I grew up in Dothan, Alabama before moving off to college where I graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor's of Science in Commerce and Business Administration, concentration in Financial Management. The first ten years of my career were shaped in the mortgage banking divisions of various financial services entities including Fortune 500 companies such as JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and SunTrust Bank, N.A., where I participated in the financing of approximately $800 million of commercial real estate.