The Jennifer Kamara Podcast

Ryan: the relationship that I had with football for the, like the next five years where I hated the game, didn't wanna talk.

I, I hardly watched football. Um, yeah, I just didn't want anything to do with it because I was trying to find myself beyond the game

Jennifer: Hi, Ryan.

Ryan: Hi, good morning. Good afternoon.

Jennifer: Good. I think I have afternoon. Are you in Chicago?

Ryan: I'm in Chicago, so we just crossed over

Jennifer: That's right. We're the same time zone

Ryan: where you based out of.

Jennifer: we are in Austin, Texas, and there is a whole winter storm warning.

Ryan: Yeah, it's, uh, it was single digits here in Chicago, so.

Jennifer: Yeah,

Ryan: um, it could always be worse.

Jennifer: yeah. So my brother went to U of M. I saw that you were there for a bit, and he also lived in Chicago. So I know fully well how cold, cold can get.

Ryan: Yep. Um, yeah. I was in Ann Arbor for four years, uh oh three to oh seven. Uh, I tell everybody Best time in my life,

Jennifer: I love the school spirit. It's great. all right, Ryan,

I'd love to get started with asking you, what's one thing you're appreciative for today?

Ryan: Um, this very moment, right.

I'm appreciative of the.

Jennifer: Ah, that's beautiful. And being so grateful myself for sharing this space with you. One thing that I read on website that I love was that each journey begins with a single step.

So I'd love to take us back to your first steps and get to understand your background. Can you tell me a little bit about growing up for you?

Ryan: Yeah, for sure. So, I'm originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, um, which is by most accounts a Midwest city in the East coast state. Um, and, uh, I come from the inner city, um, where I grew up riding bikes all day and staying out to the streetlights came on. Um, and really grew up with like a strong sense of like community, um, together and, uh, ultimately two, uh, self and that that'll be really important as we, uh, move forward and, and talk about some other things.

But yeah, my, I had a great upbringing. I have two younger sisters. Uh, my parents have been married for 43 years, and one thing that I could always say about, excuse me, my mom and dad is that they were always there. Like they were always there. They were always present. Uh, my dad was my coach, uh, for a lot of times when I, uh, was an athlete or a youth athlete.

And, uh, he was there so much I didn't want him there. I was like, man, can, like, can you go somewhere else? Can you do

something? Yeah. Just like gimme some space. . through all that, um, my parents have always been there. And so like, as far as I can look back and, and it's important to how I got here now because I believe everything happens for a reason.

I started playing football in 1992. Um, I was the biggest kid on the team. I was the strongest kid on the team, and I was the fastest kid on the team. However, uh, I was playing offensive guard blocking, uh, for a terrible team that went winless the entire. And so here I am, I'm like, man, I'm bigger, stronger, faster.

I'm not getting the football and we're losing something ain't adding up here. And so I told my dad, um, that I didn't want to play, uh, the following season. And so fast forward, the following season comes around, uh, my dad doesn't sign me up, and the first few weeks go by. Uh, and, uh, I guess he had had enough, uh, because he ultimately, uh, made me get back out on the football.

but there was one caveat, um, if I was gonna get back out there again. I knew I had talent, I knew I had ability, I needed the football cause I wanted to score touchdowns. And so, um, that he, he agreed to that. Uh, and it wasn't, that wasn't a hard sell because now his best friend was a coach. And, and so, uh, I, I tell that story, uh, because had my dad not made me get back out there and I probably wouldn't be sitting here today.

Um, you know, that moment in time was I. A defining moment for me, uh, that really set the trajectory of my life. And again, I believe everything happens for a reason, but I could see the day, I could see the, like the, the experience, the time where we were. Uh, and I look at that moment and say, that pretty much set up the rest of my life.

Um, and so I'm very, very blessed and thankful for like the leadership of my father, the foresight there. And then again for them always being there because had they not been for them, then who knows what, what would've.

Jennifer: And it's all about also being in a spot to receive these moments and receive these nudges. In this case, you were also able and willing in a space to receive that from your dad. So then take that. How did that lead you to the N F L?

