Ryan Christiansen

WHAT IS RYAN’S CONNECTION TO THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY?

Ryan lived in SGV for 20 years. She has a 25-year-old son and a 22-year-old daughter.

She wanted them to get a better education and have better opportunities, so when they were young, she decided to move to Temple City.

Even to this day, her son still has his Temple City friends. It has a family feel to it. Better education was the main reason Ryan moved her family to San Gabriel Valley. It was almost too quiet when she moved. She would hear silence or crickets instead of gunshots.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN A ROUGH ENVIRONMENT BEFORE SGV?

It was a terrible normal-like status quo for Ryan. She lost a lot of friends in middle school due to gun violence, gangs, and people being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It wasn’t until Ryan had children that she realized this “normal” wasn’t good enough.

Ryan had her children young, so in a way, they grew up together. She always wanted the best for them, but she didn’t know what that meant.

HAS RYAN ALWAYS HAD A JOB?

Ryan has been working since she was 13 years old. Her first job was at a kiosk at the mall. She has done sales, retail, and an office job at a pest company, and now she is in marketing.

She always had the ability to sell.

HOW HAS SHE DEALT WITH DIFFICULT WORK ENVIRONMENTS

Ryan has had bosses who have forgotten her name, demeaned her, and demanded that she just get them coffee One was a particular pest control company. She learned enough skills and left after a year. She discovered how much she loved sales and demanded that she go out on the field and do sales.

She was met with skepticism at first, but she loved it and is a natural at sales. She truly loves it.

You have to know your product, and you have to know what you’re doing, but she really enjoyed outside sales.

She noticed that she had developed a cough, and her older coworkers had a terrible cough, so due to potential health concerns, she decided to leave the industry.

She ended up back in inside sales and advertising and started doing a great job with ad buying. She was the only one at her agency who did not have a degree, but her manager told her to keep it hush-hush and he would teach her everything she needed to know.

However, she missed sales and closing deals. This led Ryan to a law firm.

The manager needed help with sales, so Ryan ended up working there for close to a decade. She ran the intake department, and by the time she left, she was handling marketing and operations management.

The law firm grew from 11 employees to over 50 in the first two years, with Ryan running the sales.

WAS THERE A TURNING POINT IN RYAN’S LIFE?

Ryan lost her grandfather and her grandmother in early 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

She is incredibly close to her grandfather and greatly admired him. Looking back at photos of him and thinking of her memories, she realized that she couldn’t sell herself short. She needed to take risks.

It almost felt like she was disrespecting him if she didn’t make a move.

So, she created her own ad agency called NINE2FIVE. One morning, she woke up, and without planning it, she decided it was her final day working for the attorney.

The name of her company, NINE2FIVE, was inspired by Dolly Parton.

WHAT TYPE OF CLIENTS DOES RYAN PREFER WORKING WITH?

Surprisingly, Ryan has always been a fan of the underdog and personally prefers working with smaller companies and watching them grow.

She has respect for the larger clients, but watching the clients grow in real time is amazing.

One current client (as of the recording of this podcast) is Every Table. It’s a food service that targets poorer neighbors who are used to eating fast food that is processed. Instead, Every Table offers healthy food options at a cheaper price point.

DID RYAN ENCOUNTER ANY DIFFICULTIES?

It feels like every day, there are struggles. Ryan has just learned how to deal with them and keep moving passed them.

She’s felt blessed to have a successful and profitable business, but she constantly feels like she is juggling.

Ryan has three kids, is full-time homeschooling her seven-year-old, who had a respiratory condition during the pandemic, and working nonstop.

THE SGV III

1. Santa Anita Racetrack – it’s like a second home for Ryan, and her grandfather would take her when she was little, and they’d pick horses together.
2. The Rose Bowl – Ryan remembers going to the Rose Bowl during the 4th of July for fireworks and music.
3. The Norton Simon Museum – This is where Ryan fell in love with art and Vincent Van Gogh