I worked in factories, answered as many as 110 customer-service calls a day, and sold insurance before deciding to go to college in my thirties. Those experiences still shape how I approach consulting. I know what it feels like to work inside a process someone else designed—and how much difference a useful improvement can make.
While attending Tri-C, Cuyahoga Community College, I left the call center and began working at Playhouse Square. It introduced me to nonprofit work and gave me a direction I wanted to keep exploring.
That path later took me to AmeriCorps service in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, working on projects involving housing insecurity and economic opportunity. I returned after a summer of service for a full-year commitment, which ran into the beginning of the pandemic.
My undergraduate studies in business and leadership, followed by a master's in Business Psychology, helped me understand questions I had encountered throughout my working life: How do people make decisions? Why do some organizational changes take hold while others struggle? What helps people turn information into action?
After roles in human resources and college advising, a friend suggested prospect research. Her reasoning was simple: I was already the person who found the information other people needed.
She was right. Research brought together things I had always enjoyed: technology, data, curiosity about people, and making sense of what I found. I spent three years supporting a major fundraising campaign before moving into a director role spanning prospect research, pipeline, and prospect management.
Ryan Clement Consulting draws on that combination. I want research to help someone make a better decision, and I want the systems around it to make the next step easier to carry out. Technology can help with both. Understanding the people doing the work matters just as much.