My name is Brian Rhoads and I grew up in Upstate NY and have lived all over the country. I attended college at Rutgers University and majored in Environmental Policy. Throughout college I worked in hospitality in many forms from the kitchen to the front of the house as a waiter, bartender and in management. I had a real love for the industry and had thoughts of opening my own bar or restaurant. I came close a few times but things fell through, albeit mine or a partner’s doing. Over the years, my feelings for the industry faded and, like many in it, I felt stuck or that I had been left behind and had no substantial skills to offer in a “real world job”. More.