Ryan's Background

Who is Ryan? – A Retrospective

Ryan was born in Winston-Salem NC in 1976.  He was the first of what would eventually be five children.  Ryan was raised in Thomasville NC for most of his childhood years, except for a brief stint when the family lived in Columbia SC. 

As a young child Ryan was fascinated by trains.   He would often ask to be taken to train tracks to count the cars and locomotives as the train went speeding past.  Ryan also enjoyed a variety of sports as a child including basketball, soccer, and tennis.  Music was also a strong interest, as several home movies can attest. 

The elementary schools years saw Ryan develop a respectful yet inquisitive and playful persona.  Although Ryan followed the rules, mostly, it was evident even at this early age that he was not destined to be a conformist.  He did occasionally question a directive, but comments like “good attitude” where often found on reports cards.  He also began to foster an interest in creative writing.  A poem Ryan wrote about North Carolina in the 4^th grade was published in a poetry book.

The middle school period found Ryan very interested in music and sports.  By this time he had become an avid drummer at home, a percussionist at school, and an athlete at both places.  He began to focus more on tennis, and played both formally at school and informally with family and friends.  This period of time also witnessed the development of Ryan’s comedic side.  Finding the humor in school, family, and life became a central theme of his personality, and a joke of some kind was never far from Ryan’s lips.  This quality is still prevalent today.

High School for Ryan depicted the classic “coming of age” story so many experience.  He wondered if there was more to life than what his small town had to offer.  Ryan’s early love of trains had morphed into an interest in German cars and rock music.  Ryan began to develop a thirst for information and knowledge.   Being told something usually wasn’t sufficient; Ryan wanted to know “why”.  Ryan’s independent streak was still in its formative stages at this point, and he was sometimes unclear when taking “the road less traveled” would make a positive difference, and when it was merely youthful rebellion.  Ryan began making decisions based on principle, a quality he still strongly believes in today.

At 16 he wrote his first letter to the editor of the local newspaper railing against political correctness directed at a local official.  He played sports, played music in bands, and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.  Ryan’s mother once commented that he possessed attributes that “will serve him well as an adult, but don’t always serve him well as a teenager”.  She was referring to his principled, independent spirit.  Through all of his life, Ryan never turned to drugs, alcohol abuse, or other common pitfalls.  Ryan was determined to be a good person and live a Godly, moral life.  He did enjoy the occasional prank or unscheduled holiday from school.  “Boys will be boys” as the saying goes.

The college years represented continued personal growth as Ryan learned to balance his independent nature with life’s necessary limitations and trade-offs.  That early spark of interest in life's deeper subjects and the instinct to question conventional wisdom had become a flame of interest in ethics, religion, philosophy, writing, and politics.  By this point Ryan was very interested in learning more about our political system, and as you might guess didn’t like the idea of government having too much power, too much control, or limiting our personal freedom.  Hadn’t our political leaders read the US Constitution?  Once again Ryan wanted to learn more about the “why”.

Ryan had also been on several family trips abroad by this point, and had developed a real passion for travel.  To Ryan, learning about the world around him, both near and far, was just as important as anything that could be gleaned from a classroom.  Ryan studied in Ireland one summer during college, and worked in England after graduating from UNC in 1999.  In all Ryan would travel to Europe and other places outside the USA about ten times, as well as countless trips inside the United States.  This travel would partly shape his love for the unique qualities of different countries, but also help him appreciate the greatness of North Carolina and the USA. 

After returning from England Ryan was offered a position that would meld several of his passions, namely travel, driving, listening to music and political talk radio, independence, and business into one job.  That job would turn into a professional career Ryan has pursued for the last decade, and it is as a furniture manufacturer’s representative.  This job allows Ryan to pursue other interests in his free time, which has increasingly been a direct role in politics.  It has also given him a clear insight into the challenges small and medium size businesses face across North Carolina, and learn so much about our great state first hand. 

Ryan was married in late 2002 to a wonderful woman named Misty. She has supported Ryan, loved Ryan unconditionally, and been an anchor in Ryan's life.  

So who is Ryan?  He is an inquisitive, principled, independent, Christian, hard working, down to earth North Carolinian who wants to help preserve the great nation our Founding Fathers helped create for us.  He is someone who believes in doing the right thing even when it isn’t easy.  He believes in the adage "nothing ventured, nothing gained", the maxim "carpe diem", and the quote "Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame". 

Ryan wants to help strengthen the private sector and reduce the scope of government.  Why? Once you understand the greatness of the founding principles of the United States of America, it makes sense.  Ryan understands our rights are endowed to us by God, not government.  Finally, Ryan is someone who knows sometimes taking “the road less traveled”, as our Founding Fathers did in 1776, truly does make all the difference...