Russ was born and raised in New York City, New York in the early 60’s. Russ got his education in the New York City public schools and attended a premier school, the Bronx High School of Science. After high school, Russ went on to attend City University of New York and the Pace University, where he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Business degree. Russ has been working at various jobs since he was in high school, from appliance dealers to furriers, selling commercial insurance, Russ always worked while in school. This helped bring the real-world point of view to the many areas of study required.

At the age of 27 Russ joined the family business of manufacturing high end residential woodwork, kitchens, dining rooms, libraries, custom closets, were the products of the 60 or so men employed by the family business. When the opportunity arose to do more commercial work, Russ began a new division of Newmark Furniture and began doing kitchens and vanities and public space work for some of the most prestigious properties in New York City.

After being in business for himself in the family business, Russ decided it was time for a change. He joined a construction company in the city doing a very high end renovation to a rather large building, this was a 2 year project and had many high profile clients. From there, Russ joined a more commercial builder which specialized in High Rise rentals, hotels, and condos.

At the age of 56, Russ and his wife of 25 years decided to leave New York City for a change of pace, many will think Austin is still too fast, but it suits them just fine. Russ and his wife found a home amongst some of the nicest and most warm people they could imagine.