Ryon McGuire - CT Omega
Realtor, loan officer, trainer, FedEx driver, college admissions counselor, logistics coordinator, project manager for a contract clinical research organization, and strategic advisor to life science companies on process improvements.
Sound like a challenging career path for Yale graduate and now San Diego County resident Ryon McGuire? We asked him for any unifying threads on his advancement through the ranks and advice for others facing unstable and uncertain employment environments.
"Keep an open mind, be flexible, and learn on your feet,' said Ryon, initiated in 1992. "Become an expert in gathering information. Listen, find what is needed to understand the job, and look for shortcomings you can improve. Good ideas are everywhere, and turn them into action."
Ryon grew up in Camarillo through his freshman year in high school. His dad worked for GM and transferred to Lansing, where Ryon starred as a center on the high school basketball team and in his academic achievements. Recruited to Yale, he played one entire season and a bit of the second season as forward and center, at 6-foot-6 and 225, until he blew out his shoulder when landed on from behind.
His recovery?
"I concentrated on the pleasures of living in the SAE house for three years," Ryon recalled. "We had a nice brownstone in New Haven. Greeks had no on-campus housing since being kicked off in the 1970s. We had 27 when I pledged, then had some good first-year classes and grew to close to 70. It was a fun chapter, diverse."
One of the extracurricular pleasures of the brotherhood: road trip parties at the women's schools, Smith and Holyoke.
"They would call and tell us they were having a party and come on down," Ryon said. "We were all on the guest list."
Ryon's parents had moved to Escondido to escape the Michigan cold and retire in a more temperate climate. Ryon had an accident his senior year, slipping while carrying a bottle, and he fell on it and cut all ligaments and tendons in his right wrist. Due to physical therapy, he had to miss classes and was two short of graduating.
"I asked my parents if I could move back to find a job out here," Ryon said. "CSU San Marcos was a few miles from their house and fit Yale's credit transfer criteria, so it was an easy choice."
Summer classes coincided with the beginning of their rush. He became friends with the brothers organizing what was then a colony, and worked on helping them transition to becoming a chapter. He went to executive committee meetings, advised on events, and tried to help, ex officio. He was later named chapter advisor.
Career goals once in California?
"That was the problem," Ryan said. "The basics were getting to school, playing basketball, and then going into business. In looking for work, I ended up in residential banking as a realtor and then started training loan officers. The market collapsed (2007-2008), and nobody was interested in hiring someone with a real estate background. I worked more than three years as a FedEx driver, which was a key to future career growth."
After Fed Ex and a short stint as an admissions counselor at Ashford University, he was contacted by the route owner he worked for at FedEx about a job opening at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in logistics. His friend got tired of the delivery business and moved to corporate logistics, and Ryon worked there for five years as a material logistics coordinator.
The same FedEx friend moved to Crown Bioscience, where he ran the logistics division. Ryon started as a logistics specialist and advanced to senior consultant. This included initiating new research projects with clients, managing up to 300 concurrent studies in various stages of research, working with different teams to improve and streamline processes, and tracking and reporting all costs.
Ryon was at Crown for more than four years but wanted less stress and more opportunity to grow. He moved this April to a new position at One Team Partners, LLC, which advises life science companies on process improvements throughout their organizations. This involves using several of his ideas on keys to success in any endeavor.
The firm has significant clients – household names in biotech and pharma.
"One Team has a process of data preparation, review, and analysis to drive improvements throughout an organization," Ryon said. "We create and present tools to help them to determine the best path to achieving their business goals. This can include corrective actions. For example, with a major chemical company, we have provided processes and improvements to enable them to get their different lots of chemicals and compounds out on time."
Ryon and his wife, Kristina, a staff quality engineer for a medical device company, met in 2012 through an app.
"A buddy made me sign up for it; we met five days later and have been together since the first date, Ryon said.
They live in San Marcos and have three daughters from her previous marriage. One is in high school, and two are college graduates (one is pursuing her master's in anthropology at SDSU, where she is a teaching assistant, and the other at Purdue, now in law school).
He is active in the Yale Club of San Diego. In the small world category, he saw on Facebook that Dr. Andrew Hsing, a brother he hadn't seen since 1994, had moved to San Diego.
"I connected with him, mentioned some of my blood pressure issues, sent him my charts, and he is now my pulmonologist," Ryon said.
"I connected with him, mentioned some of my blood pressure issues, sent him my charts, and he is now my pulmonologist," Ryon said.
A pledge brother, Shelby Carvalho, also moved to San Diego to work in finance, and the three toasted old times recently at a bar in Encinitas.
"It's great to have brothers from two different campuses now as lifelong friends," Ryon said. "The same bonds unite us all, as evidenced by the success of the San Diego Alumni Association, which has an incredible collection of brothers from many different schools. I'm looking forward to catching up at some future lunches and Founders Day."
Left to right: Ryon, his pledge brother, Shelby Carvalho (Fall '92), and Dr. Andrew Hsing ('90).