Let’s Get Down To Business

While Ryan Rickert may cringe at the term “serial entrepreneur,” he is an award-winning business owner and creator who has started over a dozen companies from scratch with several successful exits. He currently runs or co-leads a handful of them, and has scaled three companies to over seven figures. The Wrap Agency is one of those companies, and while he’s still involved in a consultative way, he is mainly focused on another one of his businesses, an industry-leading fan engagement software called FanUp. 

Ryan hasn’t always lived and worked out of Bozeman, although nowadays he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. He was born in Texas and spent most of his childhood in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His love of the great outdoors (and interest in the post-Civil War railroad boom era) seems to stem from his younger years spent in such a scenic area. 

When he was a kid he dreamed of becoming an archeologist or even a paleontologist. He has a form of photographic memory and has always had a keen eye, both of which would work great in a field like archeology. In the end, this natural curiosity and attention to detail have been extremely beneficial to his ultimate career choice: entrepreneurship. 

He’s deeply passionate about American small businesses and job creation too. Across his five main companies, he has over 50 full-time team members. Giving back in this way lifts him up. He says he is “obsessed with value and job creation.”

Like most of his businesses, TWA was born out of that desire and need Ryan has to help others and provide value. It’s also one of his most creative pursuits – taking everyday objects like the side of a truck or a window display and making them beautiful.

He credits his success in business and in life to a wild mix of creativity and caffeine, requiring less sleep than most, and the ability to see opportunities where most don’t or haven't yet.

The Great Outdoors

Ryan creates axes in his spare time. It’s a unique pastime that he’s really passionate about as well. He’s constantly on the hunt for defunct ax logos that he can use on his creations. This is a total passion project: he won’t charge you if you want one made and he doesn’t plan on turning this hobby into a business for the time being. For now, he enjoys using it as a way to relax, work with his hands, and as another outlet for his creativity. 

Another way Ryan can work with his hands and express himself creatively is in the great outdoors. As soon as deer season opens, you’ll find him out there in a brightly colored vest with one or two of his dogs at his feet. Like many outdoorsmen, he has a deep respect for both nature and animals. 

Getting stranded on a desert island wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for Ryan. We asked him what he would bring along and he quickly answered, “A 12 x 20 tarp with paracord laced through the eyelets.” When we asked the question, we could tell that his creative mind was already spinning with everything he could construct with it: he mentioned a fishing hook, net, shelter, and even a water filtration system, among other things. Ryan is definitely one person we’d love to have along with us on a Castaway-like adventure.

When asked what time period Ryan would love to travel back to, he gets very specific. Hand in hand with his fascination with archeology, he has always had an interest in the post-Civil War era. He says that he would like to go back to “approximately 1868 as that was when the railroad industry was just getting started in the heart of Dakota Sioux territory…but I’d like to be able to go back with all of our modern-day technologies.” We can’t blame you there, Ryan! 

Family First

When he’s not busy making major business moves, wielding axes he creates himself, or going out hunting with his dogs, you’ll find Ryan at home with his family. He is a proud husband to Maggie and father to four children: three boys and a little girl only a few months old. His proudest moments occur when someone he doesn’t know pays him a compliment about one of his kids, or his “insanely amazing” wife, as he lovingly refers to her. 

He recently enjoyed a family vacation in Salt Lake City which he described as “amazing – and well overdue.” He appreciates these moments with his family just as much, if not more, as he appreciates his success in business, and we can’t say that we blame him there, either!