"Kayne" earned a full scholarship to Volunteer State Community College, where he studied pre-veterinarian medicine. While working at a veterinary clinic for four and a half years, he took a second job as a sketch artist at a local pageant and eveningwear boutique in Nashville, Tennessee. Two of his five sisters competed in scholarship pageants to help put themselves through college and "Kayne" helped them with their preparation for the pageants, especially when it came to wardrobe. Kayne quickly became enamored with fashion, changed his major and transferred to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. In 2002, he won the Critics Choice Award at FIT for eveningwear and graduated magna cum laude. He moved back to Nashville after graduation and opened Kayne's Clothing Boutique, where he created custom ballroom dance costumes, evening wear, and wardrobe for the country music industry.