This was meant to succeed...

How 6 months of failure was followed by the most exciting era of my life.

In the early summer of 2024, I felt lost.

I had 2 business ideas behind me, both of which failed miserably.

Not long after, something happened that would define the next six months of my life.

Something that changed everything.

It was the start of a new era

In summer, I wasn’t working on anything significant. I was burned out.

Deep down, I knew: I can’t stay motionless.
I needed to reset and restart.

I can’t depend on random numbers and papers called grades and certificates.
I have to launch something so I can follow my path.

XPERTIFY was my shortest-lived project ever, lasting only about a week.

I love coding, and I wanted to build small apps on demand as an agency.

Despite already making the mistake of not having nearly the required level of knowledge, something was different this time.

My strategy was way more structured than before.

I broke down what needs to be done until launch (learning included).

The Milanote board I made for the plans (the last time I used Hungarian in business).

While I made big changes in business, the gym started rooting into my life.

I transitioned into a commercial gym, so I wasn’t limited to 3 PE classes per week.

One year after starting my weightlifting journey, I hit my first bigger PRs, like the 140 kg (315 lbs) deadlift — a milestone that defined my next months.

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One random night, I came across a video…

It was from the self-made multi-millionaire Iman Gadzhi.

He promoted his platform, Digital Launchpad, where you could access a bunch of business courses (eg, dropshipping, copywriting, sales) for a monthly fee of $37.

After I watched the video, I was hooked. I couldn't sleep at night.

I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to buy it.

This was the first time I had ever invested in myself, in knowledge. I spent $37 of my money (and that was and still is a lot to me) to improve my skills.

Throughout the next week, I watched the first videos of each course, and I was amazed — it felt like I had access to knowledge that could be worth a lot if used right.

After a few days, I settled on the copywriting course.

From this point, success was inevitable.

Maybe the courses weren’t objectively valuable, I don’t know, but one thing was sure:

Being part of the Digital Launchpad for 6 months changed my life.

I learned a lot about copywriting (especially email marketing), content creation, and self-improvement — a significant chunk of my knowledge originates from this time.

Along with the courses, I got access to a Discord community as well, where I could discuss my problems, ideas, and questions with over 10,000 other members.

We could participate in weekly calls with mentors and 6-figure entrepreneurs.

I could literally publish an email copy I wrote as practice, and other experienced copywriters would rate it and give me tips on how to improve.

I’m not listing all this to promote — I’m not an affiliate. This era was truly exciting and valuable, not just because of the knowledge and the mentorship.

The biggest value I received was community.

For the first time, I was surrounded by people with the same ambitious mindset as I.

I connected with like-minded people daily, and this was a powerful change.

This was the birth of Craft to Convert.

Craft to Convert was the closest I’ve ever gotten to a truly functioning business, an email marketing agency, to be exact — my most successful project at that time.

The logo of Craft to Convert (made by me).

I worked on it for six consecutive months, and this time, my strategy was real.

My plan included:

• Daily copywriting practice (this time really focusing on building real skill)

• Business building (branding, offers, customer acquisition, marketing, finances)

• Content creation on Instagram (you can view my posts here)

• Networking in the community of DL (some are still alive 1 year later)

By December 2024, I had several posts published on Instagram, but no followers. I had a list of over 150 potential customers in my niche, and a structured outreach flow.

I even bought the crafttoconvert.com domain to look professional, and spent days building an email marketing eBook to build credibility.

I ended 2024 ready to launch, at just 16 y/o

Nobody knew about my plans. It was a quiet solo project.

2 years after my awakening and realizing that I can control my direction, it finally looked like I’m on the path of success, and actually making something real.

I wasn’t guessing or dreaming anymore. I was prepared.

- Zoli
Chapter 3 of Roots, the story of how it all began

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This was the third part of Roots, a series detailing my story before I started content creation. If you’d like to know the full story, check out the previous episodes:

• Chapter 1: https://zerotostack.substack.com/p/roots-1

• Chapter 2: https://zerotostack.substack.com/p/roots-2