Hayden was born in Littleton Colorado, but spent a significant portion of his childhood overseas in Papua New Guinea, where he learned the important values of honesty and hard work. After high school he attended Bethel University in St. Paul Minnesota, where he began to fall in love with the wintery state. He then returned to Colorado and began working for Footprints Floors as a project manager. It was during that time he met Anna; a Minnesota native.