In 1985, Jill Rasmussen was a college student at the University of Minnesota working at Thorpe Brothers Commercial. For two years, she would work on a typewriter, inputting purchase agreements, while watching the hustle and bustle of the industrial brokers sell buildings. She had the feeling that she could do (more)

As a senior in high school, Peter Mork was painting houses on Summitt Avenue in Saint Paul when his boss needed help leasing warehouses – he offered to pay for Peter’s real estate license and hoped to put him to work a bit more. Off to the races Peter went. After (more)

Considering himself as the world's worst student, Brian Ingram's mom put him in a culinary program at the age of 14. By the age of 18, he left his home state of Alaska with a passion for the culinary world, working in restaurants as a chef, travelling from San Francisco (more)

Heidi Zimmer thought she was going to be a City Planner when she was working for the City of Minnetonka. After working with numerous developers, she leaned into her curiosity of the commercial real estate development world. As much as she loved government work, it was the creative side that (more)

Nicole Middendorf’s life looked perfect from the outside. She was a mother of a 2-year-old and 6-month-old, owned her own wealth management firm, Prosperwell Financial, lived on Lake Minnetonka, was on a radio show, tv show, and had every flashy toy you could dream of. Until a night in the (more)

Betsy Vohs knew her life calling ever since she was a little girl. She was constantly rearranging rooms in her home and even asked for a budget for her birthday one year to renovate her room. To her surprise, her parents agreed, and she was off to the design-races. She (more)

Chris Simmons grew up being told he’d be a fighter pilot one day. His father was in the Airforce as a decorated Vietnam fighter pilot and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Simmons coasted up to the University of North Dakota to receive his aviation license and became (more)

Paul Edlund loved being a criminal defense lawyer. After he graduated from University of Minnesota’s William Mitchell Law School, he opened his own private law firm and grew it to success. He enjoyed the people, problem solving, and in-court room experiences where he tried around 75 trials, and a handful (more)

In the 1950’s, Brien Slawik’s grandparents were a force to be reckoned with. Marie and Harold owned one of the largest Ford dealerships in the Midwest, Midway Ford, along with an auto-parts store, leasing and car title-loan businesses, and on top of that, they founded and grew Har-Mar Inc (which (more)

Patty and John Wall blended their backgrounds to create one of the hottest spots in town. Patty, a former chef/caterer, and John, a commercial real estate developer, created Malcom Yards, a popular food hall which features 9 kitchens, a bar, and a self-pour tap-wall. It is also host to many (more)

Marshall Nguyen was only 5 years old when he and his family packed their bags in Vietnam to come to the United States. The quickest way for his family to earn an income (without going back to school) was to enter the nail salon business. Fast forward to Nguyen’s high (more)

Brent Babcock’s ‘retail mind’ has gathered experience down many avenues. To get to where he is today, he had to learn one step at a time. Babcock found himself training at Target, managing, and leading teams within a store. Next came the management of a store at AT&T and ultimately, (more)

Sara Lemke grew up in “camp culture” loving all things nature. She loved it so much that she regularly attended summer camps, and it was even where she met her husband! Now, she works in the industry. She jumped at the opportunity to work at one of America’s longest running (more)

Starting out by developing single-family homes for GI’s returning home from WWII, Paster Properties has evolved into a well-known and respected company. Howard Paster, the third generation to lead the family real estate business, continues its legacy. Today, Paster Properties develops several neighborhood commercial real estate properties across the (more)

Leif Eikevik credits his father for merging his creative side with his technical side to shape him into the successful architect he is today. Eikevik works for Leo A Daly Architecture Firm, a national Architecture and Engineering firm that was established in 1915. Eikevik is based in Minneapolis where he is the Market Sector Leader for their commercial, life sciences and GSA divisions. With a boutique-feel workplace, complete with 80 employees and 800 across the country, their team reaches over 8 markets. (more)

Max Musicant has always had a love of cities and public spaces. Growing up in a family whose ambitions were to improve cities and neighborhoods, Musicant took his upbringing to a new level. After Musicant finished college, he moved to New York City where he was drawn to economic development. (more)

Mike Kaeding’s parents started a family business managing and building apartments 30 years ago. When it was time for the business to be passed on to him, he wanted nothing to do with it. He didn’t want people to think it was “given” to him…until he realized the business was (more)

Some of Wesley Uthus’ first memories as a child revolved around clothes; she’d make her own Barbie outfits and dress up with her sister and friends. Her first love was fashion. And it was her niche. At the age of 16, she landed her first job at Land’s End where (more)

Growing up in a house with three sisters and a stay-at-home mother, Shannon Rusk knew she didn’t want to follow a typical female track when entering college. She started her studies in Engineering – determined to forge herself into a male-dominated industry and make an impact. After accepting a position (more)

Ashok Dhariwal believes that yoga is for anybody and everybody. By making it affordable and available to the community, Dhariwal believes that through this intention, he is also able to give back. He is the owner of four multi-unit YogaFit Studios located in Minneapolis with locations in Loring Park, Linden (more)

Cory McClure has an eye for opportunities that most people wouldn’t know exist. Straight out of college, McClure worked in computer software and hardware sales for 15 years before the inevitable 2008 recession where the company he worked for laid off 25% of employees – including him. At 38 years (more)

Tony Simmons was expected to follow in his family’s footsteps and become an attorney, but for whatever reason, his instinct wanted to go down a different path. After a couple of really great mentors, Simmons was introduced to the Real Estate space. His route led him to become the President (more)

After falling into the construction industry by chance, Cathy Schmidt now leads it. As the President and CEO of Stahl Construction, the Shoreview, Minnesota native went to Iowa State where she was recruited for a sales job. With a business marketing degree, she had never taken one sales class, but she (more)

Growing up on the East Side of St. Paul, Dan Stoltz came from humble beginnings working a paper route every day from the age of 9. As a young boy, he also watched his father go to work by owning a painting business, pizza place, carwash, real estate, and more. (more)

Back in 1995 when the internet was still powering up, Brian Kueppers had an idea that many people did not – he launched a technology company. He was newly married with a baby, had a house and two car payments, but despite the busy home life he had, he put (more)

During Kim Bartmann’s junior year of college at the University of Minnesota, she came to the realization that many students do – she needed a job. Having never stepped foot in a restaurant kitchen before, she was told by a friend to pretend to be a vegetarian to apply for work as a line cook at a Vegetarian restaurant. They hired her.