December 13, 2024 • 24 mins
Discover how architectural genius meets creative branding as we welcome Ryan Muhl, a dynamic graphic designer with roots in architecture, to share his unique journey. Unveil the secrets of how the principles of form and function, ingrained in Ryan during his time at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, have beautifully evolved into his passion for brand identity in graphic design. With a background in sports architecture from his tenure at Populous, Ryan’s love for sports and design finds a new expression through his venture, Ryan Muhl Design, where he empowers NCAA athletes to craft impactful personal brands.
Join our conversation with Ryan as he opens up about the entrepreneurial challenges of shifting from architecture to graphic design, and the growth that comes from embracing new horizons. Ryan candidly discusses the balancing act of fatherhood and business, providing a window into the world of managing a creative enterprise from home. We delve into Ryan’s experience with mentorship, inspiration, and connecting with like-minded individuals to foster growth and innovation in his business. This episode promises to leave you inspired and equipped with practical insights for your entrepreneurial journey.
Guest Name: Ryan Muhl
Guest Company: Ryan Muhl Design
Guest Website: www.ryanmuhl.design
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
welcome back to market it with atma, where we
give you the tips, tools andstrategies to help your business
succeed.
Today we have on the show RyanMuehl.
Ryan, thank you for joining ustoday.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Thank you, yeah, thanks for having me here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Awesome.
Well, to start off, can yougive us a little about your
journey, what you do now andwhat kind of led you to what
you're doing now?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, so I have a pretty unique background.
I'm an architecture major.
I went to RensselaerPolytechnic Institute in Troy,
new York, studied architecturefor five years.
It's a five-year accreditedprogram, so I didn't have to go
to another university to get amaster's and I graduated with a
(01:01):
bachelor's in architecture and aminor in graphic design.
With a bachelor's inarchitecture and a minor in
graphic design.
In school I always, you know,was intrigued by the storyboard
layouts and creating graphicsfor my projects.
Yeah, and it just it wassomething that I was really
starting to get, starting to getpassionate about and I took a
couple graphic design classes toget the minor and it was kind
(01:23):
of one area I was trying to getinto.
But the teachers were like youshould really pursue
architecture because you'regoing to school for that, and I
was like you know, it's a goodpoint, I'll definitely pursue.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
They saw you had the mind for it.
So how did architecture lead towhat you do now in graphic
design?
Was that more of a passion thatyou had?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, so it was definitely a passion.
I've been in the architectureindustry for 10 years and it was
just something that, you know,I decided I want to pursue what
I want to do for the rest of mylife, you know, and my 10 years
of architecture really trainedme to be in both graphic design
(02:09):
and architecture, which is apretty cool, unique.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, integration, yeah, integration.
I didn't even think about howthose two would correlate so
much, especially now in the 21stcentury where we have all this
digital presence.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So with architecture, you knowthey really focus on, there's
this kind of battle between formfollows function and function
follows form.
Okay, and the school I went towas more trained in the function
follows form, so more of howyou design a building through
basically art right, so how canyou build something unique and
(02:45):
cool and then have people movethrough that?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So that kind of translates to graphic design in
a way, where you are designing apiece for somebody and then
that piece is telling the story.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So there's the correlation there, and that's
why I was like, yeah, this issomething I definitely want to
pursue.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So there's a lot of areas to graphic design.
You can do print design, youcan do digital, you can do all
kinds of different things.
What specifically do you do younavigate towards?
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, so I primarily go towards brand identity.
So, logo design, I focus oncolor theory, font selection,
font building, um, and thenputting that all together for a
new business.
Um, someone who's looking tobuild a personal brand?
Um, that's kind of my, my areaof expertise.
I would say, um, I love doingthat stuff, but I, I really do
(03:40):
an array of everything, um,print merchandise, merchandise
building, user experience design.
So websites, but yeah, it's afun venture.
I'm going on.
You know you have to be amultifaceted tool in this
business because it's you know,it's very challenging to just
focus on one thing, right?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It is.
It is and you mentioned beforewe got on our call today that
you're interested in the sportsside of the graphic design.
So is there a specific industryyou're trying to reach?
Is there a specific design forthat?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
industry.
Yeah, so kind of to go back alittle bit, my whole life has
been about sports.
I grew up playing football andbasketball.
My whole life I was a statechampion in football in the
state of Pennsylvania.
I, you know, I was a polevaulter.
In high school I ran track andfield and then in college I
(04:37):
played football at RPI for twoyears and then architecture took
over my life, so I stopped that.
But then when I moved down toTexas, uh, I played a year of
semi-professional football, um,unpaid but still fun.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Um right yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
And uh, and actually now I'm a part of the DFW
curling club, so I'm a curlerNice.
It was something that I alwayswanted to do back in college,
growing up, uh, being up inupstate New York, so uh brought
that down here when the Olympicscame around.
