The Early Years
Todd grew up watching his parents build a successful business from the ground up. His dad was the go-getting risk taker who taught Todd the importance of being passionate about your work, while his mom was the organizer who made sure that things were done properly. This unique blend of energy and thoughtfulness helped to form the basis upon which Todd would later build his businesses.

At the age of 14 Todd took it upon himself to seek out a job at the local pet store when he offered to work for free. He wanted to prove that he had a strong work ethic, which would guarantee him a job there down the road. Even at an early age he realized the importance of having an exceptional work ethic and that success is earned, and not handed to you. During those early years at the pet shop Todd met one of his first mentors in Lee Shoaf. Lee’s exuberance and passion for life inspired Todd to stay upbeat and work even harder. He taught Todd the importance of being “on a roll” – the good, the bad or the ugly, you keep on rolling. To this day Todd remains close friends with Lee, who continues to be an influence and an inspiration to everyone around him.

As a Schaumburg, Illinois native Todd attended Schaumburg High School and later Harper College before moving on to the University of Minnesota Duluth. Here Todd was able to pursue his degree in Business while partaking in the variety of hunting and fishing opportunities in the great state of Minnesota. His love for the outdoors was also learned at an early age from his father, Les Graf. While at UMD Todd met two more influential people who were very important to him in Steve Castleberry and Kate Andrews. These were two professors who were able to recognize skill sets Todd had, above and beyond reading school books and getting grades. Castleberry’s down to earth real-world teaching style was much appreciated. While he still maintains a healthy relationship with Steve, he has unfortunately lost contact with Kate. So Kate, if you’re reading this, please contact Todd!

Starting New Businesses
After graduating from UMD Todd decided to start ICS Solutions, a business focused primarily around the up and coming IT and networking market. Influenced by Jim Haase, Brian Wink, and Bob Bortnik, who had sparked Todd’s interest in technology some years earlier, this was something that Todd knew he was passionate about and could be successful doing. He set out with one goal in mind, to build a successful business.

Around this same time Todd found that starting your own business along with no longer living in the wildlife-rich state of Minnesota meant he wasn’t able to spend as much time in the woods as he used to. To help fill in for a lack of time in the woods he decided to start a website dedicated to whitetail deer and the sport enjoyed by millions of people across the world, deer hunting. This allowed him to blend his two passions in life into one endeavor and so WhitetailDeer.com was begun.

Busy with ICS Solutions and the struggles many young entrepreneurs face in trying to get their businesses off the ground Todd lost track of WhitetailDeer.com for several months before finally getting back to check his e-mail. Much to his amazement he had over 7,000 e-mails that had come in through this new website thanking him for taking the time to put together what was at the time the Internet’s only real resource for deer hunters. It was then that Todd decided to dedicate more time and energy into building hunting websites. Several maxed-out credit cards and 2,500 domain names later Todd was able to build the Internet’s largest community of hunting websites, with HuntingNet.com reaching several million hunters each year.

A Change In Focus
With ICS Solutions and HuntingNet.com both becoming successful businesses Todd began looking for new opportunities. As the popularity of the Internet continued to increase through the late nineties and into the 2000’s Todd saw a noticeable shift in the amount of time and energy people were investing in their websites. With his experiences in building websites on a small scale through ICS and HuntingNet.com Todd decided to form the Rhino Group to handle professional website development. While the Rhino Group provides services for a variety of businesses and industries, it has now become the premier website developer for the outdoor and hunting industry.

The same time that the Rhino Group was being spawned from ICS Solutions and HuntingNet.com, Todd was also busy building an upland hunting club that would provide a place for hunters and dog enthusiasts in the Chicago metropolitan area. Again, Todd’s passion for hunting and sporting dogs that was introduced to him many years ago helped him form Coon Creek Hunt Club, which is now one of Northern Illinois premiere hunting clubs and shooting facilities.

Throughout his time as a successful businessman and entrepreneur several other people greatly influenced Todd’s life both personally and professionally whom he would like to thank. These include John Wright Sr., Ron Edwards, and Paul T. Brown. And of course his mom and dad, Pat and Les Graf.

Looking Ahead
Todd currently resides close to his businesses in Huntley, Illinois with his wife Sonia and their son Craig. His excitement for creating new businesses and working hard is as strong today as it was those many years ago when he first walked into that pet store looking for a job. He has learned the secret to creating successful businesses is exactly what he was taught by his parents and so many others along the way - being passionate about what you are doing.

In the future Todd plans to continue building websites for the outdoor industry and helping hunters realize the power that technology and the Internet has to offer.