My roots in the Phoenix Punk Rock scene of the early 80s have shaped who I am and touched nearly every aspect of my personal and professional life. I’ve always adhered to the DIY ethos, and since first purchasing The Anarchist Cookbook at a very young age from the Royal Book Store have found inspiration and creativity surrounding me. In my youth, I tinkered continuously and experimented with anything I could get my hands on, and the stifling nature of traditional school led to me dropping out and going at it on my own. I ended up working construction for fourteen years in the swimming pool industry, and much like school, I found myself dissatisfied working for someone else and established my own pool company. I built this into a thriving, successful business, and my creative impulse still kept pushing me, so I started designing, engineering and developing unique products. I gained national distribution with my innovative pool products. I found that my real strengths were in brand and product development, which led to me establishing numerous businesses across multiple industries. I have startups ranging from digital cannabis marketplaces to music and live performance equipment and even a vinyl-only record label. I’ve started writing my first book, DIY Startup, which is a roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs based on my experiences.