I was like well, man, I wouldreally love to keep doing that.
Yeah, but yeah, so anyways,that is why I kind of navigated
(05:13):
towards sports architecture.
Always wanted to do it.
I worked for Populous for fiveyears.
Populous is a Kansas City-basedarchitecture firm that designs
stadiums, arenas for the NFL,NHL, NCAA, Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So do you still do now that you have Ryan Mule
Design?
Do you do graphic design forthe sports industry?
What type of clients do youtypically have?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, so my focus starting my own business is to
get into the NIL space.
Starting my own business is toget into the NIL space.
So NIL is the name, image,likeness portion of the NCAA,
where there was a big thingabout it a couple years ago when
athletes wanted to get paid fortheir name, image and likeness
right.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Why not right Right, right, All these?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
universities were getting a lot of money and they
weren't getting their cuts.
So, now the NCAA has ruled thatthey can pursue getting paid for
their name and they are able tobuild their own brands.
Now, get clients to docommercials, sponsorships, all
(06:20):
those things.
So my focus is to reach out tothese athletes to say hey, are
you trying to build a personalbrand?
I'd love to be a part of yourstory.
What can we do to build you alogo and a brand package so that
when you go to createmerchandise, you have something?
Ready for people to print andship.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
To help them market themselves and help them sell
merchandise to their fans Rightyeah.
That's wonderful.
So you mentioned earlier thatyou'd have a recent success in
bringing on a new client.
Yeah, we at Advent Trinityteach the customer journey
awareness, engagement,conversion, delight, advocation.
So can you kind of tell us inthose different phases, how you
(07:08):
reached out and found this newclient and how you build their
brand, how you navigated thatcycle with him?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, so this is kind of a different.
It's not sports, it isentertainment related.
So I'm currently working withan artist to develop some
merchandise for their concertsand their website and stuff like
that.
So it's.
It was really cool to kind ofjust put myself out there and
(07:39):
send an email and just say hey,my name is Ryan, I'm a new
freelance graphic designer.
I'm looking to you, know,freelance graphic designer, I'm
looking to build my brand and Iwould love to build yours.
And they basically said, well,we don't have, we already have a
brand, but we would love tobring you on to build some
merchandise designs for us.
(07:59):
And they gave me a test run andI made this poster for
advertising purposes, for whenpeople come to the concerts and
they see these huge, massivedigital billboards.
And I sent it to them and theywere like blown away, they loved
it and they were like, allright, well, we're going to work
with you on more projects.
So that's where I'm at withthat, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So that takes us through the awareness and
engagement.
You just reached out.
Find their info and they prettymuch gave you a chance to show
them what you have, right, yeah.
And so you made a digitalbillboard.
Not only just print, You'redoing the digital.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, I'm doing both.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
That's the forefront of everything.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Now, right, yeah yeah , yeah, and I really try to
stress.
You know, I am a family-likeatmosphere, so I'm not just
going to pump out a job for youand then just leave you in the
in hanging right.
Right, I want to be there for,for every step of the way,
everything you want to do, Iwant to be there, I want you
involved.
That's kind of my process isI'm designing, but this is your
(09:01):
brand, so I want you to be apart of it, right?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
so you want to keep them engaged yes with the, the
step-by-step process, and do youlet them know that up front?
Yes, that you want acollaborative?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
kind of workspace?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
yes, I mean, I like to know everything that's going
on.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So why not?
Um and that's?
And that's how the architectureindustry is.
It's all collaborative right sothere's so much correlation
between architecture and andgraphic design and that's why I,
kind of you know, followed mypassion and just said you know
what I'm gonna do this yeah, soon the last portion, the
advocation portion, whatstrategies encourage your
(09:36):
clients to refer you what?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
what strategies encourage your clients to
recommend you to theircounterparts or their friends
and family?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, I think they see me and they say this is a
guy who works hard, he wants tobe a part of something special
and he will do everything he canto get me what I need, and that
is something that I think a lotof people value.
(10:09):
Um, so, to to to do that andfollow through with it.
I think you know it gets themto say, hey, this guy you should
, you should.
We'll refer you to other peoplethat we know.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Because you've created that trust with them,
right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Creating the trust um building those relationships, I
think is it's super important,I mean in anything.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Absolutely, I think, is it's super important, I mean
in anything, absolutely.
So what were the foundationalsteps that you've started making
to establish Ryan Mule Designand separate from that
architecture life?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so I think you know building a strong social
media presence very hard, butit's it's something that I'm
always striving to do and justlike reaching out to people,
right, it's the connections youbuild is how your business grows
.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
At any rate, you want it to grow right, so it's doing
.
You know the dirty work ofbuilding designs and contacting
people via email, cold calls.