Ryan: Uh, so fast forward, uh, throughout my youth career, uh, go to high school. I was high school, all American. I go to the University of Michigan as we had talked about. Um, and, uh, I spent four years at the University of. and, uh, they were great seasons, uh, lifelong friends, et cetera. And then I had a graduate year that I spent at West Virginia.

Um, and then in 2008 I got drafted back to my hometown team to Pittsburgh Steels. And so like that career trajectory of like local hometown kid who at one point in time didn't want to play football, uh, then comes full circle, uh, back around to be drafted by the hometown team. And so it was truly fulfilling for.

because again, I've always been supported by folks who have, uh, championed me, supported me, uh, in ways that I don't even know about. Um, and so like that to have the opportunity to like live out a lifelong dream in front of everybody who had helped me get to that point was really incredible. Uh, but it got better because we actually won a Super Bowl that year.

Jennifer: Yes,

Ryan: drafted back to my hometown team, we want to suit what my rookie season. So I was like, wow, this is easy. We should do this all the time. Uh, not so much, but uh, again, like I, I've just been very blessed and thankful, uh, for like my, the set of my life experiences because it's not only always been about me, but every step of the way.

Like my family has been able to experience that. My mom and dad, my sisters have been to several Rose Bowls. They've been to super multiple Super Bowl. know, the list goes on and on and on. So, uh, it's truly been a great ride so far.

Jennifer: You mentioned the sense of community growing. being really strong, and as you're mentioning your experiences right now, the sense of community is still ringing true to me, so I'm hearing this as a really strong value of yours.

Ryan: yeah, for sure. Um, that's something that, uh, again, I grew up with day one, um, and now like my day-to-day. Running alchemy, like I, I preach that to my team and our external partners all the time. Uh, one of our core standards or key characteristics is together, um, you know, oriented around team. Um, we have like an extreme focus on partnerships.

It's always about like, uh, having the right people do the right things and, and, and aligning under like a shared mission or a vision to accomplish.

Jennifer: What about that is important to you?

Ryan: I think it's everything. Um, for me, realizing that, uh, where my strengths lie, I'm really big on, and that's why I mentioned self like. Self-awareness. What, like what am I uniquely qualified to do and what should I be doing? Um, you know, there's a lot of things that I can do, but what should I be doing? And that's really how I'm trying to like, drive my time and focus, particularly as CEO.

Now, there's no shortage of things that need to get done, things that I need to answer on and so forth. But like being very, quite frankly, ruthless about like how I prioritize. And understand like what's the best and highest use of me, uh, and then building the team around that and making sure that we have the gaps filled.

Jennifer: Ryan, that's a really hard thing for folks to understand about themselves. And you've also mentioned that you've always had this sense of self.

how did you connect to it?

Ryan: Uh, you kind of have to, uh, playing sports like you, you are immediately, um, In tune or understand like your strengths and your weaknesses.

Um, and it shows up and it's constantly reinforced. In football, it's reinforced every play, right? So you're understanding like what you're good at, what you're not good at.

How does that materialize into like the role and the job that you're in, a position that you play? Uh, how does that, how do like folks across the table look at you because of your strengths and and weaknesses? You gotta understand all these. in order to go out there and do a job and, uh, perform. And so like the understanding of self really showed up.

Uh, more so on a physical standpoint. Obviously with football, uh, you know, understanding like speed, size, all those measurable. And there is some correlation to like a mental disposition, particularly with football and also playing defense. You have to actually go hit people. Uh, and that's a mindset in and of itself.

But it is, you know, you always had that, it was constantly reinforced on like, what am I good at? What am I not good at, what I need to work on, so on and so forth.

Jennifer: It's about being really brutally honest, setting the mirror in front of you and seeing what the strengths are that I can lean into, what the weaknesses are, what's worth working on versus not, and pursuing that path

Ryan: And it's great with sports too, is that you can watch it on tape. ,

Jennifer: yeah.

Ryan: can't, you, I don't know where you could watch your business meeting on tape or watch, like the strategy

Jennifer: we can record this

Ryan: Yeah, you can report it, but like in sports, like you could, you could literally watch yourself and see that moment, uh, in which you made a good player, a bad player.

