Rick Stalker

I come from a second-generation Sacramento family. My father, Glenn, grew up in a very poor farming community in Kansas during the Great Depression. He managed to go on to attend Washburn University in Topeka, where he was a three-letter athlete inducted into Washburn's Football Hall of Fame. (Which likely explains my life-long passion for sports!) From there, he went on to gain a graduate business finance degree from Stanford and enjoyed a long career as the CEO of Blue Diamond Almonds in Sacramento. He earned that position because of his farming background and ability to relate to growers—my dad understood the California almond farmers better than anyone else!

My own journey into business began when I was attending college. I joined my brother to partner and run a sportswear manufacturing company. I’ve always loved the outdoors: skiing, golf, SCUBA diving—you name it. After several successful years in the manufacturing business, I had a desire to be more involved in the retail trade, so I went to work in our Ski Stalker stores here in Sacramento and Tahoe. It was an exciting time to be involved in a great business and a fantastic group of people, and I would later spend over fifteen years in sales and marketing for several sporting goods companies and eventually run an international youth sports manufacturing business.

When my employer was bought out, it was right around then that I met Donna. An experienced Realtor herself, she inspired me to join her in the business.