Finding something you treasure is a very personal experience. Those types of discoveries are often wonderful, memorable moments — they impact and change lives. And every so often Eric and I find ourselves watching as someone experiences one of those moments – we get front-row seats, witnessing the exploration of a home that we created. A home that is based on a design that took us so long to prepare, for families that we don’t get to meet until months after we have set down our pencils, and not until we have finished building and sculpting the final product. As you can imagine, ours is a very unique and wonderful profession. On a regular basis we get to impact the way people live. How awesome is that?
Your interest in Paragon Life Builders is enormously appreciated. It seems like we often find ourselves telling people that our company is “just different,” and that there are so many reasons why. To understand this you need to know a little bit more about us — which is why we created this section on our website. Eric and I have truly complementary and overlapping backgrounds. Our experiences are extensively personal and professional; to be successful, we believe that you need both. So we wanted to let you in on part of what makes us tick.
My father retired in Las Vegas when I was eleven — I was an Air Force brat. I was born in Nebraska and we moved a lot. Before Las Vegas we were stationed in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Germany. Keeping friends during those formative years wasn’t easy at all. So I kept myself busy in other ways: I was inquisitive and creative. I loved to sketch, build models, take things apart, and fix anything that was broken. My imagination was enormous, and that’s where I spent a lot of my time.
Middle school and beyond were different. I enjoyed growing up in the Vegas Valley. My parents taught my sister and me the important things: love, respect, dignity, and devotion. During these years I also developed lifelong friendships and an appreciation for education, hard work, and discipline.
With passions for math, science, and problem solving, I attended the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering at UNLV where my studies spanned both electrical and civil engineering. Later in life I also earned a B.S. degree in business at ECU. I was probably the oldest student there! All of this took place while I was experiencing my greatest education of all – my pursuit of a career in the engineering and construction industries.
The early makings of this career began when I was awarded a position as a runner with a local civil engineering firm. Fast forward a few months and my colleagues started teaching me how to draft construction plans. That’s when my passion for engineering took off. I considered it an art form.
Twelve years later, and despite my then role as a civil land development director, I accepted my first position with a home builder and became an addict of the craft that still stokes my passion some twenty years later.
Over the course of that time I have held responsibility for the construction of six different master planned communities, two of which have frequently appeared on lists of top U.S. master plans. I have also designed and helped build numerous top-selling luxury and production homes for several different builders, one of which was submitted for top honors by industry colleagues.
In addition to homebuilding and community development, I have worked extensively in business and finance management. On countless occasions I have been called upon by industry leaders for team building, budget analysis, and underwriting. This has led to strong relationships with top lenders and equity resources including those at national and local banks, hedge funds, and with high net-worth individuals.
My experiences have remained both educational and rewarding, but they also served as some of the seeds for the creation of Paragon Life Builders. Eric and I bring not just expertise, but passion and charisma to home building. We love our work and we especially love the company that we have built. Delivering personal treasures – homes – is a daily event around here. We hope you get to experience that with us, and we hope that you can appreciate why we enjoy being “just different.”
