Upon graduating from WSU with a construction management degree, John immediately began building homes in the Puget Sound area. After 12+ years of building, fate, or a chance, led him to an existing cherry orchard opportunity in Wenatchee, Washington. A family-owned orchard was in serious decline, so after researching the business and how it could be successfully run, John jumped in and bought 50% of the orchard from the family. Running a successful orchard in the 90's came down to having the right location, producing good fruit, and the willingness to work consistently hard to properly take care of the trees. In those days warehouses typically did not have their own orchards and fruit to sell, so the small farmer wasn’t competing against them as much as they are today. From 1995 to 2003 John ran a successful orchard. The family that he originally bought the orchard from, recognized how good things were going, so when they offered to buy him out, he accepted. The next 6 to 7 years were spent building homes until the financial crisis of 2008. When the opportunity presented itself to purchase a property that housed declining apple trees, John knew he couldn't pass it up. Along with encouragement from his family he established Cherry Bluff Orchard in 2009.