It all started when I was 6 years old in the garage with my dad;  pounding nails and fingers endlessly into a 4x4 my dad had set me up with while he built cabinets for our kitchen. My grandfather was a carpenter as well, so you can say building is in my blood.

After high school, I joined the Carpenters Union and went to work as a concrete carpenter building high-rises in San Diego. Within several years I was reading blueprints and doing the layout for projects. By the time I was a journeyman I was running form crews. In the meantime, on the weekends and after work I was remodeling bathrooms, framing, building patio covers, and home additions.

Early on in those years, building didn’t just become a job it became a passion. I remember driving around the city I grew up in and pointing out the projects I worked on to my family and friends. The pride and accomplishment I felt as a young man was motivating.

Then I met the woman who would make me an even better man. We quickly married, sold our belongings, and bought a one-way ticket to Cancun, Mexico. For the next 26 months, we backpacked through Central and South America working along the way managing and maintaining hostels. Some truly wild stories came out of that 2-year honeymoon. When we returned home I joined back up with the union and got back to work. Knowing someday we were going to move permanently to one of those magical places we had visited.

We moved back to California to a different city and I had to start over. I put on my tool bags and got to work proving my worth. In short order, I was back to leading crews, moving quickly to a foreman and ultimately general foreman. I left the Carpenters’ Union to start a job as an architectural concrete superintendent.  At that company, we were a specialty sub-contractor. Our work can be found at world-class resorts, hotels, museums, entertainment centers, major universities, retail centers, and office buildings. I ran multiple $500,000- $7 million projects at the same time. Working with my clients and other sub-contracts to create solutions to everyone’s challenges for the better of the entire project. When it came to my contract work, I would organize the workflow, estimate and order materials, equipment, and sub-contractors. Monitor layout and placement of correct products and finishes. Oversee labor requirements to efficiently and safely complete a top-quality finish product for our clients. I remained there for 7 years until I packed the family and a few things and drove to Panama to start a new life in one of those magical places we had traveled to 15 years prior…. Playa Venao, Panamá.