Jennifer: And to invest in oneself like that. Let's go back to football. So while you were playing football, what was that like for you? And I'm asking, so I'm from Sierra Leone in West Africa and not grew up in the US and not as familiar. So how cool for me to get a sense from you of what playing in the N F L was like

Ryan: I can't even describe it to be honest with you. Um, I, I try and I've tried for years now, but it doesn't do in any justice. Yeah, it's, um, it's kind of like bliss,

Jennifer: Yeah.

Ryan: you know, where it's just like a, uh, not a surreal experience, but it's, um, it's something that's like, you feel it's a feeling more than anything. Um, yeah, and bliss is probably not the right word, but it points to, I think that,

Jennifer: Hmm.

Ryan: um, when you're able to like be at the highest level of the highest.

And quantifiably know that I played safety, there's only two starting safeties on the defense at a time. So at most, or at at least there's 64 safeties in the world that are doing my job. Only

Jennifer: right? You're one of

Ryan: one, and I'm one of 64. Um, which is mind blowing,

uh, when you really put that into perspective. . I think it just, that's an example of like the gravity of what it means to, to be at that level.

Um, and then like when you get into stadium environments where like the crowd is roaring, the energy, the lights are on, I mean, it's, it's magical. Um, and, and, uh, you know, it's really, really hard to kind of describe or put into words, but yeah, it's a, it's, it's everything that you could possibly imagine.

Jennifer: Yeah, I see you smiling and kind of going back to that place, it feels like a place of flow for you. You're performing

Ryan: way to put it.

Jennifer: you're performing at your peak level and you're getting recognized and you're motivated to work to keep getting better and better each time. You're both in your comfort zone and outside of it in a way that feels exciting and challenging for you.

Ryan: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, that's a, that's a even better way to put it. uh, being in that state of flow. And a lot of times, particularly like when you're on the field, you know, again, you're in a stadium of 80,000 people, you don't hear anything.

Uh, cause you're so locked in on like the, the man and the team across from you.

It's again, a very surreal experience. Um, but flow is a very, very accurate way to describe it. And, um, you. , I'm a big believer in like consciousness and have dedicated like a full on study to the power of now. And so like there's a, there's a chapter in the book or a talking point in the book where it talks about like where you're just in a state of no mind, right?

Like you're not thinking, but you're understanding and you're just being right. And that's kind of again, what flow kind of means. And it's interesting because in that environment there are so many things that you need to calculate and understand each and every.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Ryan: like who's in the game, uh, down in distance, where's the ball at?

Uh, what's the score? What's the time on the clock? Who's across from me? What is our defensive call? What is my role? What is my responsibility? And that changes based off of a lot of, there's, I mean, there's so many different variables that you're processing in 40 seconds. Um, it is, yeah, it is.

Jennifer: it sounds exhilarating. I also, when you said it's a way to kind of get outta your mind, that almost felt so relaxing to me as a way where your body is completely working to its best and there's almost no time to think and you're just

Ryan: you're not thinking, you're just going. Yep,

Jennifer: at Well, and and what, what does it take, Ryan to get there for you?

What got you there? It was this brutal honesty with yourself of your strengths and your weaknesses. What else?

Ryan: Uh, repetition. , um, consistency, uh, discipline, uh, and that all builds up to endurance. Um, I talk about this a lot with my team. Uh, endurance requires two things. Uh, it requires exceptional work habits. Uh, and a lot of people talk about like, you know, how to work the grind, so on and so forth. But on the other side of the equation, you also need to take really good care of yourself.

Um, because if you just work, work, work, work, work, and you don't take care of yourself, you won't be working too much longer. And so just as much as you work, you have to recover. And, and, um, that's what endurance means to me. And that's ultimately why I was able to have, um, the career that I did. Like I was never, I was a very good player, but I was never, I wasn't an NFL pro, pro bowler.

I was, I'm not a hall of famer, any of that type of, . Um, but because I was self-aware of who I was, uh, what my skills were and how I could contribute value, uh, to make sure that I extracted value and worked my ass off and also took really good care of myself, I was able to play eight years in the nfl.

Um, and so, you know, it is, um, there's just so many lessons that I've learned from that experience and I'm really, really thankful.

