Ryan Isham is the quintessential conductor and bandleader, in every sense of the word. An avid music lover from the moment he could walk, Ryan can play the drums, piano, guitar, trumpet, violin, and harmonica. Although he spends less time with his instruments these days, he’s still running the music program by bringing custom-curated playlists to parties, weddings, holidays, and other special events.
But Ryan’s love for music doesn’t stop there. He’s a veritable dictionary of obscure music trivia—we’re convinced he would sweep the music category if we could get him on an episode of Jeopardy. Oh, and he’s definitely been to more concerts than you. Which he’ll tell you. Right to your face. (We did say he’s somewhat annoying.)
Ryan is known to work with the same impressive rhythm, possessing a keen ear for identifying opportunities. In his early post-military days, Ryan went from Employee #1 at a life sciences organization to EVP and COO in less than a decade. That kind of breakneck growth requires some serious scrappiness, and Ryan delivered, running everything from operations and large-scale software implementations to federal and corporate contracting to business development and corporate strategy to pricing and product development (whew, that was a mouthful—don’t try to say it out loud). His grit paid off as the business grew from a modest operation into the single largest provider for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A few more of his career highlights:
- Orchestrated digital transformation and change management initiatives for a nonprofit by implementing CRM, CLM, and data analysis platforms that improved operational efficiency by 47%
- Created a biotech client’s med device quality management system (QMS) and established methods for identifying and resolving issues, resulting in 0 documented non-conformances in FDA audits
- Established a consultancy’s management information systems department, outlining testing, QA, and deployment protocols that led to 100% employee adoption and 56% long-term cost reduction
- Developed custom e-commerce and point-of-sale software that successfully spun off as a separate SaaS org
Ryan donates his time and talents on a regular cadence. He’s mentored countless veterans transitioning from the military into civilian life, as well as founders and MBA students through SCORE and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
When he’s not working or volunteering, you can find Ryan forcing his wife, kids, and even his dog Remy to listen (yet again) to the story about the time his band played Free Bird at the high school dance.
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