I grew up on Minnesota's Iron Range, between Hibbing and Chisholm. As a youngster, I worked for my father, whose scrap yard recycled industrial debris, such as old train parts and mining equipment. The Range is three hours north of the Twin Cities and it has an up-and-down economy. That has meant that sometimes there was a lack of access to the right equipment, so people there had developed a make-it-yourself mentality. While I was still a teenager, I started my own business, refurbishing and selling used hydraulic components to loggers.