We recently connected with Dr. Tyler Tarver and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Tyler, appreciate you joining us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?
When I started Tarver Academy and my speaking journey, I wasn’t making any money. Honestly, I just wanted to help teachers and grow myself as a leader and speaker. I spoke anywhere that would let me, sometimes six hours a day, completely free. It literally took 4 full years of speaking everywhere I could until someone offered to pay me. Now, that’s my family’s main source of income. Most of my speaking gigs come from posting free content that helps teachers, which is something else I did for years without ever making a dime. However, those 100s of hours of free tips and content about my favorite tools and companies eventually led to working with companies like Google and Canva. My formula? Add value for free, keep showing up, and eventually (and hopefully), the right people will notice!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I help teachers save time and be more effective in the classroom. I started TarverAcademy.com by making free resources, tutorials, and training videos because I know how overwhelming teaching can be. Over time, that turned into speaking at schools and conferences, building online courses, and creating digital tools that help educators. Now, I run the Tarver Academy Honor Roll, a membership for teachers, and work with brands like Google and Canva to make education more accessible. What sets me apart? I try to be authentic, make learning fun, and actually give teachers stuff they can use right now with as little friction as possible. At the end of the day, I just want to help teachers do their jobs better and feel more confident while doing it!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Back in 2019, I spent hundreds of hours filming 420 Google Level 1 Educator tutorial videos (like, an insane amount of work). And guess what? No one watched them. I thought I’d wasted all that time. Fast forward to 2020, the world shuts down, and suddenly, every teacher has to learn how to use Google tools overnight. Those videos blew up to 750,000 views in a few months! Teachers started sharing them like crazy, and my TikTok jumped from 2,000 to 10,000 followers almost instantly. It was a game-changer. The lesson? Do the work, even when it feels like no one cares. You never know when the moment will hit, but if you’ve already put in the reps, you’ll be there!
How did you build your audience on social media?
I built my audience by posting what I love: teaching, sports cards, and trying to help people feel seen (even when no one was watching the videos). I didn’t chase trends or try to go viral; I just kept showing up, adding value, and making stuff that helped people. At first, it was crickets. But over time, consistency paid off, and the right people started finding my content. My advice? Post what you care about, even if you never make a dollar. Add people value. Keep going, even when it feels like no one cares: because one day, hopefully they will.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://tarveracademy.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/tylertarver
- Facebook: http://fb.com/tylersokay
- Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/tylertarver13
- Twitter: http://x.com/tylertarver
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/sirtylertarver
- Other: tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@drtylertarver
