Meet the Cast of Between the Studs
Get to know the charismatic crew that turns dreams into bricks and mortar, one educational and hilarious episode at a time. These are the folks who make home-building look easy, fun, and sometimes just a little bit crazy.
Izzy Rodriguez
Izzy has been with the Fort Wayne community for more than 30 years and loves to help people live their lives to the fullest. He often indulges in binge-watching The Walking Dead or dreaming of swinging through the city as Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man. But in his day-to-day, Izzy is an amateur magician and a self-proclaimed Karaoke King. Izzy has a background as a professional DJ. He has a knack for collecting concert T-shirts and coffee cups and adores practicing odd accents.
Custom Built by Granite Ridge Builders
Luke Hoffman
Luke has been with Granite Ridge Builders since high school. With an Associate Degree in Architectural Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering Technology, he is the President of Construction. Luke enjoys outdoor adventures with his two sons, and wants to visit every national park. If Luke could switch lives with anyone for a day, it would be King Arthur to learn more about medieval times.
Custom Built by Granite Ridge Builders
Charity Freeman
Charity has spent years connecting with people through interviewing local businesses and leaders, now she does it as a New Home Specialist at Granite Ridge Builders. Charity loves to have fun, with her favorite karaoke song being Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Her favorite behind-the-scene moments are when Lonnie makes a joke.
Elizabeth Urschel
Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry and is able to offer extensive market knowledge with her role as a New Home Specialist. Elizabeth describes her life with the movie Frozen because of how cold she constantly is. One of her goals is to tour around Europe for several weeks. Elizabeth’s favorite Between the Studs episode is the plumbing episode on The Monaco and Duty Calls because everyone had a blast with the bathroom jokes.
Custom Built by Granite Ridge Builders
Tony Doepker
Tony has worked on the radio, both as an on-air personality and in sales. Now, he uses his skills as a New Home Specialist at Granite Ridge Builders. As a Fort Wayne native, Tony likes to explore the city and can be seen at local restaurants and shops around town. He loves to make people laugh and have fun with his go-to karaoke song is “Hey Bartender.” Tony’s favorite Between the Studs episodes are any that include small town living.
Lonnie Norris
Lonnie is passionate about giving people a secure place to call home. If Lonnie was not the Vice President of Sales, he would want to be a treasure hunter. His favorite Between the Studs episodes are when the cast hidden treasures and uncovering fascinating stories that tie us to the past.
Kayla Stuart
Kayla, is a Hallmark movie enthusiast who dreams of being a horse whisperer on a ranch. With a secret talent for burping the ABCs as a kid, Kayla’s dream house is a mansion treehouse in the mountains with rope bridges and a tunnel to a horse barn. One of her most embarrassing moments was walking around school for an hour in 5th grade with their skirt tucked into hertights. Kayla’s favorite "Between the Studs" episodes include the Monaco plumbing show where Charity couldn't stop laughing about "Duty Calls" and the one where Lonnie kept mispronouncing "range," causing endless laughter from Charity. Behind the scenes, the crew always has to watch out for Mike hiding his script in Izzy's pants!
Mike Stuart
Although he is already living his dream job as Kayla’s trophy husband, Mike has been a Property Manager at Granite Ridge Builders for almost 10 years. Mike loves to spend time outside, and his dream house would be on a mountainside with a wrap-around porch. If he could have any superpower, it would be to make bad people pee their pants.
Tony Reincke
Tony is a third-generation Fort Wayne-born native. He graduated from Concordia Lutheran High School and Valparaiso University with honors. Over 45 years ago, Tony started selling homes and believes that all of his clients deserve a truly custom dream home. A secret talent Tony has is photography — he loves to take pictures at family gatherings so people can cherish those memories forever. Tony created Between the Studs and his favorite episode is The Monaco plumbing episode because of all the duty calls jokes.
Brendan Keen
Brendan has been an active photographer and videographer in Fort Wayne since 2014, and brings his experience in real estate marketing and aerial imaging to Granite Ridge Builders. As the videographer for GRB, his day involves shooting and editing walkthrough videos, as well as finding new ways to visually communicate with potential homeowners. He graduated from Canterbury School and majored in psychology at Indiana University. Brendan is passionate about food, spending his time cooking for friends and searching out obscure local eateries. He's also into the local music scene, and can frequently be observed photographing bands on weekends.
Justin Jones
Justin is responsible for maintaining our computers and mobile devices, as well as anything else that plugs in or has a battery. Previously he was a Senior Technical Advisor with AppleCare, assisting customers and mentoring new employees. He also taught in the middle school classroom for three years and served in church ministry. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education at Indiana University Fort Wayne, where he was active in the Honors Program. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with friends and family and is a leader in the Fort Wayne VMWare User Group.