I see everything through. I ALWAYS work hard to make my supporters and customers proud to be a part of this life with me and follow me.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love that my city is more less a hidden community just outside LA. No one really knows Leona Valley exists and when they see the views and what we are surrounded by, it’s always faces shocked that this exists. My community is very small at the same time and the only thing I dislike is the negativity that comes from some people in the community that don’t understand what I’m building and why. It’s ok though cause I’ll always work harder to show them the good and positivity in what I do and who I am. So we just keep moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: BossCrew.com reversedrescue.com rescuelikeaboss.com
- Instagram: @TyeFriis @Boss.CBD @ReversedRescue @RescueLikeABoss @ThreePitsAndAFatty
- Facebook: @TyeFriis @Boss.CBD @ReversedRescue @RescueLikeABoss
- Youtube: YouTube.com/TyeFriis
