Ryan grew up playing hockey in Ontario, Canada. He won a Junior A National Championship with the Thunder Bay Flyers and an NCAA Division I Championship with the Lake Superior State University Lakers. Carrie grew up in Johannesburg, Michigan, and was a local pageant Queen. They met while attending Lake Superior State University, where Ryan earned a degree in Criminal Justice, and Carrie earned a degree in Political Science. They were married in 1997.

After college, the couple moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where Carrie attended law school until they decided to have children. At that point, Carrie knew she wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom rather than an attorney. After one miscarriage, they went on to add Madison and Maguire to their family, and they moved back to Michigan to be closer to their families.

After another miscarriage, Carrie became pregnant with their son, Maverick. The pregnancy was uneventful until Maverick’s birth. Maverick was born with a rare bacterial infection and fought for two weeks to survive. After 2 different NICU’s and 3 different hospitals, Maverick’s health improved and he was able to join his family at home. His story is nothing short of a miracle, and this experience led Ryan and Carrie to begin sharing their story at various conferences and seminars across the United States and Canada.

The Sharpe family was not complete, however. Despite suffering a third miscarriage, Carrie eventually became pregnant again. God blessed them with twins Marin and Moxie-Mae in 2009. The family resides in northern Michigan and is active in their local church.