Ryan Teeples '05
Ryan Teeples ’05, business-marketing, is the president of Teeples and Company Consulting. The company is focused on helping organizations internationally find solutions for business intelligence, sales, and marketing issues. Here, Ryan tells his career journey and offers advice for those interested in consulting.
What was one of your favorite memories at UVU?
Adjunct instructors who had just come from work and had real application to share.
What was your path to your current career and why did you make these choices? Were you looking to work in business, finance, or something else?
I worked in corporate marketing for seven years, including two Fortune 500 companies. I worked in marketing the entire time I attended UVU and that was the smartest decision I made in my life (aside from marrying my wife). I always knew I’d work in business, even from the time I was a small kid finding ways to make money. In 2007, I left the corporate world and founded my own consulting practice, which I have run ever since. Along the way, I also founded xRM, a software company sold to a large provider of higher education SaaS solutions. In my career, I learned to love business technology, which caused my practice to grow and flourish as the activities between marketing, data, and technology continue to converge.
What are some of the key responsibilities of your role? What does a “day in the life” look like for you?
My work involves meeting with clients across the US and internationally and building teams to help them improve the processes and technologies they use in sales and marketing to drive customer lifetime value. One day might be meetings with a private equity firm in London and the next day might be in Warsaw with a client helping develop and implement an ideal customer journey. While other days are just online meetings, managing employees, and running the business.
What is your favorite part of your job or what are you most proud of and why?
I love working with a client on a key problem, analyzing data and developing strategic solutions to solve it then leading the implementation for the change.
What is one of the key issues your industry is facing and your thoughts on addressing this challenge?
The challenge today is meeting demand and hiring employees. As companies feel an employment pinch, they reach out to external outsourcing and consulting firms to fill the gap. Meeting this need without a reduction in quality of performance is difficult and a never-ending battle.
What advice do you have for someone interested in your industry?
Work for someone else first. You think you know everything you need to, but you don’t. Learn to know what you don’t know before you strike out on your own as a consultant.
What are three transferable skills that you think contribute to professional success?
- Writing and presentation skills
- Ability to understand complex problems
- Ability to analyze data
What’s something about you that might surprise people?
As a hobby, I write sports-business articles for newspapers and online sports sites.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to the UVU community? Why does UVU matter to you?
I went to UVU after two years at BYU, and my passion for the environment was immediate. Hands-on work is the most valuable education, and I want all students to know and understand it and have an opportunity to participate in it.
Utah Valley University is proud of the impact our more than 100,000 alumni make in diverse industries. Visit uvualumni.org for more Wolverine Stories and alumni and student networking programs. For opportunities to give back to UVU, go to uvu.edu/evergreen.