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Ryan Sherrer, Lebanon Now Marketing
My favorite quote is, “A mistake is never made if a lesson is learned.”
In my 30s, I was kind of tired of who I was, and it was one of those things where real, giant, effective change needed to take place in my life to be healthy. I was unhealthy mentally. I was unhealthy physically. I had lived a life that I’m not extraordinarily proud of. It wasn’t the life I would want people to see me as now, and if you knew me from that life, I’m sorry. And the change didn’t happen overnight. It’s been about 10 years now, and it has been every day – learning something new, figuring out how to be better.
I’m from Lebanon, grew up here. I dropped out of high school at 16, got my GED, and I wanted out. I took about any job in any place just to get out. I’d go out for a while and come back. Lebanon was kind of my home base, my bouncing-off point. I’d regroup, go back out, come back again, regroup, and go somewhere else.
One of my first jobs was drywall, then fast food, then factory work. Then I was a truck driver. For a while, I was a stand-up comedian. But through all of those things, I learned how to work hard. I learned how to get up when I was sick. I learned how to go in. I learned how to physically exhaust my body.
With comedy, I had dipped my toe into podcasting, then radio, and then I fell in love with the marketing aspect of it. I met a gentleman who got me a job at a marketing company. Within three years, I became director of marketing at that company.
Then I started my own little local marketing firm, and Lebanon became my playground to test ideas to take to bigger markets. And through that journey, I found out how hungry people were for that content, for professional marketing. I just phased into doing this full-time.
For a long time, I was a very closed-off individual. I had zero self-worth, and I think I treated people like I treated myself – which was not great, right? Because I had no self-worth, I did a lot of stupid stuff. I didn’t care what happened. I went through a prescription drug addiction – when I was young, they put me on Xanax, and for 13 years, I ate them like PEZ.
There’s a big chunk of my life that I don’t really remember. And that stunts your emotional growth.I had some mental things that I had to get taken care of. I got diagnosed late in life with ADHD. I wasn’t where I wanted to be as a human being. So I bounced around, did a lot of things, and finally, around 35, I decided I was gonna straighten up. I started going to therapy.
The last time I came back to Lebanon, I had the same plan I always had – come back, regroup, leave. But I don’t know if it’s that I was older, if it was all the therapy, or what, but this time, I stayed. I met somebody. I got married. And I looked around and thought, for all the flaws people can say, Lebanon is a great community.
I’m happy my wife, Sarah, met me when she did. I’d put in a lot of work to be a better person. And I’m definitely punching up, because she’s absolutely stunning, nice, and caring. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would have the ability to face what I have to face every day to do this. But you know, I get to go home to her.
I know I can come off as arrogant, and I apologize to anybody who feels that I’m that way. I’m my own best cheerleader. And maybe that is arrogance, maybe it isn’t. But if you’ve ever been in your office at 2 a.m. with work to do but you’d rather take a nap, I’m the guy that keeps working, keeps chugging through. I’m like 40-some days without a day off. And sometimes, that’s just the internal cheerleader that I need to keep going so I don’t quit, right? I think we’re allowed to be proud of what we’re special at. I also surround myself with really good people who will call me out if I get too full of myself.
Getting the President’s Award from the Chamber – it’s the only award they give with an individual’s name on it. Everything else goes to a business. That one particular award is for a person and their impact. That meant everything to me. Not because it’s an award, not because I like shiny things – I mean, I do – but it’s not just that. It’s recognition of the work I’ve put in. It’s proof that I found my people, I found my community, I found my spot.
I don’t blame people who have a negative view of me. I had that same view for many, many years. But to be proud of myself for facing those challenges – and then for an entire community to be proud of me, too – that’s something I never thought I would experience.
I’ll never leave again. This is home.
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