I was born in Indiana and raised just north of New York City. I started junior college in Corning, New York and obtained a degree in Psychology from the University of Denver in 1969.

After that I drove to Alaska and ended up living there for 18 years. Arriving broke, I worked in a cannery in Kodiak, Alaska which allowed me to experience Alaska as many have not. It gave me an opportunity to practice an independent lifestyle that has shaped my life. I wore many different hats, from being a commercial crab fisherman, a teamster, logger, driving taxi cab, building log homes in the bush for myself and others, and finally with a friend starting a tile installation company in Anchorage in 1980.

I learned the trade and business from an experienced tile contractor who took me under his wing. I learned quickly that my talent was not tile setting, but being a tile helper. Anchorage’s economy was in a high growth period which allowed us to grow a small business quickly.