I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, in a small town called Spruce Pine. I learned at an early age what it meant to work as a means of survival, by stacking wood for my grandparents, starting my own lawn maintenance business at 12, and working at my parents’ furniture store all throughout high school and college.

With an early fascination in cars, and pretty much anything expensive, I didn’t know until my senior year of college that there was actually a collectors’ market for fine fountain pens. In fact, I thought they were a thing of the past! One of my best friends in college introduced me to Montblanc, and the amazing writing instruments they offered for sale, and I was instantly hooked. Truphae started as a way to earn a little supplemental income while I pursued a career in investment banking. I was blessed to work on Wall Street through an internship, tied with a continuing education program. After the internship ended, I began struggling to interview for firms in New York while being located in North Carolina. I eventually decided to pursue my true interest, and leave behind any aspirations of vast wealth. I wed my long-time girlfriend and pursued Truphae full time in 2016!

We moved to New York on our wedding day (we literally left the wedding and drove to the airport), and spent a year in the Big Apple. New York certainly taught us some great things, and gave us the drive to pursue our dreams. We relocated to Greenville, South Carolina (where I went to college!) in 2017, and have been here ever since! My dream for Truphae is to become a one-stop shop for all things fountain pens, and pen related items. I hope to never lose touch of our one-on-one customer service approach as it has served to build some of the greatest relationships and friendships I have ever had. Our pursuit of this goal has blessed us with 6 fantastic team members, who you will meet below. If you have shared interests with any one of them, they’d love to hear from you!