TY BURRELL: In our latest Founders Series, Ty Burrell shares his journey from actor to serial bar owner and restaurateur.

• Position: FOUNDER SERIES

FOR A REALLY LONG TIME, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. I went to junior high and high school in Applegate, Oregon--a small town with 200ish people. I played a lot of sports and was, athletically, a "big fish in a small pond" during my years there. My athletic competition was like eight people out in the country, so part of me delusionally thought I had what it took to become a professional athlete. Which is altogether kind of hilarious, in retrospect.

I had initially intended to walk on to the football team at the University of Oregon. Before the walk-on tryout, I had befriended a player on the team--we played basketball together. This guy was three times the athlete that I was and he was dunking on everyone. I found out, through casual conversation, that he never even made it onto the field for the team because he wasn't good enough. Needless to say, my dream of being a professional athlete died a quiet death and I eventually ended up leaving the University of Oregon to figure out what I truly wanted to do with my life.

I KIND OF FELL INTO MY ACTING CAREER

At the time, I had never really considered acting--my high school out in the country didn't have a theater department of any kind, and I'd known no performers in my circles as a reference point. The only thing I had to go on was that after I MC'd the talent show back in high school, my father told me that 'I should have my own talk show.' Which was strangely specific, but I think he was trying to say that he felt like I was natural up on stage and that there was some kind of talent there. When he passed away in 1989, I kept hearing his voice in the back of my head telling me to go back to the University of Oregon and pursue acting, so I did.

It all really came out of nowhere, there was no context for my career--none of my family had any experience in the acting industry--but I am grateful that my father so passionately suggested it because I fell for it instantly, literally on the first day of my acting classes when we had been challenged to improvise Shakespearian characters. Even though I barely knew who Shakespeare was, I stood on this box and played a sort of braggadocious military captain and I somehow got a couple of laughs. And that was it for me, I knew that acting was the thing that I wanted to spend all of my time doing.

I left the University of Oregon in 1992 to finish up my undergrad at Southern Oregon University. After graduating I went to grad school at Penn State. Some actors don't need to go to grad school, but I really needed the program. I wasn't ready to go out into the world of acting just yet because I was unprepared both professionally, and maybe more importantly, emotionally. I was a...