You know doing all that stuffto really put yourself out there
.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And you mentioned you're going to networking
events as well, getting in frontof people so they can really
feel within our world of AI.
It's hard to really trustsomebody unless they're right in
front of you.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And so that really is .
That's what we work off of themajority of the time Cause if
you don't have trust, you reallydon't have anything.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
And that's the thing too.
Like you know, you can go toFiverr and and pay for a logo
for 250 bucks, right, and theypump it out in three days and
say, here you go, you know, thisis what you get.
And they said, well, I reallywant this to change.
(11:56):
Then you're like, okay, well,that's another 50 bucks.
You know, here's, here'sanother day worth of work, I'll
send it to you, right?
You know, for me it's moreabout the process and getting to
know the client and creating abrand story that really
resonates with everyone on theother side and the ownership
side.
So if I can build that storyand tell them like, hey, this is
, this speaks to your brand, andthey see that vision, that's
another thing that just goes theextra mile to building my brand
(12:18):
.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Absolutely so.
You mentioned you're on a lotof social media platforms
advertising for yourself.
When you do your graphic designfor your clients, are you
creating content for theirsocial media as well?
Is that something you offer?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, that is something I offer Typically.
If I have a brand design clientthat wants a logo, I'll offer
that and I'll say, hey, you knowI can.
I can offer you a package for10 to 20 social media posts for
X amount of dollars.
And usually, typically theythey say, yeah, we would love
that.
I have a client based out ofAtlanta.
(12:52):
Who this lady?
She runs a nonprofit forWomen's Flag Football League, ah
nice.
And she reaches out to me allthe time and says, hey, we have
an event coming up in Buffalo,can you design me a logo?
And I'd be like, yeah, sure.
So I design a logo and I kindof shoot her some social media
(13:13):
posts that say, you know, withthe verbiage and the brand
alignment, and she's like, oh myGod, this is amazing, I need
all this.
And it's like great.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You're taking a weight off their shoulders
because you do know them so well.
And man, that is a blessing.
We may need you to come overhere with us too.
So how are you planning toscale Ryan Mule Design going
forward, and what are youcurrently focusing on, or are
you at the earlier stages of it?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I'm still at the earlier stages, you know, I'd
love to be at a point where I dohave another person or two
helping me out in the future soI can focus on the business side
of it and also mentoring otherpeople.
You know, Okay, I thinkmentoring is a huge part of
success for your own personalbusiness journey.
(14:04):
But yeah, it's I just I couldsee myself in 10 years, you know
, having more people on boardand and helping them grow into,
hopefully, their own business.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Oh yeah, giving back is kind of how you get back
right, right, exactly, yeah, sowhat inspires you on a daily
basis to be an entrepreneur andgrow this business?
What are your main inspirations?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from my family.
Um, you know, my wife is a.
She pushes me every day to tobe the best that I can be.
Um, and then I have my kids,who, you know, you want to be
great role models for them.
Um, you know, coupled with youknow, people in the industry
that, uh, produce amazing work,right?
Um, I think there's a designerout there called Matt Wolf.
(14:54):
He's a logo designer for asports logo designer.
He works with Nike.
He works with a bunch of MLSteams in the United States.
He builds their brands, and Ireally looked to him for a lot
of inspiration and a little bitof mentorship in my journey.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So what you would say , having a mentor kind of within
the same industry, is important.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
Having a mentor is superimportant, especially if you're
going on your own right.
I think having somebody in yourcorner on the business side to
really push you, push yourlimits, is a huge deal.
And on the opposite side, youknow, having you know a
significant other pushing you aswell to be the best that you
(15:38):
can be.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So you enjoy the kind of the push and the constant,
uncomfortable but excitingportion.
That's what drives you islearning?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yes, I think the most important thing you know going
into business is you kind ofhave to be uncomfortable um to
be somewhat successful.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know, if.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
if you're not, then it's.
It's probably not going to besuccessful, but you're, you
might enjoy it.
Um, but, but beinguncomfortable is a good thing,
right, and I and I just I'vejust kind of realized that that
that was a was an important partof my journey.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Can you tell us, maybe a recent event where
stepping out of your comfortzone led to your growth?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, let me see, I think you know my architecture
career, I was kind of, you know,not that happy and I wanted
something more.
I wanted to follow my passions.
And, um, you know, I wasrecently let go from my job and
(16:41):
you know, I thought, wow, thisis kind of a sign, you know.
And my wife a couple hourslater was like, hey, you know, I
think this, I think this is asign for you to follow what you
really want to do.
And you know, at first I wasreally heartbroken about losing
my job, but then I realized, youknow, like you know she's right
Like this is a big sign to saygo for what you want.
