Born in Lakewood and raised in Cuyahoga Falls, I graduated from high school in 1992 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. In 1998, I enrolled at The University of Akron while working full-time with an interior faux painter/artist who remodeled homes all around NE Ohio. This was an exceptionally important time in my career because I began to understand the amount of time, money and effort that went into construction.

In 2004, I worked for a company...