Jennifer: I will ask you toward the end what some of your tools are for your peak performance, but I wanna talk about your relationship with the game. And I know that's part of how you got inspired to build alchemy.

Ryan: Yeah. Um, I love football. and football has obviously been a, a massive part of my life. Um, I've built my entire world around it and at the age of 31, the music stopped. Um, and just to double click into like what that looks like, to provide some context was 31 years old, I had back surgery and so I was an injured.

Um, and then also too the, uh, organization that I was with that final year, just, it was not a good culture, um, for, for me. And, um, and so not only was I physically hurt, I was emotionally hurt. And, um, you know, when, when you're, when you're, when I was in that head space, um, I was dealing with like self-doubt, um, thinking about like, Hey, What am I gonna do with the rest of my life?

I don't want to play football anymore. I literally had a thought, um, when I was sitting there watching a game, um, there was a really hard hit that happened over the middle and I was like, wow, that looks like it hurts. And I never thought that before about football. Like, you know, like you see the ball go, hit it.

Um, but my mindset towards an approach towards the game was changing rapidly. And so, uh, I walked away from football emotionally hurt and physically. and I own that decision not to come back after my best year ever as a pro. Um, so that's how hurt I was. That's how emotionally distraught I was. And, uh, but I, but what I did, I did not want to happen was somebody to tell me that I wasn't wanted.

I always wanted to own that decision. Like, you're not gonna tell me to leave. I'm leaving on my own terms. And I really think that drove, uh, that decision back, back then. Was it the right decision? I don't know, but it was the decision and.

Jennifer: Can I pause you here, Ryan, because again, you said you left while you were at your peak. You decided to leave on your own terms even though you were emotionally, physically hurt. Again, I'm hearing your strong sense of self. That's a tough decision to make, and I'm hearing you investing in yourself and committing to yourself.

Ryan: yep. Yeah, I mean, I had to, um, even when I was just dealing with massive bouts of doubt, and I don't even know. . To be honest with you, I don't even know if I was really aware or self-aware or even trusting myself. I just, again, I was so emotionally and physically hurt. I just knew I didn't want to do that.

And so that's the space that I was in. And so I don't even know if I would go off of the swing, the pendulum in the other direction to say like, I had utmost confidence and trust in myself cuz it didn't, um, I knew I was preparing, like I got an MBA while I was an active athlete. So, and I knew I was smart and I could figure things out, but I didn't know what that.

was scared. Um, but I, I, I think it just really speaks to like how much I didn't want to do that or be a part of that anymore.

Jennifer: Yeah. You were scared, but you were brave in

Ryan: yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. Um, and so I just wanted to like provide a little context there, um, which was a lot of context, but it talks about like the relationship that I had with football for the, like the next five years where I hated the game, didn't wanna talk.

I, I hardly watched football. Um, yeah, I just didn't want anything to do with it because I was trying to find myself beyond the game and I knew that I didn't want to coach. I didn't want to go on TV and talk about football. I just didn't want to be a part of it at all until like there was this very hard line that was drawn, uh, for something that I built my whole world around over the last 24 years.

And I was disassociated from it, uh, completely. And also like psychologically. . that was hard for me to reconcile and kind of work through.

Jennifer: It's like you are figuring out who is Ryan outside of this whole identity, what's been literally his life for the

Ryan: yeah, but I don't even, again, looking back like that is Ryan, so why am I, why am I asking a question? Who is Ryan? If that is Ryan? You know what I'm saying? Uh, and so like, again, it feels good. It's a long, long way of saying like, I got away from the game. I was not a part of the game for a while. I'm getting back into it, uh, pretty aggressively now.

Uh, because again, I realized that that was, that is me, So why am I trying to separate myself from myself?

Jennifer: Mm-hmm. Beautiful. And so how did that lead you to Alchemy?

Ryan: Yep. So again, everything that I had spoken to around that transition, like when I retired, I was trying to get. , uh, trying to talk to people, uh, get some support. It was a very bad experience. Um, I ultimately got to a decent landing spot. Uh, but the lesson there for me was around, it wasn't about financial resources because I had money and I could, you know, find the right way to, or find the right people to take care of my knee, my neck, my back, or my shoulder.