(17:04):
You know, go for your passions,follow it, because there's only
going to be success infollowing what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, your passion at the end of the day, which
you've always kind of touched on, but never really jumped out
and done it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
That's uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Especially with you said you have three kiddos now.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, so we have two beautiful, a daughter and a son,
a four-year-old and atwo-year-old, and we have one on
the way coming in June.
Wow, congratulations, thank you, thank you.
Is balancing fatherhood andentrepreneuring?
Yeah, it's, it's really tough.
Luckily for me owning my ownbusiness.
I get to work from home, sowhenever you know I have to pick
(17:43):
up the kids, I'm there to do itand I'm happy to do it, because
being in my kid's life is isjust super important right.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I want to be present, I want to be a good dad, um,
and just you know, being thereis is huge for them and just
showing them.
Like you know, you can't have abusiness, be successful and
have a family and children tooand do those things.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So cause work isn't work if you love what you do.
Right, exactly, yeah, if youmake it your daily life.
I truly believe that kids, kidslearn to grow in that for sure.
So what types of content orstrategies have been most
effective in driving engagementand new business opportunities
for you?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, you know social media is such a powerful tool.
Um, you could do a lot withInstagram, facebook, uh,
linkedin these days.
I mean, I got my first job fromLinkedIn.
I didn't go on Indeed, I didn'tgo to their website, you know,
I literally got the job fromLinkedIn.
So social media is a superpowerful tool.
You know, creating ads, and atan affordable cost, right, you
(18:48):
don't have to pump likethousands of dollars into an ad
to get people to like it and seeyou and your vision and your
brand.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Absolutely.
I think that's part of ourclient base is helping them,
help you, help people optimizewhere they need to advertise
these things that you'recreating.
And you don't have to dump abunch of money into it, you just
have to have the right content.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Right, exactly, you have to have the content that's
visually appealing and peoplelike.
Just like a billboard rightBillboard advertisement is.
You know, if you take a look atit for two seconds, you're
already engaged.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So it's the same thing with social media ads.
You know, if you can getsomebody to look at it for two
seconds, you already have theirattention.
And I think you know, justhaving this, this tool and and
there's more out there, rightthere's.
(19:46):
You know you can use Canva and,and I don't know there's so
many other social media toolsthat you can use to to really
build yourself, tools that youcan use to to really build
yourself, build your business,and I think you know this is a
great time to be in the digitalspace.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Oh, absolutely so.
How do some of your hobbies andthen side projects, like the
curling, how do they inspireyour work as a designer?
Are you designing for sports,still primarily?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, I'm, you know I really love focusing on sports
teams.
You know, that's that's kind ofa a deeper passion of mine of
you know, building the nextgreat logo, for I'm a big
Philadelphia Eagles fan.
So yeah, yeah yeah.
I'm from Pennsylvania, so it'sit makes sense but, um, but yeah
(20:36):
, like I'd love to, you know,design the next big sports teams
.
You know brand, brand identity,um, so I uh curling is is an
amazing outlet, and not just forme, just because I'm an athlete
Um, growing up I'm alwaysalways an athlete.
Um, and curling gave me areally cool outlet to one meet
(20:56):
new people, um, still be anathlete and um, just just build,
build these awesome newrelationships that I thought I
would never build.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Is that what you would say success looks like for
you, professionally andpersonally?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I think you know a lot of people think
success is about money, but forme it's all about the
relationships I'm making, thefamily I have, and just you know
what I have now.
Like I feel like I amsuccessful in life just with
everything I have now.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's wonderful.
So any upcoming projects orcollaborations you're
particularly excited about.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah.
So I was briefly touched on themusic artist I'm working with.
He's a rapper in the popindustry Pretty well known, and
then I'm working with thatnonprofit, the Women's Flag
Football League, and then I havea bunch of feelers out there.
(21:58):
I'm constantly reaching out toathletes Division One athletes
on Instagram and Facebook andyou know just seeing like hey,
you know, there's something hereyou can build it you know,
let's, let's do it together.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
So I'm constantly doing all that stuff and so are
you doing it across the country,reaching out to athletes across
the country, trying to stay inthis kind of Texas niche right
now?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I'm.
I'm reaching out to everywhere.
I kind of have connections allover the place Friends in Las
Vegas, Pennsylvania, obviouslywith all my family.
My wife's family is fromMichigan.
I have connects in Atlanta, soI'm kind of all over the place.
That's a good thing.
Yeah, it's how far you canreally reach is super important.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
So if listeners wanted to connect with you or
learn more about your work, ortalk with you about how you
could help them, what's the bestway for them to reach out to
you and what platforms are youon for them to reach out to?
On?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Yeah, so you can one find me on my website.
It's wwwryanmuledesign.
And then I'm on LinkedIn,Facebook, Instagram at Ryan Mule
Design.
On all three of those you canfind me there.
