Meet Ryan Watts | Entrepreneur | WSET Level 3 | Nerd | Husband | Father | Grandpa

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Watts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always wanted to start and run my own business but honestly never had the courage to do it. I was very much entrenched in the corporate America mindset and apparently was addicted to the comfort and safety of a low risk steady job that comes with a steady paycheck. I did well there though. I worked in information technology (IT) and was very good at what I did. The 30 years I worked in IT took me and my family all over the world working and living in some very exciting and remote locations. Everything changed when I was 50 years old, when I was working for a small startup company and suddenly found myself unemployed. The courage I wish that I had my entire life to walk away from the corporate job was suddenly thrust upon me. I was terrified! If you would have asked me before this happened if I could just walk away from my job and “be okay” my answer would not have been “No”, it would have been “Hell no!”. Yet, as the days and weeks went by, everything was fine. My wife was also working and she was doing very well in her job (yes, corporate America) so it wasn’t the end of the world for us. As the shock of finding myself suddenly unemployed wore off, I started looking for something else to do. I decided that I was done with corporate America and was going to do my own thing. I looked at what do I have and what do I like to do. I started several businesses and figured I will throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. I had a black Sprinter van from the days when I played in a band. Not to get off on a completely separate story but I played guitar/keyboards in a Johnny Cash tribute band for about 10 years and the van was used to get the band around to our gigs. For obvious reasons, everyone in the band always referred to the van as the “Van in Black”. So I had this van, that had a nickname, and I was looking for something to do. I checked and the domain name VanInBlack.com was available so I decided to give it go. I wish I could say that I did some complicated market study and found a need and launched a company to go after a specific niche but that just wasn’t the case. It was just an old man with a van looking for something to do and Van in Black the company was started in 2018. It was literally one man and a van at first. We have grown since then and now have 16 vehicles in our fleet with close to 30 employees. I also work now more than I ever have in my life and its great!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have several “irons in the fire” right now but my primary business right now is Van in Black. This has, by far, been the most successful of all my endeavors that I have started to date. It started in 2018 as a “man and a van” and has grown to a fleet of 16 vehicles with close to 30 employees. I attribute the success of our business to three factors. The first being relationships. As a company we value relationships with both customers and other businesses but the B2B relationships have really helped us. We have been able to build very strong and beneficial partnerships that have contributed greatly to the growth and success of the business. The second aspect of our success would be some of the creative and cost effective marketing strategies we have employed to acquire customers and build brand awareness. My IT background really helped with this aspect of the business as it allowed us to accomplish things that would have been cost prohibitive if we had to hire or outsource this skillset. And finally, I would attribute our success to the people in our company. We have been very fortunate to hire quality employees that provide excellent customer service and represent the company well. All of this wasn’t easy but I learned early on that you can’t outsource your own advocacy or obsession. You, as the business founder and owner, have to bear these burdens and then use them to drive your interests and passion for success forward.

I am very excited about the companies future and look forward to continued growth and opportunities.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many great things to see and do in this area. The natural beauty in Western North Carolina is amazing so I would definitely take them out to see a few of the countless waterfalls throughout the area. The wineries, breweries, distilleries and cider houses in this area are also worth checking out so the adult beverage world is definitely on the list. I would also have to say that the restaurants and food scene in general in all of the cities in this area tend to hit well above their weight class so there is no shortage of great food options. A drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway would also be on the list of things they would have to experience. Finally, I would love to take them on a great hike to the middle of nowhere so that they could enjoy the natural beauty and peace that comes from being completely removed from civilization for a few hours.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am 100% certain that I wouldn’t be the person I am today or be where I am today without my wife of 30+ years, Terri. We are a great team together and I could not have have done any of this without her. She is technically the owner of the business now and I basically do what she says (I wash a lot of vehicles).

Website: https://www.VanInBlack.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vaninblk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/van-in-black/