>> Came to the University of Denver on a Lacrosse scholarship.
Not the main reason why I came here, but the University of Denver lacrosse team brought me
out for a recruiting trip and tour the campus and you see what's going on.
Before we had six more buildings that we have here on campus.
You see what they were trying to build.
They had a vision of what they wanted, whether it was athletics or academics,
and they kind of meshed those all.
So I came to the University of Denver and got a degree in real estate
and construction management which is a business degree, so you get the business background
but you get the real estate and construction knowledge in a business format.
Not in a engineering, heavy format.
So, the easy thing for me when I graduated was to go
into the construction side, because you get a paycheck.
The real estate side you're a broker in your cold calling
and maybe not getting enough paychecks.
So, I learned the hands on construction aspect which was great,
and in the long term that'll be great for whatever my career brings me down the road.
So, I actually got laid off in 2008,
which was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I got laid off 2008, the market was real estate market, the stock market, everything was,
you know, so I reinvented myself I guess you could say.
I went out and raised money and had an idea, and I think back to the projects that I had here
at DU and what it took to put something together with an idea from start to finish, and you know,
that's all these group projects that we that hated when we were here, but I got to tell you,
it really pays off in the end to really understand everybody's role
and assemble a team and, you know, the common goal you're trying to accomplish, so.