From Rock Bottom to Reinvention — I Could Use Your Help

Dear friends,

Most people know me through my work in Retail and CPG analytics, as the founder of dataAlchemy, or through my adventures traveling across 28 countries, 42 states, and five continents. I’ve spent years building businesses, forging data strategies, and consulting with Fortune 500 companies—but just as importantly, I’ve always been someone who gave back.

From raising funds for breast cancer research at Havenstock, to organizing local charity efforts in Stamford and Fairfield County CT, Charlotte and Lake Norman NC, Gainesville FL, Charleston SC, and Wilmington NC, my life has been shaped by helping others whenever and however I could. Whether that meant donating time, money, or energy—I did it with an open heart.

But today, I find myself in unfamiliar shoes: asking for help.

In recent months, I’ve faced some of the deepest losses of my life. I lost my business partner and close friend to suicide, and with him, our company—my livelihood and life’s work.

But what followed was betrayal by roommates who scammed me. They were taking my rent money while not paying their own. Eventually, they were evicted, and when I came home one day, I got the gut-punch of finding myself locked out of my home with everything I owned gone, including all of my computers and every trace of my existence except for the clothes on my back, my precious cat Felix missing —and my bank accounts emptied.

I found myself instantly homeless, penniless, jobless, and shaken.

But I’m not broken.

If anything, my background—especially my time in the military—has taught me how to endure, adapt, and keep moving forward. I know how to navigate chaos and rebuild from rubble, and that's exactly what I’m doing now.

I’ve thrown myself into something extraordinary.

I’m building not just one, but two groundbreaking AI platforms:

An AI-powered revival of DataAlchemy, reimagining the platform that helped transform Retail/CPG analytics decades ago—now supercharged for the age of machine learning, big data, and predictive insight.

LYF.partners, an innovative fusion of human empathy and AI companionship, designed to change the way we live, love, and connect.

This news segment I shared over the holidays watch here captures a moment of loss. But what it doesn’t show is the vision that’s been rising inside me ever since. I’m working from libraries, building prototypes, writing late into the night. The foundation is forming.

And now, I need your help—however big or small.

Whether it's a job lead, a few kind words, or even a small donation to help me get through the day—even just enough for food, a place to stay, or a moment of breathing room—it would mean the world. Every bit helps, and every dollar is felt.

Ways you can help:

PayPal: @mhavens27

CashApp: $havens2727

Chime: $nuhavens

Venmo: @havens2727

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-havens

My current resume is here:

View Resume

If you know of a project, a gig, or an opportunity where my skills could help—I’d love to talk. I’ve led high-level strategy, consulting, sales, marketing, and technology innovation across industries for years, and I’m ready to do what it takes.

And here’s something I haven’t shared widely yet:

I’m allocating 10% of the shares in my new software company to those who help me now—because you’re not just helping me survive, you’re helping build something powerful. This isn’t a handout. It’s a hand in.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

And thank you—truly—for standing with me as I climb back up.

Because I believe in this truth:

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

– Winston Churchill

With grit, grace, and gratitude,

Michael Havens

www.linkedin.com/in/havens