Meet Ryan Rea | Miami Tech Ambassador

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

Hi Ryan, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from a very small town of about 400 people in very rural Amish country Pennsylvania. I spent about 18 years old most of my childhood and teenager years in Pennsylvania. all in all I had a pretty good childhood for living in the country, probably had more fun than most city kids. however as I got older they were very few opportunities in in my general area for having the type of career that I always wanted to have. I had always been interested in technology from the time I was little kid, however opportunities were very limited in Pennsylvania for that sort of thing.

When I was in my late teens I started blogging about technology for for very small websites and later for more well known websites. I started covering companies like Microsoft, apple and Twitter. My blogging efforts led to Noticed by Microsoft, who were at the time starting their new retail division in California. at that point in time Microsoft did not have retail stores or any connection with the public outside of stores like Best Buy and circuit city. A recruiter from Microsoft reached out to me and told me that I should apply for a role in California at one of their new stores. long story short I eventually accepted a role at an Orange County Microsoft store the first one ever!

So after accepting the job I moved literally overnight from Pennsylvania to Orange County California. over the course of the next seven years I lived up and down the West Coast from San Diego to Seattle. eventually I spent about five years in Seattle. Seattle is a beautiful place with amazing culture food and scenery however the winters are ours are absolutely terrible rainy gray and miserable for about five months out of the year. who escaped these terrible winters I took I took a lot of vacations over the years and many of them were to the Magic City itself Miami. the funny thing is is that every time I visited Miami I really never wanted to leave. There was this energy that was almost palpable that you could feel from the moment that you exited my international airport. The West Coast definitely has own type of energy but Miami is something that I had never experienced before. like I said before I lived in a very small town that was not by any measure diverse. the effortless diversity of Miami is something that makes me incredibly happy. there is not another city in the United States that I know of that compares.

the first two years that I lived in Miami were not by any means fun I had no connections no network no preexisting friends or family in the city. There certainly was not any type of tech scene when I first got here that I was aware of.

like most people I started I started working remote in March of 2020 and never looked back. as most people are aware during the pandemic my became a destination for people who are escaping other large cities with strict lockdowns like San Francisco and New York City. the people who moved here during the pandemic were mostly in technology or adjacent industries and Like me when I moved here they did not have pre existing friends or connections here.

In the spring of 2021 I was introduced to some local technology community members through Twitter and clubhouse.,we set up an informal meetup in an outdoor location as some people were still concerned about COVID. we started this meet up with about 15 people in January of 2021 by May of 2021 this informal meet had grown to 50 to 60 people per week. we called the group Miami life Tech or “MTL”. this group was started by one of my now good friends named Damien Bullumo A long time Miami resident and serial entrepreneur. by the middle of 2021 this group now consisted of over 1000 people on a telegram group.

Also, during 2021, I began having 1-1 coffee meetings with some of the new Miami transplants. The basic idea was that I would take my 5 years of experience of living in Miami as transplant from the west coast and help the newbies have a soft landing in the magic city. Over the course of 2021 I had approximately 150 coffee meetings with new folks, sometimes 3+ in day. These people where everyone from software engineers to Venture capitalists to founders of NFT companies.

I would help them with everything from getting connected to the tech scene to making neighborhood recommendations or making a relator introduction. I was so successful at this, that companies and founders as far away as France would call me for advice about relocating to Miami.

By the end of 2021, MTL was an official community foundation with sponsors and bi-weekly meetup at Freehold in Wynwood. I took on an official role as “Director of Growth”. In this role I manage recruitment, marketing and communications for everything #MiamiTech.

Today the group has over 1300 members and continues to grow every month.

Currently I am focusing on growing the MiamiTech scene by advising startups and Miami based founders on marketing, social media and culture.

My goal is cement Miami as THE premier place to Live, Play and Work and build companies.

The amount of high-quality people I continue meet in Miami on a daily basis is absolutely AMAZING. Our city has never felt more alive and energetic than it does RIGHT now.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have been in Marketing for most of my adult career, I have marketed everything from Cars to electronics, Mattresses to Skincare. I specialize in digital marketing and storytelling.

As someone who has had a non-traditional life my path to where I am today has been anything but normal.

I was homeschooled for all of my primary years, tried college but very quickly discovered it wasn’t for me. I was very lucky and privileged to have been able to spend 5+ years at Microsoft. In my time there I learned far more than I ever learned in any classroom. When I first moved to Miami I was doing freelance marketing work for a variety of companies. Eventually I joined an fast growing DTC Skin care company as director of customer marketing. There I moved the company in two several new channels, including the new field of Message based marketing. Over the course of 3 years, I completely overhauled the company’s marketing strategy and increase sales by over 40% YoY.

What I’ve learned from my adventures in marketing is this… Don’t be afraid to take that big chance or test that new idea… Because if you don’t someone else definitely WILL.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of things I love most about living in Miami is that there is so much more to the city than the normal tourist spots.

I live in Downtown Miami, which has been historically overlooked from a interest point of view.

Some of favorite places to visit, relax and enjoy the people watching are places like Museum Park, Margaret Pace Park and the Miami River Walk. Miami is such a vibrant and energetic city that you can entertain yourself just by walking around and taking in the sights…Including the stunning amount of beautiful people.

Some of my favorite places in the city to eat and Drink

Over / Under on Flager St
Amazing food and atmosphere + BOGO frozen drinks during happy hour

Sovereign Kitchen in Downtown
Delicious Poke Bowls and Boba tea

Pho 305 in Edgewater
Amazing and authentic Pho

Vice City Bean
The best hipster coffee in Miami

On a nerdier note, I am obsessed with real estate and the development that is ongoing in Greater downtown Miami. If you look at my twitter feed, you will it is 80% updates on construction projects.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The people who have made the biggest difference in my life over the past two years are Demian Bellumio (Founder of Nue Life and Miami Tech Life) and Chris Adamo (Partner at Flamingo Captial and one the most well connected guys in Miami)

Website: https://www.miamitech.life/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/volvoshine/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volvoshine