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Lisa Ryan

Lisa Ryan, MBA, is Chief Appreciation Strategist at Grategy. Utilizing more than twenty years of sales, marketing and training experience, Lisa Ryan works with organizations to help them keep their top talent and best customers from becoming someone else’s. She achieves this by teaching how to build stronger, more profitable, lasting relationships between a company, its employees and customers by creating a stronger emotional connection to the organization. Lisa’s career spans a number of industries including executive recruiting/staffing, industrial/maintenance and medical/healthcare. From growing a brand-new territory into a top selling region while in the welding industry to conducting more than 500 continuing education programs to healthcare professionals, she has a diverse, successful career. She has been speaking as part of her career since 1997 and has had her own business since 2010. Lisa focuses on employee engagement, retention, and recognition, as well as customer acquisition, service and loyalty. She incorporates her proven gratitude technology, called “Grategy®” which helps to create a culture of appreciation in the workplace. An added benefit of her programs is that her specific steps and actionable ideas are transferrable to personal relationships and situations as well. She is the author of six books including The Upside of Down Times: Discovering the Power of Gratitude, which was recently highlighted in NY Times Best Selling Author Harvey Mackay’s syndicated column (Swim with the Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive.) She is a monthly contributor to three online magazines, provides content for a number of association newsletters, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. Lisa serves on the board of the Ohio Chapter of the National Speakers Association and is past-president of her Toastmasters International Club. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and an MBA in marketing from Cleveland State University. She has been blissfully married to Scott since 1996 and they are the proud parents of three very spoiled cats.
Picture of Lisa Ryan

Lisa Ryan

Lisa Ryan, MBA, is Chief Appreciation Strategist at Grategy. Utilizing more than twenty years of sales, marketing and training experience, Lisa Ryan works with organizations to help them keep their top talent and best customers from becoming someone else’s. She achieves this by teaching how to build stronger, more profitable, lasting relationships between a company, its employees and customers by creating a stronger emotional connection to the organization. Lisa’s career spans a number of industries including executive recruiting/staffing, industrial/maintenance and medical/healthcare. From growing a brand-new territory into a top selling region while in the welding industry to conducting more than 500 continuing education programs to healthcare professionals, she has a diverse, successful career. She has been speaking as part of her career since 1997 and has had her own business since 2010. Lisa focuses on employee engagement, retention, and recognition, as well as customer acquisition, service and loyalty. She incorporates her proven gratitude technology, called “Grategy®” which helps to create a culture of appreciation in the workplace. An added benefit of her programs is that her specific steps and actionable ideas are transferrable to personal relationships and situations as well. She is the author of six books including The Upside of Down Times: Discovering the Power of Gratitude, which was recently highlighted in NY Times Best Selling Author Harvey Mackay’s syndicated column (Swim with the Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive.) She is a monthly contributor to three online magazines, provides content for a number of association newsletters, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. Lisa serves on the board of the Ohio Chapter of the National Speakers Association and is past-president of her Toastmasters International Club. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and an MBA in marketing from Cleveland State University. She has been blissfully married to Scott since 1996 and they are the proud parents of three very spoiled cats.

Are You Taking For Granted Or Taking In Gratitude?

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” Cynthia Ozick Your alarm clock goes off.  You stretch, prop yourself up and climb out of bed.  You walk to the kitchen, pour yourself a cup of coffee and savor the aroma and the jolt it gives you.  You then shower, get dressed, jump into your car, start the engine and begin your day.  Sound familiar? Think about what just happened.  Countless blessings occurred that you may not have given a second thought.  Just for giggles, let’s count all of the miracles in the above paragraph.  Your alarm

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Using Your Super Powers For Good

“Life doesn’t happen TO you.  Rather, it can happen BECAUSE of you.  You have far more power and influence than you can possibly imagine.  And once you decide, you can use your power to affect your own life as well as the life of the people around you.” Dick Sutphen In the movie, “The Avengers,” each character has a specific super power that enables him or her to make a difference.  They have a choice – they can use their power for good or for evil purposes. Iron Man can fly, and fight, and has a suit of armor to protect

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Why Your Closest Associations Matter

“I believe that close association with one who refuses to compromise with circumstances he or she does not like is an asset that can never be measured in terms of money.” — Napoleon Hill Think about the people whom you hang around with. Do they encourage you, uplift you, and see you in your highest good? Or do they hold you back, fearful that you will leave them behind if you’re successful? “When it comes to relationships, we are greatly influenced — whether we like it or not — by those closest to us. It affects our way of thinking, our self-esteem, and our

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The Only Person You Need to Trust

“You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.  This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” — Steve Jobs Think about what happened to Steve Jobs after a very public firing from Apple Computer. Instead of wallowing in despair and disappearing from the public eye, he went on to create several businesses, including Pixar and NeXT. He produced innovative products and eventually was rehired at Apple, where he revolutionized technology with the development of iTunes, the iPod, iPad, and the improvement of the Apple line of computers. JK Rowling, author

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Keep The Pursuit Of Your Goals From Going Off-Track

