Ryan was born in Chicago and lived there for most of his life until finally moving to Colorado without a plan in the summer of 2023. He found trail work first by volunteering and later working for Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, and fell in love with the often extremely mentally and physically challenging nature of this work in addition to finally feeling like his work really mattered. Ryan had previously developed a love for Arizona visiting family and is very excited to have the opportunity to work on trails here.