You can email me atryanmuledesign at gmailcom, and
(23:17):
if you're looking for anyprojects or just want to talk, I
love talking to people, meetnew people and yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, you're more than welcome to come back to the
show and bring anyone you wanton this show.
We're an open audience and wewant to help other business
owners and entrepreneurs likeyourself figure out what you're
doing now to help them grow evenso thank you for joining us
today.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Thank you for having me Awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And to all of our listeners out there.
Thank you for coming to anotherAtma podcast.
My name is Dori and I am yourhost, and we'll see you next
time.
Bye.
welcome back to market it with atma, where we
give you the tips, tools andstrategies to help your business
succeed.
Today we have on the show RyanMuehl.
Ryan, thank you for joining ustoday.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Thank you, yeah, thanks for having me here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Awesome.
Well, to start off, can yougive us a little about your
journey, what you do now andwhat kind of led you to what
you're doing now?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yeah, so I have a pretty unique background.
I'm an architecture major.
I went to RensselaerPolytechnic Institute in Troy,
new York, studied architecturefor five years.
It's a five-year accreditedprogram, so I didn't have to go
to another university to get amaster's and I graduated with a
(01:01):
bachelor's in architecture and aminor in graphic design.
With a bachelor's inarchitecture and a minor in
graphic design.
In school I always, you know,was intrigued by the storyboard
layouts and creating graphicsfor my projects.
Yeah, and it just it wassomething that I was really
starting to get, starting to getpassionate about and I took a
couple graphic design classes toget the minor and it was kind
(01:23):
of one area I was trying to getinto.
But the teachers were like youshould really pursue
architecture because you'regoing to school for that, and I
was like you know, it's a goodpoint, I'll definitely pursue.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
They saw you had the mind for it.
So how did architecture lead towhat you do now in graphic
design?
Was that more of a passion thatyou had?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, so it was definitely a passion.
I've been in the architectureindustry for 10 years and it was
just something that, you know,I decided I want to pursue what
I want to do for the rest of mylife, you know, and my 10 years
of architecture really trainedme to be in both graphic design
(02:09):
and architecture, which is apretty cool, unique.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, integration, yeah, integration.
I didn't even think about howthose two would correlate so
much, especially now in the 21stcentury where we have all this
digital presence.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So with architecture, you knowthey really focus on, there's
this kind of battle between formfollows function and function
follows form.
Okay, and the school I went towas more trained in the function
follows form, so more of howyou design a building through
basically art right, so how canyou build something unique and
(02:45):
cool and then have people movethrough that?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So that kind of translates to graphic design in
a way, where you are designing apiece for somebody and then
that piece is telling the story.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So there's the correlation there, and that's
why I was like, yeah, this issomething I definitely want to
pursue.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So there's a lot of areas to graphic design.
You can do print design, youcan do digital, you can do all
kinds of different things.
What specifically do you do younavigate towards?
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, so I primarily go towards brand identity.
So, logo design, I focus oncolor theory, font selection,
font building, um, and thenputting that all together for a
new business.
Um, someone who's looking tobuild a personal brand?
Um, that's kind of my, my areaof expertise.
I would say, um, I love doingthat stuff, but I, I really do
(03:40):
an array of everything, um,print merchandise, merchandise
building, user experience design.
So websites, but yeah, it's afun venture.
I'm going on.
You know you have to be amultifaceted tool in this
business because it's you know,it's very challenging to just
focus on one thing, right?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
It is.
It is and you mentioned beforewe got on our call today that
you're interested in the sportsside of the graphic design.
So is there a specific industryyou're trying to reach?
Is there a specific design forthat?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
industry.
Yeah, so kind of to go back alittle bit, my whole life has
been about sports.
I grew up playing football andbasketball.
My whole life I was a statechampion in football in the
state of Pennsylvania.
I, you know, I was a polevaulter.
In high school I ran track andfield and then in college I
(04:37):
played football at RPI for twoyears and then architecture took
over my life, so I stopped that.
But then when I moved down toTexas, uh, I played a year of
semi-professional football, um,unpaid but still fun.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Um right yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
And uh, and actually now I'm a part of the DFW
curling club, so I'm a curlerNice.
It was something that I alwayswanted to do back in college,
growing up, uh, being up inupstate New York, so uh brought
that down here when the Olympicscame around.
I was like well, man, I wouldreally love to keep doing that.
Yeah, but yeah, so anyways,that is why I kind of navigated
(05:13):
towards sports architecture.
Always wanted to do it.
I worked for Populous for fiveyears.
Populous is a Kansas City-basedarchitecture firm that designs
stadiums, arenas for the NFL,NHL, NCAA, Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So do you still do now that you have Ryan Mule
Design?
Do you do graphic design forthe sports industry?
What type of clients do youtypically have?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, so my focus starting my own business is to
get into the NIL space.
