As a department manager at Menards, I had the responsibility of "running a business within a business". I was in charge of all daily operations including team management, staffing, scheduling, payroll budgeting, sales, marketing, and competition research.

During what would be my first business venture as a partner with Douty Construction we built, remodeled, purchased, renovated and sold real estate, both commercial and residential in the Wichita and surrounding areas. My job duties included just about what you would expect from a young entrepreneur... A lot of everything. The days would consist of long hours of labor with the crew, and the nights were all business. Balancing budgets, negotiating contracts, making smart, profitable decisions and making sure everyone got paid. This was a venture that through plenty of pain and failure would prove to be the ignition to my entrepreneurial spirit, and lay a foundation of work ethic, strong core values and business experience that would prepare me for my career.