Before moving to the East Coast in 1989, Dean worked as a ski patrolman, EMT, and Forest Service firefighter while studying architecture in his home state of California. At the University of New Hampshire he received a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, in geography, and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. After several years with The National Geographic Society, working as a cartographer and researcher in the book and television divisions at their Washington, DC headquarters, Dean joined Charles E, Millard, Inc. in 1996. Since then, as the project coordinator, he has been guiding homeowners through the labyrinth of home construction from design to the final detail.