Starting my own business is toget into the NIL space.
So NIL is the name, image,likeness portion of the NCAA,
where there was a big thingabout it a couple years ago when
athletes wanted to get paid fortheir name, image and likeness
right.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Why not right Right, right, All these?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
universities were getting a lot of money and they
weren't getting their cuts.
So, now the NCAA has ruled thatthey can pursue getting paid for
their name and they are able tobuild their own brands.
Now, get clients to docommercials, sponsorships, all
(06:20):
those things.
So my focus is to reach out tothese athletes to say hey, are
you trying to build a personalbrand?
I'd love to be a part of yourstory.
What can we do to build you alogo and a brand package so that
when you go to createmerchandise, you have something?
Ready for people to print andship.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
To help them market themselves and help them sell
merchandise to their fans Rightyeah.
That's wonderful.
So you mentioned earlier thatyou'd have a recent success in
bringing on a new client.
Yeah, we at Advent Trinityteach the customer journey
awareness, engagement,conversion, delight, advocation.
So can you kind of tell us inthose different phases, how you
(07:08):
reached out and found this newclient and how you build their
brand, how you navigated thatcycle with him?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, so this is kind of a different.
It's not sports, it isentertainment related.
So I'm currently working withan artist to develop some
merchandise for their concertsand their website and stuff like
that.
So it's.
It was really cool to kind ofjust put myself out there and
(07:39):
send an email and just say hey,my name is Ryan, I'm a new
freelance graphic designer.
I'm looking to you, know,freelance graphic designer, I'm
looking to build my brand and Iwould love to build yours.
And they basically said, well,we don't have, we already have a
brand, but we would love tobring you on to build some
merchandise designs for us.
(07:59):
And they gave me a test run andI made this poster for
advertising purposes, for whenpeople come to the concerts and
they see these huge, massivedigital billboards.
And I sent it to them and theywere like blown away, they loved
it and they were like, allright, well, we're going to work
with you on more projects.
So that's where I'm at withthat, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So that takes us through the awareness and
engagement.
You just reached out.
Find their info and they prettymuch gave you a chance to show
them what you have, right, yeah.
And so you made a digitalbillboard.
Not only just print, You'redoing the digital.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, I'm doing both.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
That's the forefront of everything.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Now, right, yeah yeah , yeah, and I really try to
stress.
You know, I am a family-likeatmosphere, so I'm not just
going to pump out a job for youand then just leave you in the
in hanging right.
Right, I want to be there for,for every step of the way,
everything you want to do, Iwant to be there, I want you
involved.
That's kind of my process isI'm designing, but this is your
(09:01):
brand, so I want you to be apart of it, right?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
so you want to keep them engaged yes with the, the
step-by-step process, and do youlet them know that up front?
Yes, that you want acollaborative?
Speaker 1 (09:12):
kind of workspace?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
yes, I mean, I like to know everything that's going
on.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So why not?
Um and that's?
And that's how the architectureindustry is.
It's all collaborative right sothere's so much correlation
between architecture and andgraphic design and that's why I,
kind of you know, followed mypassion and just said you know
what I'm gonna do this yeah, soon the last portion, the
advocation portion, whatstrategies encourage your
(09:36):
clients to refer you what?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
what strategies encourage your clients to
recommend you to theircounterparts or their friends
and family?
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, I think they see me and they say this is a
guy who works hard, he wants tobe a part of something special
and he will do everything he canto get me what I need, and that
is something that I think a lotof people value.
(10:09):
Um, so, to to to do that andfollow through with it.
I think you know it gets themto say, hey, this guy you should
, you should.
We'll refer you to other peoplethat we know.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Because you've created that trust with them,
right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Creating the trust um building those relationships, I
think is it's super important,I mean in anything.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Absolutely, I think, is it's super important, I mean
in anything, absolutely.
So what were the foundationalsteps that you've started making
to establish Ryan Mule Designand separate from that
architecture life?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, so I think you know building a strong social
media presence very hard, butit's it's something that I'm
always striving to do and justlike reaching out to people,
right, it's the connections youbuild is how your business grows
.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
At any rate, you want it to grow right, so it's doing
.
You know the dirty work ofbuilding designs and contacting
people via email, cold calls.
You know doing all that stuffto really put yourself out there
.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And you mentioned you're going to networking
events as well, getting in frontof people so they can really
feel within our world of AI.
It's hard to really trustsomebody unless they're right in
front of you.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And so that really is .
That's what we work off of themajority of the time Cause if
you don't have trust, you reallydon't have anything.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
And that's the thing too.
Like you know, you can go toFiverr and and pay for a logo
for 250 bucks, right, and theypump it out in three days and
say, here you go, you know, thisis what you get.
And they said, well, I reallywant this to change.
