Craig Gunderson recalls how, as a young man, any time he told his father he needed something, they would set about building a solution rather than buying it from a store.

“For better or worse, I carry that with me into everything I do—give me a problem, and I will go out and figure it out for myself,” he says. This mentality explains why he worked in the education sector for over 20 years, believing that anything worth doing starts with learning. It also explains why, since 2013, he has maintained a magazine-style website without hiring help, as he considers himself his own harshest critic and best self-promoter.

A photo of his father’s homemade workbench sits on the art table he built himself, serving as a reminder that even in failure, he has learned something—and that is the best teacher, one that costs nothing.

“I was the only kid on my block with a wooden Han Solo blaster…” a testament to his resourcefulness and creativity from a young age.