I was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, to American parents who raised me in central Pennsylvania. I went to high school at Central High School in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. I went to undergraduate school at Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania, where I earned a Bachelors Degree in Psychology with minors in Philosophy and Religion. Juniata is a small, private, liberal arts college.
From there I was a psychotherapist for children for years after that, before going to graduate school for school counseling. I became a high school guidance counselor. That phase of my life and career ended when I left school counseling in 2002 and went into construction.