But when it came to my heart, my head, it was like crickets, and I couldn't buy my way to help and, Uh, I immediately realized that while financial resources are very, very important, they're not the end all, be all, particularly for folks who look like me. And, um, with that in mind, that experience in mind, and then also during this like period of like five years or so, from 2015 to 2020, my family was just going through an onslaught of chronic disease, illness.

I mean, my grandfather passed away from Alzheimer. . My father-in-law passed away at an early age from a heart attack. My grandmother had a stroke. I mean, there was a lot of things that were just happening. Um, and I, professionally, I'm dealing with all this stuff on the personal side. Uh, professionally, I was in the startup space, um, you know, angel investing in companies just like running around in tech circles, et cetera. And I knew, I was like, look, you know, at some point I want to start a company. I want to, you know, like bring an idea to life and change the. My first vision with that was a straw company in 2018, uh, called Swizzle. And, uh, it was a cool business, but that wasn't the business and we did well there. Uh, and I sold that company, but I sold it.

I was, we were ready to sell the company cause I was ready to do this. I knew that this was a business just due to my experience, my family's experience. But it kind of took me a while to kind of, for that light to come on and I started to see like the healthcare space becoming very vertical. There was platforms for men, there was platforms for women, there was platforms for the l lgbtq community, et cetera.

And I didn't see no platform that was focused on me or folks who looked like me.

And so with all that in mind, I was like, oh, well that's it. And I like just, you know, going after it and doing big things. And so I said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna bring this company into life.

Jennifer: Yeah. And I was so excited learning about it, and I love this. You're going after being the healthcare platform for the black community, providing universal healthcare for the black community. Tell me about where you are today and then what your vision of what you wanna go is.

Ryan: Yeah, our mission is to create generational health and how that shows up, uh, visually as a world in which black health disparities are non-existent. I talked about Alzheimer's, I talked about diabetes, uh, amputation, that talk about heart attack, stroke, et cetera, obesity. Mental health issues, so on and so forth, across every chronic disease and illness.

The black community is at an outsized risk factor, um, higher than other races and ethnicities within the country. And so we want to, we want to get rid of that, we wanna stabilize that. Um, and that's how we show up, uh, from a, a mission and vision standpoint. Our starting point is, um, oriented around like mental health, mental fitness, mental wellness, health and wellness, et cetera.

Because we rounded ourselves in a core belief that a healthy life starts with a healthy mind. And so right now we, uh, create content products that show up, like mental health video courses, which we call Alchemy Labs. Uh, those are licensed clinical professionals who talk about subject matters as such, as like, um, being black in a workplace, uh, generational trauma, and so on and so forth.

We also make meditations and mindfulness practices in the audio format. And then lastly, uh, we go. Uh, livestream on our platform, uh, with a product called Holding Space. And basically it's just like a Zoom conversation group therapy setting. Um, but we started with content because we knew that there was a bunch of access barriers as it relates to people, you know, getting the help and support that they need.

Stigma, people don't like to talk about it. Education people don't know what to talk about. Uh, search costs. People don't know where to look for the things that they. they don't know and they don't want to talk about. And then if you get over all those hurdles and it's like, can I afford it financially, therapy is very, very expensive.

Do I have time for it? Scheduling conflicts, can I get to it? Is it 10, 15, 20 miles away? I mean, all these things getting in the way of like people just getting started. And so that's why we started with content.

Jennifer: I love that approach by the way. And I'm also, one thing I'm grateful for with Covid is that things like therapy are now a little more accessible with video calls and conversations, and that can somewhat reduce the price point. Ryan, I'd love to talk about how we can support black men today in the context of mental healthcare.

Right. I, I know that the community, we've had so many losses recently, we had another terrible incident. At the end of last year, we had Twitch committed suicide. Um, and I know that you've shared a STA before about how in 2019, only about 9.8% of the black community has seen a therapist versus 20 ish percent of. white folks, how can we support black men in particular?

