History

I have been working on providing goods and services as longs as I can recall. As soon as I was old enough I canvased the neighborhood and began shoveling snow in the winter and pushing a lawnmower in the summer to earn some spending money.  At age ten I took on a paper route delivering newspapers for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. And in 1977 I was recognized as Newspaper Carrier of the Year for the Twin Cities district.

In 1978 my parents purchased a sporting good store, specializing in fishing gear, in St. Paul, Minnesota. This proved to be the start of my adventure in the world of retail. As a small family operation we all did some of everything needed for the operation. Mostly ringing the register and repairing fishing reels (before everything became disposable). After a few years we added another element to the operation when we ventured into manufacturing portable ice fish houses. From cutting canvas, building frames, and assembling the portable shelters I was involved in all aspects of the operation. Eventually working into making sales calls and deliveries as the operation expanded.

Eventually my parents sold the business but I continued to work in retail. Some of my stops along the way included Montgomery Ward, Herman's Sporting Goods, Tech Electronics, Title Wave, and Crown Shoes. In all of these jobs I held a sales and/or management position.

In the spring of 1990 I decided to take a break from retail management and I accepted a job in Yellowstone National Park as a gift shop sales associate. My break did not last long, within a couple of weeks of starting in the Park I became a member of the management team at Old Faithful Lodge.

More to come.....