Leaving a Good Thing to Make Something Better
Career pathways are rarely linear. Just because you plan to do something, doesn’t mean that you end up doing it long-term. Our entrepreneurs often share with us, and our students, that adaptability is an important professional skill that everyone needs to embrace.
Ryan Smith, Esq. reinforced this idea when he shared his entrepreneurial journey with us. Ryan was one of our first Entrepreneurs-In-Residence in the BB2C Small Business Incubator after we opened the doors to the BB2C Epicenter in 2018. But his time with us was just one part of his career pathway.
As a Marietta native, Ryan graduated from Marietta College, where he studied economics & finance and planned to go into finance or work as a stockbroker. He even had the opportunity to intern with local financial advisor William Mannix. After college, he quickly realized the challenges associated with being a twenty-three-year-old asking to manage his clients' life savings. So he pivoted to become a mortgage broker, only for the real estate bust of 2007 to force him to pivot yet again.
Searching for a career that had responsibility and impact and still met his interests, he looked to his own family for inspiration. Seeing his uncles and cousins working in law, he headed off to law school. But this time, he had a wife and family with him. He was a non-traditional student rethinking his career strategy. He wanted to be sure to, literally, learn from the person who “wrote the book”. And so, he found himself at the Washburn University School of Law, studying under the man who literally wrote the book on the law of oil and gas.
After graduation, Ryan passed the Ohio Bar and found a job with a large firm in Columbus that had connections with his hometown. But having worked through the boom and bust of the real estate market, this time he was aware of just how volatile his new industry of oil and gas was. He knew that he would need to diversify if he wanted to stay in the area. In 2017, he decided to strike out on his own. His employer became his first client. And, needing an office space outside of his home, he moved The Law Office of Ryan M. Smith to the newly opened BB2C Small Business Incubator.
When reflecting upon his time in the BB2C Epicenter, Ryan shared that he “really enjoyed the environment” especially its collaborative nature, the focus on supporting and ensuring the success of the small businesses, the positive energy, and the opportunity to attend numerous activities and events. It gave him a professional space that allowed him to develop his business.
After graduating from the Small Business Incubator, Ryan spent time at IncSwell in Downtown Marietta. Today, The Law Offices of Ryan M. Smith can be found on the fourth floor of the Riverview Building at 100 Front St. Marietta, OH. When asked what advice he’d give to other entrepreneurs looking to strike out on their own, he shared, “There is no perfect time to do so.” He also credited others with helping him grow his business, saying that “people are so generous with their knowledge and experience and the community has been really welcoming”.
Ryan still faces challenges, as every small business owner does. He shared that hiring is hard right now. And that it’s easy to overextend yourself because you want to help everyone. He also explained the importance of continually adjusting his business to serve the community and people in a post-COVID world. But he shared the great opportunities ahead of him as well: A chance to broaden who his office serves. The power to build his practice on his own terms. And the ability to use virtual options moving forward.
A final question to Ryan about the advice he has for students, knowing what he knows now, allowed him to share this with both our career seekers and entrepreneurs alike: “Get out of your head and actually go talk to people to explore and learn more about what it is that you might want to do. And be sure to see the people doing those things now.”
If you are a small business owner or are looking to start a small business and would like support, mentoring, and/or coaching, reach out to our Logistics and Epicenter Director, Pamela Lankford, at plankford@bb2careers.org. We currently have one open office in the Small Business Incubator.