I first started pursuing a college engineering degree, but had to leave due to some family emergencies. In 1982, I started selling lumber and trusses for 84 Lumber and then with a local lumberyard a year later in my home area of Portage, Indiana. When construction tanked in the early 1980’s, I moved my family to Florida near my wife’s family. I decided to use more of my background from college and found a job in 1985 estimating floor and roof trusses for WD Lumber & Truss in the Tampa Bay area.