I was born in the Pacific Northwest in a little town called Troutdale just 25 minutes outside of Portland. I spent my childhood on a 26 acre property where my Dad taught me the valuable lessons of work and reward. For every shiny new accessory I wanted for my motocross hobby, I could choose from a variety of jobs available on the farm.

My Dad fanned the flame of my creativity and encouraged me to seize opportunities to create micro businesses. From selling the family corn on a street corner to tying fly fishing flies for family friends, I learned I could create and shape my future.

As a teenager, I swept floors for my dream motocross company until I convinced them to hire me as a freelance graphic designer and web developer. Arlan Lehman at LRD gave me the most amazing opportunity to learn my skills and use them in the real world.

I attended college at Westmont College where I dropped out of accounting and was told I would never succeed in business. That was until my friend and cofounder John Russell shared a cigar with me to tell me my professor was full of crap and that entrepreneurs don’t need to be acountants – they hire accountants.

I graduated Westmont with a petitioned major for Entrepreneurship and Design and married my wife 3 months later while going full time into my first venture, Vision Launchers. It would be 5 years and many dozen ventures later before John Russell and I teamed up for Webconnex.

Along the way, my local church gave me an opportunity to lead a young adult gathering in Sacramento, where I started Epic Life and experienced the most amazing 10 years of growth in my life – being disciplined and coached by Chad Everett, Dwight Hill and Eric Waterbury.

I consider myself one of the luckiest men on the planet and am thankful for every day I live.