Growing up in Northern Minnesota, Russell learned to love the outdoors at an early age. Fishing and hunting were passions that motivated his decision to move to Montana to live and work in the outdoors, where he taught people to fly fish and wrote about his experiences in a blog called The Montana Dream Blog. His studies in Sociology, as well as his travels around the world with a musical production, influenced his perspective. This perspective is reflected in his writings. Many of his writings are real-life accounts of his own struggles with a twist.