(11:56):
Then you're like, okay, well,that's another 50 bucks.
You know, here's, here'sanother day worth of work, I'll
send it to you, right?
You know, for me it's moreabout the process and getting to
know the client and creating abrand story that really
resonates with everyone on theother side and the ownership
side.
So if I can build that storyand tell them like, hey, this is
, this speaks to your brand, andthey see that vision, that's
another thing that just goes theextra mile to building my brand
(12:18):
.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Absolutely so.
You mentioned you're on a lotof social media platforms
advertising for yourself.
When you do your graphic designfor your clients, are you
creating content for theirsocial media as well?
Is that something you offer?
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, that is something I offer Typically.
If I have a brand design clientthat wants a logo, I'll offer
that and I'll say, hey, you knowI can.
I can offer you a package for10 to 20 social media posts for
X amount of dollars.
And usually, typically theythey say, yeah, we would love
that.
I have a client based out ofAtlanta.
(12:52):
Who this lady?
She runs a nonprofit forWomen's Flag Football League, ah
nice.
And she reaches out to me allthe time and says, hey, we have
an event coming up in Buffalo,can you design me a logo?
And I'd be like, yeah, sure.
So I design a logo and I kindof shoot her some social media
(13:13):
posts that say, you know, withthe verbiage and the brand
alignment, and she's like, oh myGod, this is amazing, I need
all this.
And it's like great.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You're taking a weight off their shoulders
because you do know them so well.
And man, that is a blessing.
We may need you to come overhere with us too.
So how are you planning toscale Ryan Mule Design going
forward, and what are youcurrently focusing on, or are
you at the earlier stages of it?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I'm still at the earlier stages, you know, I'd
love to be at a point where I dohave another person or two
helping me out in the future soI can focus on the business side
of it and also mentoring otherpeople.
You know, Okay, I thinkmentoring is a huge part of
success for your own personalbusiness journey.
(14:04):
But yeah, it's I just I couldsee myself in 10 years, you know
, having more people on boardand and helping them grow into,
hopefully, their own business.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Oh yeah, giving back is kind of how you get back
right, right, exactly, yeah, sowhat inspires you on a daily
basis to be an entrepreneur andgrow this business?
What are your main inspirations?
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from my family.
Um, you know, my wife is a.
She pushes me every day to tobe the best that I can be.
Um, and then I have my kids,who, you know, you want to be
great role models for them.
Um, you know, coupled with youknow, people in the industry
that, uh, produce amazing work,right?
Um, I think there's a designerout there called Matt Wolf.
(14:54):
He's a logo designer for asports logo designer.
He works with Nike.
He works with a bunch of MLSteams in the United States.
He builds their brands, and Ireally looked to him for a lot
of inspiration and a little bitof mentorship in my journey.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So what you would say , having a mentor kind of within
the same industry, is important.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
Having a mentor is superimportant, especially if you're
going on your own right.
I think having somebody in yourcorner on the business side to
really push you, push yourlimits, is a huge deal.
And on the opposite side, youknow, having you know a
significant other pushing you aswell to be the best that you
(15:38):
can be.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So you enjoy the kind of the push and the constant,
uncomfortable but excitingportion.
That's what drives you islearning?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yes, I think the most important thing you know going
into business is you kind ofhave to be uncomfortable um to
be somewhat successful.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know, if.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
if you're not, then it's.
It's probably not going to besuccessful, but you're, you
might enjoy it.
Um, but, but beinguncomfortable is a good thing,
right, and I and I just I'vejust kind of realized that that
that was a was an important partof my journey.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Can you tell us, maybe a recent event where
stepping out of your comfortzone led to your growth?
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, let me see, I think you know my architecture
career, I was kind of, you know,not that happy and I wanted
something more.
I wanted to follow my passions.
And, um, you know, I wasrecently let go from my job and
(16:41):
you know, I thought, wow, thisis kind of a sign, you know.
And my wife a couple hourslater was like, hey, you know, I
think this, I think this is asign for you to follow what you
really want to do.
And you know, at first I wasreally heartbroken about losing
my job, but then I realized, youknow, like you know she's right
Like this is a big sign to saygo for what you want.
(17:04):
You know, go for your passions,follow it, because there's only
going to be success infollowing what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, your passion at the end of the day, which
you've always kind of touched on, but never really jumped out
and done it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
That's uncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Especially with you said you have three kiddos now.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah, so we have two beautiful, a daughter and a son,
a four-year-old and atwo-year-old, and we have one on
the way coming in June.
Wow, congratulations, thank you, thank you.
Is balancing fatherhood andentrepreneuring?
Yeah, it's, it's really tough.
Luckily for me owning my ownbusiness.
