New Crew Member: Ryan Hartberg
As Ten Forward has grown over the last five years, we've expanded from a mostly technical team to one with a wide variety of roles, including QA, project management, and now - with the addition of Ryan Hartberg - business development.
Ryan's easygoing personality and good nature have made him a welcome face around the office. With an educational background in psychology, systems theory and communication theory, his focus on the people behind the tech is right at home at Ten Forward (also did we mention his adorable kids?).
Read on for more about Ryan, including what drew him to the company, his favorite books and which instrument he's classically trained in.
Tell us a little about yourself.
"I'm married to my high school sweetheart. We have seven children together, with ages ranging from 13 years to 6 months - three boys, four girls. We’re fairly active in the community - sports, music and our church."
What's on your bookshelf right now?
"Really, everything! (Laugh). Lately, I’ve mostly been on philosophy. I also like a good biography. I’ve been really into a lot of nonfiction recently - for some reason, that's been keeping my interest better than fiction books, but I jump around quite a bit. Been reading some books by saints."
What do you like about business development?
"I enjoy helping businesses grow. In this role, I'll be a little more sales focused, but it’s all mostly the same. How do we become a better company?
I like helping people, I like growing businesses, I like the people side of that - how do we keep people engaged and excited? How do we grow a great culture?"
What drew you to apply at Ten Forward?
"On the practical side, it’s a good time to be in development, especially mobile. I think for my family and being a provider, it’s a smart industry to be in. Most of it, though, is the people, the culture. Specifically (president) Brian and (director of strategy and operations) Katrina, but even when I snuck in to the morning meeting that day, I got a feel for the team.
When you go to work at a place, you’re investing yourself - time, not money - but you want to invest in smart enterprises. I feel like I’m making a really good investment. Super high potential here. A lot of smart people, but also good people, who want to do good, honest work, and that’s super attractive. We're just scratching the surface of our potential, so I'm optimistic I can help us scale."
What are you looking forward to learning or doing in your new position?
"One of the things I like about the position is getting to talk to other business owners. How do we solve problems for others by using technology. So I get to go look at other businesses and see how we can capitalize on their potential and needs, through offering our skill sets. I look forward to building our own team here as well."
What's something about you people might find surprising?
"Other than that I have seven kids? (Grins) I honestly don’t know. Probably that I’m a classically trained pianist."
Favorite movie, TV show, band/musician, emoji.
Movie: "Moulin Rouge"
TV Show: “The Profit”
Band/Musician: Ray La Montagne
Emoji: 😐
Star Trek or Star Wars?
"Star Wars. I like the Star Trek movies (my father would always take me), but never really got into the show."