Ryan: Well, first I'd like to thank you for highlighting Black men. Um, you know, far too often, uh, that doesn't happen and I think contributes to a lot of things that we'll talk about right now. Um, you know, black men in particular, uh, a lot of times show up as like the unsung hero. Um, again, not fully acknowledged and or appreciated or just even taking a step back just understood.

Uh, I think that's really the, the grounding there is like, are, is there, is there a disconnect? I believe there's a disconnect between the, uh, expectation and like what we actually. . Right? And I think in between what do you have, you have the misunderstanding. Um, and, and very little, I think has been done to like shorten that gap.

Uh, whether it's through conversation, whether it's through products, services, healthcare inequities, that gap is not being shortened. And so that's why you have all the health, health statistics that I listed for, um, black health out of all the races. ethnicities and genders. Black men have the worst health statistics out of all.

And and so, um, a lot of times we just kind of fly under the radar or issues fly under the radar because what you see in the media is big, strong, fast, right? Athlete, or, you know, got money flashy, I'm okay, right? Or I don't care. Um, those are the two like images that you. and, and so like people don't necessarily, um, appreciate and or again, like what we go through as a whole collectively for the everyday black men because the things that you see are not every day right.

But they're, a lot of black men feel like they're being held to that expectation. And that's a disconnect from reality in and of itself too. Um, I mean there's a lot that can, can further be discussed here, but ultimately getting to solution, I think it's more around like spaces. . We need our own space. We need to have that safe space, excuse me, safe space to have the conversation, uh, with folks who are going through the same things that we're going through.

Like, oh, you get me, you understand me, right? Like, I'm a dad, uh, I'm a husband, you know, all these things. Um, how did you deal with this? Or, here's what I thought about, or Here's how I handle those. Those spaces need to happen, and they need to happen explicitly for. . Um, and so the solution, or at least getting started isn't overly complicated because again, the space, um, you know, just needs to be created in, in those environments.

You know, when you're on the same wavelength, guys will open up and no top.

Jennifer: Yeah. For me, I'd also say just seeing black men as human beings. Because to your point, we've had this image of strong, fast, capable, or Got it. Um, or unfortunately for fo some folks it's like dangerous in the media. Uh, and so just seeing them as. Seeing you as a human being, also allowing you the space to let me know when you're not okay.

Because you are human, you're not always okay, you're not always perfect. Um, and just from both sides enabling you to feel like you can share fully, be fully open, ask for help and receive help.

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, all the above, right? Um, and that shows up in this space. And so, yeah, I, I think it's time. I've already, I can't tell you the amount of conversations that I have with black men. . I was literally on the phone for an hour this morning with one of my college buddies. Um, you know, same setup.

Black dad approaching 40 married kids. The whole, I like the life scenario and yeah, it is just time. Uh, I'll be 100% honest with you. It's time to have those faces and those conversations, uh, with intentionality, because the realization is like, you wanna be everything that you can. achieve potential, whatever that means to you and more.

But there's, you realize that there's something outside of yourself that you need help and support with. Like, it's like this tension that you're kind of dealing with and like, look, I'm so close, but it feels so far away. And the only way that I'll get closer, or not even closer, but I'll truly a lot as if like I find a community, a support therapy, whatever it is, is showing up a lot more.

And that's really.

Jennifer: and I love seeing you creating the space with alchemy and also modeling that, so thank you for doing that.

Ryan: Thank you.

Jennifer: I wanna talk also about folks that are going through mental health challenges and may not feel like they can ask for help. And I know again, that alchemy is creating spaces for this. And you've also, you talked about your journey.

What would you say to those folks in inviting them in?

Ryan: Um,

I would say go at your own pace, um, and understand that like there is no end point. It's about the journey, right? And that goes back to our namesake, the Alchemist. Um, and so when you realize like instead of trying to do X, Y, and Z to get to a destination, but just rather. , let me do X, Y, and Z and keep going.

Or like, just enjoy the journey along the way and be present each and every step. And not take that step with in expectation to get to a destination. Um, but really appreciating that I think is, that'll set you up, right? Cause a lot of people enter into like, health and wellness programs, I wanna lose 15 pounds.