I get to work from home, sowhenever you know I have to pick
(17:43):
up the kids, I'm there to do itand I'm happy to do it, because
being in my kid's life is isjust super important right.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I want to be present, I want to be a good dad, um,
and just you know, being thereis is huge for them and just
showing them.
Like you know, you can't have abusiness, be successful and
have a family and children tooand do those things.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So cause work isn't work if you love what you do.
Right, exactly, yeah, if youmake it your daily life.
I truly believe that kids, kidslearn to grow in that for sure.
So what types of content orstrategies have been most
effective in driving engagementand new business opportunities
for you?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, you know social media is such a powerful tool.
Um, you could do a lot withInstagram, facebook, uh,
linkedin these days.
I mean, I got my first job fromLinkedIn.
I didn't go on Indeed, I didn'tgo to their website, you know,
I literally got the job fromLinkedIn.
So social media is a superpowerful tool.
You know, creating ads, and atan affordable cost, right, you
(18:48):
don't have to pump likethousands of dollars into an ad
to get people to like it and seeyou and your vision and your
brand.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Absolutely.
I think that's part of ourclient base is helping them,
help you, help people optimizewhere they need to advertise
these things that you'recreating.
And you don't have to dump abunch of money into it, you just
have to have the right content.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Right, exactly, you have to have the content that's
visually appealing and peoplelike.
Just like a billboard rightBillboard advertisement is.
You know, if you take a look atit for two seconds, you're
already engaged.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So it's the same thing with social media ads.
You know, if you can getsomebody to look at it for two
seconds, you already have theirattention.
And I think you know, justhaving this, this tool and and
there's more out there, rightthere's.
(19:46):
You know you can use Canva and,and I don't know there's so
many other social media toolsthat you can use to to really
build yourself, tools that youcan use to to really build
yourself, build your business,and I think you know this is a
great time to be in the digitalspace.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Oh, absolutely so.
How do some of your hobbies andthen side projects, like the
curling, how do they inspireyour work as a designer?
Are you designing for sports,still primarily?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, I'm, you know I really love focusing on sports
teams.
You know, that's that's kind ofa a deeper passion of mine of
you know, building the nextgreat logo, for I'm a big
Philadelphia Eagles fan.
So yeah, yeah yeah.
I'm from Pennsylvania, so it'sit makes sense but, um, but yeah
(20:36):
, like I'd love to, you know,design the next big sports teams
.
You know brand, brand identity,um, so I uh curling is is an
amazing outlet, and not just forme, just because I'm an athlete
Um, growing up I'm alwaysalways an athlete.
Um, and curling gave me areally cool outlet to one meet
(20:56):
new people, um, still be anathlete and um, just just build,
build these awesome newrelationships that I thought I
would never build.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Is that what you would say success looks like for
you, professionally andpersonally?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I think you know a lot of people think
success is about money, but forme it's all about the
relationships I'm making, thefamily I have, and just you know
what I have now.
Like I feel like I amsuccessful in life just with
everything I have now.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
That's wonderful.
So any upcoming projects orcollaborations you're
particularly excited about.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah.
So I was briefly touched on themusic artist I'm working with.
He's a rapper in the popindustry Pretty well known, and
then I'm working with thatnonprofit, the Women's Flag
Football League, and then I havea bunch of feelers out there.
(21:58):
I'm constantly reaching out toathletes Division One athletes
on Instagram and Facebook andyou know just seeing like hey,
you know, there's something hereyou can build it you know,
let's, let's do it together.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
So I'm constantly doing all that stuff and so are
you doing it across the country,reaching out to athletes across
the country, trying to stay inthis kind of Texas niche right
now?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I'm.
I'm reaching out to everywhere.
I kind of have connections allover the place Friends in Las
Vegas, Pennsylvania, obviouslywith all my family.
My wife's family is fromMichigan.
I have connects in Atlanta, soI'm kind of all over the place.
That's a good thing.
Yeah, it's how far you canreally reach is super important.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
So if listeners wanted to connect with you or
learn more about your work, ortalk with you about how you
could help them, what's the bestway for them to reach out to
you and what platforms are youon for them to reach out to?
On?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Yeah, so you can one find me on my website.
It's wwwryanmuledesign.
And then I'm on LinkedIn,Facebook, Instagram at Ryan Mule
Design.
On all three of those you canfind me there.
You can email me atryanmuledesign at gmailcom, and
(23:17):
if you're looking for anyprojects or just want to talk, I
love talking to people, meetnew people and yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, you're more than welcome to come back to the
show and bring anyone you wanton this show.
We're an open audience and wewant to help other business
owners and entrepreneurs likeyourself figure out what you're
doing now to help them grow evenso thank you for joining us
today.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Thank you for having me Awesome.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And to all of our listeners out there.
Thank you for coming to anotherAtma podcast.
My name is Dori and I am yourhost, and we'll see you next
time.
Bye.
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