Dan grew up on a farm south of Manson. He attended school at Manson Northwest Webster graduating in 1996. From there he went to Iowa Central Community College through the carpentry program. He has been in the construction field for about 21 years and is currently at ICCC where he is an associate instructor in the Carpentry Program. He teaches a dual credit building trades program for Humboldt Community School District and also teaches carpentry classes at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.  His wife, Andrea, is a Nurse practitioner at the Iowa Heart Center in Fort Dodge. They have four children, Cael, Preslie, Thatcher and Hayden.