The Entrepreneur Who Fed 7 Million Children While Building a Multi-Million Dollar Company

What if your worst business failure became the catalyst for extraordinary success? Trevor Farnes, former CEO and co-founder of MTN Ops, proves that sometimes our darkest moments create the brightest opportunities for impact.

In a recent Mountain West Capital Network Podcast interview, Trevor shared his remarkable journey from bankruptcy and food insecurity to building one of Utah’s fastest-growing companies—all while feeding nearly 7 million meals to hungry children worldwide through Operation Conquer Hunger.

From Seven Failed Franchises to Seven Million Meals

Trevor’s entrepreneurial story began with devastating failure. In 2007, he invested everything into seven franchise stores, signing personal guarantees worth thousands per month. Three months after opening, the franchisor shut down all locations due to their own issues, leaving Trevor and his young family drowning in debt.

“We stopped paying on our mortgage, stopped paying on car payments,” Trevor recalls in the podcast. With foreclosure notices arriving and a daughter hospitalized with uninsurable medical conditions, the Farnes family faced a crisis that would test everything they believed about faith, perseverance, and purpose.

But it was during these darkest moments—surviving on anonymous grocery deliveries and 22-dollar monthly donations—that Trevor discovered his life’s mission. “I hated getting the emails from the elementary school that said, ‘Hey, your lunch balance is this,'” he shares. This personal experience with food insecurity would later fuel Operation Conquer Hunger’s mission to ensure no child faces the same struggle.

The Phoenix Nutrition Foundation: Building Through Crisis

Trevor’s first successful venture, Phoenix Nutrition, emerged from another family crisis—his father’s heart disease. After researching nitric oxide products to help his father avoid open-heart surgery, Trevor created a supplement that not only improved his father’s health but launched a business serving thousands of doctors’ offices.

“I called it Phoenix Nutrition because we were coming off of this really horrible financial crisis and I needed—I was like that bird that rises from the ashes,” Trevor explains in the interview.

This foundation led to MTN Ops, a nutritional supplement company targeting the underserved hunting and outdoor community. By speaking directly to passionate outdoor enthusiasts who had never tried supplements before, Trevor built not just a customer base but a community united around shared values and outdoor adventures.

Mission-Driven Leadership: Why Purpose Drives Profit

What sets MTN Ops apart isn’t just their products—it’s their integrated mission. Every purchase helps fund Operation Conquer Hunger, creating a business model where customer satisfaction directly contributes to global impact. This approach has generated remarkable employee loyalty and customer retention in a competitive market.

“When it comes down to it, what are those brands doing? How are they benefiting the community?” Trevor asks in the podcast. “MTN Ops’ differentiator is we are feeding hungry children with that.”

The company’s faith-based core values guide every decision, from hiring to strategic planning. Trevor emphasizes that these weren’t manufactured corporate values but authentic principles from his upbringing that naturally attracted like-minded team members.

Crisis Leadership Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Trevor’s insights on surviving business crisis offer practical crisis leadership wisdom for entrepreneurs facing their own challenges. His philosophy of “winning the wait” goes beyond patience—it’s about actively serving others while building your business.

“Waiting is not just a game of patience,” Trevor explains. “Think about waiting upon someone—you’re serving them, you’re attending to the needs of another.” This service-first mentality helped MTN Ops grow even during difficult periods by focusing on customer needs rather than just company profits.

His advice for entrepreneurs facing setbacks? “The rock really never rolls on its own. And in our industry, it’s a really big rock and it actually wants to roll backwards. So if you don’t keep pushing, you’re going to get squished.”

The Conquer Code: Faith, Family, and Business Success

Trevor’s recently released book, “The Conquer Code,” details his systematic approach to balancing spiritual, physical, mental, and social growth—both personally and within his company culture. This holistic framework helped him navigate the transition from CEO to a forward-facing founder role while maintaining MTN Ops’ mission-driven culture.

The book’s success (hitting #1 in its Amazon category and selling out during pre-sale) demonstrates the hunger entrepreneurs have for authentic stories about overcoming adversity through faith and perseverance.

Building Legacy Through Service

Today, as MTN Ops approaches their goal of 10 million donated meals, Trevor focuses on speaking, podcasting through the new “Conquer Cast,” and sharing his story with other entrepreneurs facing their own mountains to climb.

His message resonates because it’s deeply authentic—he’s not just teaching business strategy but sharing hard-won wisdom about turning crisis into purpose, failure into fuel, and personal struggle into global impact.

Transform Your Crisis Into Your Mission

Trevor Farnes’ story proves that business success and humanitarian impact aren’t just compatible—they’re inseparable when driven by an authentic mission and unwavering faith. Whether you’re facing your own business crisis or building a purpose-driven company, his insights offer a blueprint for creating success that transforms lives far beyond your own.

Want to hear Trevor’s complete story? Listen to his full interview on the Mountain West Capital Network Podcast, where he shares detailed strategies for crisis leadership, mission-driven business building, and turning your greatest struggles into your most powerful strengths.

Connect with Trevor Farnes:

  • Website: MTNops.com
  • Book: “The Conquer Code” on Amazon and Audible
  • Social: @TrevorFarnes (LinkedIn) / @MtnOps (Instagram)