I was born in Los Angeles, California. My family moved to rural Washington shortly there after. I grew up in Pullman, Washington.
While in Pullman, I owned a skateboard and snowboard shop (TnT Skate and Snow – Est. 1995) and two coffee shops (Java Llamas & Pony Espresso – Est. 1998).
I left Pullman in 1999 and moved back to Los Angeles. After about a year of managing a coffee shop in Hollywood I decided to move to Seattle. In Seattle I held numerous part-time jobs, but my primary interest was music. I started a small record label (Humble Rocks! Records – Est. 2001), put out a number of albums, and toured the country as the singer/songwriter/guitar player for the band Ultra Find (iTunes link + YouTube link). In 2004 I moved to Denver to return to college – thinking I might become an entertainment lawyer.
In school I became very interested in the social sciences. I received a BA in Behavioral Science (’07) and then a MA in Sociology (’10).
During my undergraduate studies I worked as a valet, parking cars in the evenings. One night in 2005 I got the idea to sell advertising on the blank side of valet tickets. It was then that I formed the company ValetAds.
In 2007, while dating a lawyer (who would eventually become my wife) I realized there was a huge need for a company that could address the web and digital media needs of law firms. So, in 2007 I formed the company Law Father.
Also starting in 2007, I began to suffer excruciating back pain that would eventually result in two surgeries. Previous to the surgeries I was fed-up with wrestling my own pillows to sleep every night. I was also frustrated with pillow retailers that did nothing to teach consumers about the differences between their products, their materials, and their pillow performance. It was this frustration that inspired me to start the Queen Anne Pillow Company in November of 2013 (read my full story here).
Most recently (Jan. 2017) I launched a case management and trial presentation timeline software for attorneys called TrialLine.
After nearly 20 years as an entrepreneur I was invited to teach entrepreneurship to our next generation of innovators at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I served nearly four years (2012-2016) as Adjunct Professor of Entreprenuership, teaching three courses: Creative Problem Solving, New Venture Start-up Feasibility and New Venture Creation.
Today, I remain focused on my family and my four companies. The time left over from those pursuits I spend training for triathlons, writing, and traveling.