Jeff Sands was born in Saranac Lake, New York, and moved to the small town of Montpelier, Vermont at the age of five. After completing his bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Vermont, he joined the Marine Corps in 2000. Soon afterwards, he found himself deploying to Kuwait and invading Iraq with 7th Marine Regiment. After the Marine Corps, he entered the homebuilding industry, where he worked for 9 years and moved up the corporate ladder as Vice President of Purchasing. During that time he received his Master's Degree in Political Science, got married, and settled down in Temecula, CA. However, he wasn't satisfied with his life in the corporate world, and soon found himself leaving his wife, losing his house, and quitting his job. Letting Go: A Marine's Journey Through War and His Search for Meaning, is his first self-published book