And then when you lose 15, There's two things that happen. If you lose 15 pounds, then you stop. Right? Oh, I did. It don't need to like, maintain this lifestyle

Jennifer: That's not how it

Ryan: there's no like, yeah, exactly. Or if you don't hit it, then you're like, oh man, I don't hit it. And then, you know, all the negativity

starts to come up. So like really just kind of being present and enjoying each step of the way and thinking about progress as opposed to destination, uh, I think is a really, really important level set for folks who are just looking to like it on a path. Cause you, if you try to take it all on. and say like, look, I wanna do this.

Half the time you don't even know what you're talking about. You don't even know why that is a goal for you because you don't have that much exposure or experience with it. So just kind of like ease into it. Understand, like, look, this is going to be a process. I'm here to learn and I'm receiving it all.

Jennifer: Love it. I love also what you just said, half the time you have a goal, you don't even know why this is a

Ryan: Why'd you made that up? Yeah.

Jennifer: Right.

Ryan: where did that number come from? No, I'm serious. Where did that number come from? Like, and now you're, you're the ex, you're the exercise or the wellness expert, setting your own goal and you just got here, you know, like, it's

funny.

Jennifer: love it. Yeah. I also encourage people to take things off their to-do list that don't need. Why is this on your to-do list? Um, but along these lines, something that really, that I watched recently that really moved me, that I wanna recommend is there's this, it's based off of a book now. It's a movie on Apple tv.

It's called The Boy the Mole, the Fox, and the.

Ryan: Oh,

Jennifer: it's, uh, just a 35 minute animation about the journey, and it's for folks of all ages and such a beautiful just capture and capture of what you just described.

Um, yeah. Given this journey, I'd love to come back to talking about you, Ryan, what does strength mean to you?

Ryan: To me, strength means. confidence and trust in myself.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm. back to the self, the sense of self and investing in oneself.

Ryan: Yeah. But specifically calling out like confidence and, and trust and where I'm going with it is just like minimizing and hopefully eliminating all negative self-talk. Right? Like we're all guilty of it at some point. . Um, but I'm, I'm really moving towards, uh, a place of like prioritizing inner strength.

Um, and that is a big, big one for me around like minimizing the, uh, the negative, um, self-talk, which is like full circle moment when you talk about like the negative self-talk or thinking. That's why I'm really trying to get to a place of like presence and consciousness. Cause like when you think you're not present or conscious or in.

when you think you're thinking about the past or the future, neither one of 'em is right now.

Jennifer: right.

Ryan: thing is like, particularly when you think about the future, whatever you're thinking about in the future will happen in the now. And so like just kind of level setting and taking a step back and saying, uh, more times than not when I think I'm thinking about their past, that can in some ways, uh, exuberate depression, right? Thinking about old things that I don't have anymore, that I. and then thinking about future state, um, you know, that that can bring on anxiety, worry, oh, I don't know how this thing is gonna go. Or like, I'm worried about X and it ain't happen yet. And so really just trying to get to a place of like, solidified inner confidence and trust in myself.

Jennifer: what's been helpful for you in getting there?

Ryan: Um, , they should be paying me for as much as I talk about this book . But the book has been super . The book has been super helpful. Um, and I listen to it all the time, quite literally all the time. Um, that's been helpful. Um, practically just making sure that I'm owning my schedule has been really, really helpful for me.

Um, like if you were to look at my calendar, you would see focus. you would see, this is when I'm working out. You would see, uh, this is when I'm taking a break, when I'm not doing anything. Like, I literally scheduled break time within my workday so that like whatever's on my schedule, I don't have to like, be all over the place.

I'm gonna just do whatever's on my schedule. So that's been re really, really helpful for me. and working out, uh, and being a lot more intentional about that has been super helpful for me.

And then the last bucket is hydration.

Yeah. I just drink a ton of water now.

Jennifer: How you perform at your best, and especially as an athlete, as an entrepreneur. what's in your toolkit I'm hearing hydration, owning your schedule, working out. What can listeners steal from you

Ryan: Yes, definitely those three things. Um, , and again, double clicking in, uh, owning my schedule is like either my time's gonna run me or I'm gonna run my time.

Um, and as CEO of a company, like there's no shortage of things that I can be doing and I can be pulled in a bunch of different directions. And I'm a dad and I'm my husband, right?

