In 1997, Ivanko started Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, a two-bedroom inn created on a 5.5-acre farm in Browntown, Wisconsin, that he and his wife farm organically and is focused on sustainability. The Inn received the 2004 Energy Star Small Business Network Award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Vegetarian breakfasts are vegetarian and prepared mostly with ingredients sourced on site.

Ivanko started out working at Leo Burnet Advertising, USA, in Chicago for just under three years before he departed on April 1, 1992, to travel around the world for a year, taking photographs and keeping notes on the places he visited and people he met.

Raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, Ivanko graduated Detroit Country Day School. He received his Masters of Science in Leisure Studies from the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management at the Pennsylvania State University and received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (1989).

John D. Ivanko (born October 1, 1966 in Michigan) is an author, entrepreneur, and writer. He is the co-owner and innkeeper of the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, a small business completely powered by wind and solar energy generated on site. He co-authored Farmstead Chef, the award-winning ECOpreneuring and Rural Renaissance with his wife, Lisa Kivirist, all published by New Society Publishers. He is also the co-author, with Maya Ajmera, of six award-winning children’s books from Charlesbridge Publishers, including To Be a Kid, To Be An Artist and Be My Neighbor. A portion of the proceeds for the children’s books benefit the Global Fund for Children.