“When I thought I couldn’t go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck.” — Estee Lauder Do you know what you want out of your life? Can you see your future clearly in your mind’s eye, and do you know down to the very core of your being that you’re working toward your life’s purpose? If so, congratulations! If you’re not quite there yet, take a few moments and imagine what your life would be life if you were living on purpose. How wide is the gap between what you want to be doing

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Risking Failure, Winning Big With Career Change

“Nobody succeeds in a big way, except by risking failure.” — William Feather At a recent meeting of the National Speakers Association, I had the opportunity to meet Simon T. Bailey, a professional speaker and author whose topic is personal brilliance. Simon has been speaking for more than ten years and is extremely successful. Although his skill as a speaker is impressive, learning how he got started in the speaking business was more notable. Simon was a high-level executive in several major corporations, including the Disney Institute. When he decided to pursue a speaking career, he left the Disney organization, cashed in

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Are You Hanging Onto The Ladder Of Comfort Or Climbing The Ladder Of Success?

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”  Thomas Henry Huxley Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect. After my brother, Scott, graduated from college with an accounting degree, he opened an eyeglass store with a partner. They employed a full-time ophthalmologist, and business was booming. A few years into it, Scott became intrigued with the idea of becoming an eye doctor himself, so he went back to college to pursue a degree in medicine. He applied to several ophthalmology

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Don’t: Apologize For Success Or Make Excuses For Failure

“Success requires no apologies. Failure permits no alibis.”  Napoleon Hill When I think of Napoleon Hill, I consider the profound impact he had on my life with his book, Think and Grow Rich.  I always believed that because he was given the opportunity to interview 500 of the world’s wealthiest men, his life’s journey was filled with “wine and roses.” However, after reading his newest book, Outwitting the Devil, I discovered that in the course of his research, he interviewed thousands of failures as well.  He found that he learned much more from people who failed than he did from successful

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Kudos To You: 10 Top To-Do’s To Keep Those Customers Coming

Every day we spend our precious time and hard-earned money out in the market searching for new customers.  We advertise, we network, we use social media strategies – all for the purpose of finding ever-elusive hot new prospects and turning them into profitable new customers. With all this emphasis on attaining new customers, what we are doing to retain our current customers?  According to a study conducted by marketing guru, Dan Kennedy, here are the reasons that a customer leaves: 1% die 3% move away 5% follow a friend or relative’s advice and switch to their recommended supplier 9% switch due

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How Clean Is Your Wastebasket?

If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. But if you can say something nice – DO!  – Lisa Ryan It was my mom’s 70th birthday and I wanted to spend the day at the spa with her.  However, because of my speaking schedule, I did not have the time to book an appointment in advance. If you’ve ever tried to book a spa appointment for a particular day, you know how difficult it can be, so imagine trying to book TWO same day spa appointments.  I was on the phone early, calling spas and telling the receptionist

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Dream

Ignore The Dream Stealers

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life he imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau Do you have dream stealers in your life? You know, those people who think they are doing you a favor by ripping apart your aspirations and sharing their more “realistic” point of view with you? If your dreams are large enough, chances are good that you will make others around you uncomfortable.  Many of the people in your life want you to stay at their level – they want you

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Goal

Reaching Your Goals By Failing Forward

“Success requires no apologies. Failure permits no alibis.”  Napoleon Hill When I think of Napoleon Hill, I consider the profound impact he had on my life with his book, Think and Grow Rich.  I always believed that because he was given the opportunity to interview 500 of the world’s wealthiest men, his life’s journey was filled with “wine and roses.” However, after reading his newest book, Outwitting the Devil, I discovered that in the course of his research, he interviewed thousands of failures as well.  He found that he learned much more from people who failed than he did from successful

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Take-Action

Take Action Now To Advance Your Career

“If you want to have what others don’t, you must do what others won’t.” – Lisa Ryan How often do you hear these types of conversations? John: “I’d love to go back to college and get my degree.” Jane:  “So, why don’t you go?” John:  “I’m so tired when I get home from work, and it will take so long for me to get it. I just don’t have the time to do it.” Sally:  “Wow, you’re so lucky that you have such an awesome job.” Dan:  “I started in the mail room ten years ago, and just worked my way

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employee-engagement

4 Fundamentals To Elevate Employee Engagement

Did you know that when an employee leaves their job, 67% of the time it’s not the job, it’s the boss?  Of course you know the importance of keeping your best employees from becoming someone else’s top talent, but exactly how do you do that?  Here are four ways to build trust and earn their loyalty. 1.  Face Time Matters. Personal contact is important as it creates an emotional connection with the organization.  Whether you have an onsite or a remote workforce, make sure you regularly connect with them.  It’s more than offering an “open door policy” – get out of your office and

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Perserverance

Persistence: It Pays To Be The Last One Standing

“No matter what you are trying to accomplish, maintain a firm belief in your ideas, bring the greatest amount of energy to them, and be willing to endure the indignities that may result. Being a mover and a shaker in (any) profession means sticking with an idea or system longer than anyone else.” – Author Unknown. Or as I like to say, “It pays to be the last one standing.” This mantra has helped tremendously in both my sales and speaking careers. No matter what business you’re in, persistence, kindness and gratitude pays off. Persistence. Here are the statistics: 44% of sales

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