So like I got a whole life outside of work. Um, so like I have to really, really make sure that, uh, my schedule is tight. So I would definitely say that, um, in. I think this, this approach is practical to whatever it may mean to you, but just really prioritizing, um, I call it the personal user journey, right?

Like everybody in tech talks about like the user journey and like the customer journey. Well, what is your, what is your personal journey throughout your day, right? How does that go? Um, I talked about scheduling, but more so from a, that's from a, like a functional standpoint. What I'm talking about is. , like, do you have quality touchpoints with everything that you're doing throughout your day?

So from the time that you wake up to the time that, that you go to sleep, what was the quality of life for you that day? Right. Um, I'm a big, big proponent of that. So like, just thinking about the small things that I could do throughout my day, whether that's taking in, you know, some more water or like, um, I don't know, starting my car before actually getting in it.

You know, just like really simple things like that. , like make or break or an opportunity to like send my move south. I try to send it the other way. Uh, so like really just finding those opportunities to take good care of myself all across the board.

Jennifer: I am a strong believer that we fall to the level of our processes. So it's all about the systems we put in place

Ryan: Mm-hmm. . Yep.

Jennifer: you may like, I'm also calendared. If it's not on my calendar, it's not gonna happen and if I don't hit it a hundred percent, that's also fine you don't beat yourself up, but like if you can get to it 80% of the time, that's beautiful.

Ryan: Yeah.

Jennifer: Ryan, what does success mean to you these days?

Ryan: being fulfilled,

Jennifer: What does that mean to.

Ryan: um, waking up with joy and pleasantness every day,

Jennifer: you're so, you're beaming right now. I, I feel like you're very fulfilled. You're beaming

Ryan: Yeah, I mean, like, I'm just trying to be happy and healthy. Really, that's what success looks like for me. Um, you know, it's not a monetary value. There's, there's no amount of money that I think, uh,

you know, how can you, that's a highly arbitrary number, right?

Is it 50 million? Is it a hundred million? Well, what are you doing with, you know, uh, a hundred million that you can't do with 50 million? There's always an incremental dollar. Okay, so, um, success looks like to me, just like happiness. Not even happiness, excuse me. Peace. Uh, cuz happiness depends on positive outcomes.

Peace. You're good, positive or negative. Uh, so I would say peace and health. That's what success looks like for me.

Jennifer: Beautiful. And what is home to you?

Ryan: That's my family. . I really understand the difference. You ever hear like those old r and b songs, like a house is not a home or stuff like that? Yeah. What the heck is that mean? I don't get it Um, but I get it now. Um, I have an amazing wife. I have two daughters. I have a dog, right? Like, you know, it's a feeling home's, a feeling, not necessarily a destination, uh, or a physical location.

And, um, to me, home represents my.

Jennifer: Same. I've been traveling around my whole life and home is with the people I

love.

What is your why?

Ryan: a great question. What is my why for life?

Jennifer: It could also be for this moment, whatever is coming to you for life

Ryan: Yeah, I just know like I'm capable of a lot.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Ryan: am, I've been very, very blessed throughout my life, uh, with my experiences and just, I know I can do a lot and so I try to do a lot and not in the service of. Um, but let me say it like this. Not in the exclusive service of me, right? Like, or Great Heart and, and, uh, I would like to have like personal success for myself and my family, but the driver has always been like, I've been blessed with a lot.

So like, how can I use that to help people? How can I, cuz I know I could get in the door. I know I can do what I'm not necessarily concerned with myself, but like, how do I help other people, right? Because I understand what I represent, what I'm capable of.

Jennifer: Beautiful. And then my last question, what impact do you hope to have?

Ryan: I just want to inspire, inspire change, inspire growth. Um, yeah. Anytime. Once you leave a conversation with Ryan Mundy, you should just feel inspired.

Jennifer: I feel inspired. I feel. I can go do what it is that I want to do and the impact that I wanna

make. Ryan you are so capable. I really, really enjoyed this conversation with you. Thank you for coming on. And everyone should check out Al Cavi.

Ryan: thank you so much. I really enjoyed the conversation as well.

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