My Journey: From Rural Wisconsin to Real Estate Investing

Foundations in Rural Wisconsin

I grew up in the rolling hills and farmlands of rural eastern Wisconsin, where the values of hard work and integrity weren't just taught—they were lived every single day. My parents instilled in us a tremendous work ethic that would become the cornerstone of everything I would accomplish in life. They believed that character was built through action, and that belief shaped who I am today.

One of my most formative experiences during childhood was watching my father's passion for transforming houses that others might have overlooked. Dad had an eye for potential in homes that needed extra TLC, and what started as his personal interest quickly became a family affair. Our weekends and summers were spent learning the many trades that come with complete home renovations—plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, painting, and everything in between. These weren't just chores; they were master classes in problem-solving, craftsmanship, and seeing possibility where others saw problems. Little did I know that these early lessons would later become the foundation for my career in real estate investing.

Technical Education and Early Career

After graduating high school, I knew I wanted to work with my hands and solve complex problems, so I enrolled in technical college to study Industrial Mechatronics. This field, which combines mechanical engineering, electronics, and computer systems, perfectly matched my natural curiosity about how things work and my desire to build and fix things. The program challenged me to think systematically and approach problems with both creativity and precision—skills that would prove invaluable throughout my career.

Two Decades of Service

Following my technical education, I embarked on what would become the most transformative period of my life: two decades dedicated to volunteer missionary work. This wasn't just about teaching or sharing beliefs—it was about stepping into roles that demanded everything from classroom instruction to large-scale project management.

The variety of experiences was incredible. I found myself managing construction projects, coordinating community development initiatives, teaching technical skills, and leading teams across diverse cultural and geographic contexts. This work took me throughout many parts of the United States and abroad, opening my eyes to different ways of life, various approaches to problem-solving, and the universal human desire for security and prosperity.

Those years taught me invaluable lessons about leadership, cultural sensitivity, project management at scale, and the importance of building trust with people from all walks of life. Perhaps most importantly, they reinforced my commitment to helping others improve their circumstances and build better futures for their families.

Building a Family and Finding Home

After two decades of travel and service, I felt called to put down roots and start a family. I met the woman who would become my wife, and together we decided to settle in western Wisconsin, drawn by the same rural values and natural beauty that had shaped my childhood.

It took several years for my wife and me to find and create our vision of the perfect family setting. We were determined to build our own slice of heaven through rural homesteading, and eventually, we found the right property to make that dream a reality. Today, we operate a small therapy farm that has become the perfect environment for our four children—two biological and two adopted.

Our therapy farm isn't just a business; it's a reflection of our values. It provides a healing environment for visitors while teaching our children the same lessons about hard work, responsibility, and caring for others that my parents taught me. Watching our children grow up with dirt under their fingernails, responsibility for animals, and an understanding of where food comes from gives me tremendous satisfaction.

Returning to Engineering

In 2015, with my family becoming established and our homestead beginning to take shape, I decided to return to school to pursue an Automation Engineering degree. This decision combined my early technical training with years of project management experience and my natural inclination toward complex problem-solving.

The engineering challenges were exactly the kind of intellectual stimulation I craved. Automation engineering sits at the intersection of multiple disciplines—mechanical systems, electrical controls, computer programming, and process optimization. Every project presented unique puzzles that required both technical expertise and creative thinking. The field perfectly matched my personality and background, allowing me to design systems that make complex processes more efficient and reliable.

The Real Estate Investing Journey Begins

The year 2021 marked the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my life: real estate investing. My wife and I decided to test the waters with our very first Airbnb property, strategically located on the south shore of Lake Superior. The location was breathtaking, and we saw an opportunity to share that natural beauty with travelers while building a profitable investment.

That first property opened my eyes to the incredible potential of real estate as an investment vehicle. I began to see connections between all my previous experiences—the home renovation skills learned from my father, the project management expertise developed during missionary work, the systematic thinking from engineering, and the relationship-building abilities honed over decades of service.

Creating Driftless Equity

As I delved deeper into real estate investing, I realized this wasn't just a side venture—it was my calling. The beauty of real estate investing lies not just in its wealth-building potential, but in its ability to create win-win scenarios. Property improvements enhance communities, provide quality housing, and generate returns for investors. It was the perfect combination of my technical skills, business acumen, and desire to help others.

This realization led me to create Driftless Equity. The name reflects both our geographic region—the Driftless Area of Wisconsin and surrounding states—and our commitment to building lasting value without getting caught up in market drift or speculation.

Through Driftless Equity, I can pursue my passion for real estate investing while applying my professional expertise in increasing asset value. But most importantly, it allows me to fulfill what I believe is my greater purpose: helping others create passive income streams for their families.

Where Integrity and Innovation Meet

Real estate has proven to be an amazing vehicle for wealth generation, but it's not just about the numbers. Every property represents an opportunity to improve someone's living situation, enhance a neighborhood, and create value for multiple stakeholders. When done with integrity and innovation, real estate investing becomes a tool for positive change.

My background has prepared me uniquely for this work. The technical skills help me evaluate properties and renovation potential accurately. The project management experience enables me to execute complex deals efficiently. The engineering mindset brings systematic analysis to investment decisions. And perhaps most importantly, the decades spent in service have taught me that the best business relationships are built on trust, transparency, and mutual benefit.

Looking Forward

Today, as I work with investors through Driftless Equity, I'm excited to share not just investment opportunities, but the knowledge and experience I've gained over decades of diverse professional and personal experiences. Every investor I work with benefits from lessons learned in rural Wisconsin workshops, international project sites, engineering laboratories, and real estate markets.

The journey from a small-town kid learning to swing a hammer alongside his father to an automation engineer turned real estate syndicator might seem unlikely, but every step has been preparation for this moment. I'm excited to continue this journey and to help others discover the wealth-building potential that real estate investing offers.

Whether you're looking to diversify your investment portfolio, create passive income streams, or build generational wealth, I invite you to explore the opportunities that real estate syndication can provide. Together, we can turn decades of experience and a commitment to integrity into profitable investments that benefit everyone involved.

The best part of this journey isn't the financial returns—though they're certainly gratifying. It's the satisfaction that comes from knowing we're helping families build security, communities thrive, and investors achieve their financial goals. That's what happens when integrity and innovation meet in the world of real estate investing.