My journey through life is unconventional. At a young age I learned that whatever I set my mind to I mastered, or if I kept at it long enough, I found success. College studies entailed creative writing, pre-medical studies, biomedical physics, but a drive to succeed on my own merits brought an early end to a traditional education. I suppose the childhood upbringing was to blame for education via the hands-on method of a hard work. At nine I helped with janitorial services at a real estate company, picked cherries in the summers, cleaned mortar off bricks at a salvage yard and other odd jobs as enlisted by my father. By eleven years old I had two jobs on my own. At fifteen I added a third. Between work, I swam four hours a day during my high school years. With friends we built a greenhouse and grew tomatoes through hydroponics and cross-bred rare orchids to sell. All this in the nineteen-seventies in Roy, Utah.
Born into a family of eight, sharing responsibilities and a desire for beyond boring food motivated me to learn how to cook at ten years old. On a rare visit to a pizza restaurant, which we could ill afford, I taught myself how to replicate the meal I had tasted. Later, I transformed handmade pizzas into frozen ready to reheat and eat meals. To this day, I continue to experiment replicating and perfecting the foods I taste at world renown restaurants.
Fine art painting started in a middle school oil painting class. In a hand-picked class of sixteen, at twelve I was the youngest by two grades. At fifteen, a high school instructor set me out on my own as there was little more she could offer. Soon after, I developed a series of cartoon characters. The characters are now a part of children's books and a series of collectible artwork. Although traditionally taught, the fine art experience developed into an abstract expressionist style of work in the early nineties.
Achievements as a competitive swimmer in my teens resulted in eight high school team records. After graduating, I coached for six years accomplishing regional championships and an undefeated dual meet record each of last four years. Currently, I give coaching advice on technique to masters age swimmers. Many of them now own world, national and state titles.
I built several companies, the most successful being a wholesale interior design showroom in Denver, Colorado which later expanded into Scottsdale, Arizona. Many of the innovative design concepts I developed are st...