Russell Lowen's first mentor was his father Roger. In the late 1960s, he began teaching his young son how to maintain an automobile, along with the proper use of the tools and equipment required for that maintenance.

An enthusiastic and mechanically apt student, Russell began to apply his training by working on increasingly more complicated modes of transportation, beginning with bicycles, then mini-bikes, go-carts, motorcycles, and finally automobiles.

After graduating Seneca High School, Russell spent several years at Jefferson State Technical College and the University of Louisville. Following that, for 16 years, Russell worked at automotive repair shops in the Louisville area, before finally deciding by the early 1990s to open his own automobile repair shop. In 1994 Russell organized and incorporated Harrods Creek Imports. He has been using his mechanical expertise and years of training and experience to serve his customers ever since.