Raised by his single mother and grandparents in a small northern Illinois town, the author introduces us to those men and women that lifted, challenged, and motivated him to become a first-generation college graduate and achieve success in high-level corporate positions with some of America’s largest companies. The author earned his bachelor’s degree in media communications from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his MBA from California State University in San Marcos, California. He is a small business owner in Minneapolis where he lives with his wife and two children.