Ryan W. Gates grew up in Wichita, KS in a house filled with business and art. His father (Bud) was a renowned marketer and his mother (Toni) a theater producer, instilling in him a creative spirit and desire for high-profit margin projects. A lover of artistic expression and an organized Excel sheet, Ryan began acting and writing business plans from an early age.

At the age of 16, he attended the prestigious Walnut Hill School for The Arts in Natick, MA where he studied drama, music, and video production. He proudly admits he was expelled (a story for another time) before attending the Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School in Waltham, MA for a post-graduate high school year. During this time he shifted his focus to film, video, business, and sports. He began working for The Music Factory in Lynn, MA and attended the Harvard Extension School where he studied Commedia dell’arte before graduating in 1998.

Ryan then attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY where he earned a BA (2002) with a focus in Creative Writing, Film Production, and Psychology. After his freshman year, he attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts for Creative Writing and Film Production, began spec writing for the hit show Family Guy, wrote Top 10 lists for Late Night with David Letterman, and joke writing for various late-night television shows. During his sophomore year, he co-founded a comedy TV show (“Tight Pants”) which sold the following year to Nibblebox.com, the online content site launched by director Doug Liman. During his time at Sarah Lawrence, he also directed Disney and ESPN’s online extreme sports show, “The Woodward Project.”

Following college, Ryan amassed a large body of work as a director and producer in film and television. He directed the international pre-teen TV hit, “Gagsters,” directed and assistant directed independent horror films, and produced commercials for international brands such as Hershey’s, Bank of America, American Express, Intel, Estee Lauder and more. He worked in advertising for over 10 years, worked on films such as “The Producers” and “Frozen River,” and produced live comedy at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater. His work earned him and his team a number of awards including 2 Academy Award nominations and a Silver MIXX Award for Super Rich Online Media.

In 2006, Ryan co-founded CreativeRHINO, a digitally nomadic production agency in San Francisco before moving it to Bolton Landing, NY on Lake George. There they became the “Shop on Main Street” without a “Main Street” for various companies including easyhome, Canada’s largest rent-to-own retailer.

In 2010, he was hired by easyhome Franchising in Wichita, KS to be the Sr. Director of Marketing where he served until the company sold in 2017. In 2014, he co-founded a non-profit visual arts organization that sought to engage the community through critical dialog and the creation of new work. He also owned and helped operate one of Wichita’s largest restaurants, worked with the Tallgrass Film Festival, and served on numerous boards.

Ryan returned to the world of marketing and advertising in 2018 where he worked as Account Director for RSM, an outsourced marketing agency. He also returned to school and received an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business & Technology with a focus in Entreprenurealism and Leadership. It became clear to him that he wanted to provide his services to industries in need such as healthcare and arts communities. He now works as a marketer and business developer in healthcare and the arts with specialization in FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Centers) and non-profit arts organizations.

Ryan is a die-hard fan of Wichita State Basketball and Chiefs Football, a devoted family man with two amazing boys named Max and Dodge, and a loving husband. His spirit animal is an otter, he thinks everyone should go to therapy, and he hates the Oxford comma (though he often uses it to be proper). Most of all, he likes meeting people at things and talking about stuff…and if you have read this far, he hopes you will get in touch with him so the conversation can continue.