Russell was born and raised in Springfield, where he graduated from Glendale High School in 1996. After high school, he began working in the bakery at Walmart, where he retired after 20 years. Since retiring from Walmart, he spends his time doing arts and crafts and watching The Golden Girls, The Dukes of Hazzard, Full House, and all the CSI crime dramas. Before breaking a hip by slipping on the ice in the winter of 2024, he played sports year-round with A Sporting Chance, including basketball, softball, volleyball, track and field, and bowling. He loves to sing along with his favorite artists, Michael Jackson and Elvis. His absolute favorite group is the Branson, MO, group The Haygoods. He also loves to play pranks and scare people—you never know what kind of critter he may have in his pocket or what corner he’ll be hiding around.
Russell has loved keys and key chains since he was a little boy. He always carried keys that went to nothing and several key chains, telling everyone he was going to drive a blue car one day and that’s what his keys were for. We took his love of key chains and crafts to create the products you see here today.