Carl T. Shepherd was born in Moline, Illinois and lived in Rock Island until the age of fourteen when he relocated to Center, Missouri.

He grew up in the post World War II era listening to talk from his relatives about life during the Great Depression. He didn't have many store bought toys; he didn't need them since his parents bought him real tools, taught him how to use them, and expected him to use them. And because his parents didn't have a lot of extra money and he saw them running their own businesses, he learned quickly that he would need a job to earn his own money.

He was inducted into the business world when he was four years old. He picked up abandoned soda pop bottles to get the two-cent deposit money that he used to buy his candy at Ray McNeil's Grocery Store.

Over the years his jobs have included operating a newspaper route, mowing lawns, selling produce door-to-door, changing tires, repairing cars and painting houses. He's dug ditches, hauled trash, and built and operated a stock-car-racing track. In 1997 he embarked on a new adventure by collaborating with his mother on her book, Ultra-Violet's Pickled Egg Cookbook.

Mr. Shepherd's uncommon depth and diversity of business experience is seen through his ability to recognize the marketability of opportunities that are in plain sight. He learned early in life that working is better than not working. And he found that working not only nets you a paycheck but also nets you valuable discipline and self respect. Best of all, he learned that starting a business can be the most rewarding experience of all.