Born and raised in Chicago, Brian began working in Beijing in 1984, playing the leading role in one of the first movies since 1949 to have a foreign leading actor. Brian spent the following two years working for CBS News in Beijing. During that time, he participated in interviews with many Chinese leaders (including Deng Xiaoping). He has completed graduate work at the University of Illinois, Hopkins Nanjing Center, and Stanford.

Brian's initial career was in international education development and investment. He worked in over 75 countries before returning to China in 2004 with his wife and two young sons to preserve and redevelop a Chinese nationally protected structure- now known as The Linden Centre. Until now, it is an unprecedented venture.

Brian now has seven sites, each of which focuses on preserving existing historic buildings while incorporating the villagers in planning and managing the final product- a heritage hotel. Their model has been praised by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Secretary of State, and hundreds of media and scholars.