Bruce left his hometown of Kent, Ohio to go to Stanford University. After graduating with a degree in Child Development, he founded a nonprofit organization called Mi Familia which raised over $200,000 to create the first day care center for disabled children in Ecuador. The project, which serves over 100 special needs children per year, is still running to this day.

Bruce is also an avid adventure traveler. He has a background in Capoeira - a Brazilian martial art - and has lived with the Haoarani Indians in the Amazon jungle. He has also sailed through the Galápagos Islands, free-climbed Mt. Roraima in Venezuela and backpacked in over 100 North American National Parks.