My dad's father was a steeplejack and my mom's was a house painter; and not wanting to work on the railroad (B&M) like my dad or work like either granddad, I followed my knack for drawing (which to me isn't too much like work) and took drafting in high school and went to college for advertising, I graduated to tend bar, much to my father's dismay and shortly thereafter became a Tiffany lamp designer and salesman. I soon found myself selling and drawing at a local newspaper where I met lots of customers who wanted me to "splash" their showroom windows at night after working days at the paper. When I realized my evenings were really a full time job I resigned from the paper. Well twenty some years later and I'm living my dream owning and running a success sign and graphic studio. I've had the opportunity to meet interesting business people and learn as much as possible while refining my sign and graphic skills. I had the good luck to work as sign designer/coordinator for "WOODSTOCK '99". One month; 5,300 signs, 4 days and one small fire, but it was well worth the MBA in "Signs" I got. I find myself not wanting to do the BIG SHOW, but wanting to do life instead. I've found a nice niche and I make sure I earn my dollars each job by giving the customer the best design possible. (I even sneak in color psychology, legible distance readership maximums, and long term branding goals into each job, but customers hear blah, blah, blah when I bring that stuff up. So I just make nice signs and they keep buying more.) As you have read I'm never at a loss for words, so if you only remember two things from this… Thanks for visiting my site and remember what's on my shop truck… "Better by Design".