Rick Hexum attended the University of Iowa on a track scholarship earning a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in 1973. He began his career selling residential and commercial real estate in Rochester, Minnesota, and subsequently began building luxury homes together with his wife under the entity, Kathryn Hexum Company. Rick also completed a number of single and multi-family housing development projects in Rochester including condominium projects and Oakcliff townhouses. He later began to expand into commercial development and construction with his company Schroeder Leverington, completing several Hy-Vee Food Stores, Kids Come First Children Centers, the Rochester Athletic Club, the Hilton Hotel, and later, various government buildings in Davenport, Iowa, among other things. He was actively involved in Rochester's downtown development projects with his partner, Gus Chafoulias, until he and his family moved to the Hayward area.