THE DAY THE SCREEN BROKE
What were you doing on March 12th, 2020, the day the screen printing industry started to crumble? I vividly remember calling Brett Bowden of Printed Threads and Domonic Rocassi of Superior Ink Printing while I was on my way into the office. I asked how they were, and Brett responded, “Oh, just realizing what going out of business feels like.” The next week was a blur. As each day passed, the writing on the wall became more and more clear: This isn't going away anytime soon. At the end of the following week, on March 20th, I posted this image with the following caption:
SOBERING REALITY
"When you start at Ryonet, you get a squeegee. As the week ends I’m the last one out of the building, it’s quiet, too quiet, feels like the scene in #theavengers where half the world disappears.
All of these team members left us this week and left their squeegees behind, great team members who served #screenprinters and helped thousands, thank you for that and everything. We are not alone, overall our industry is going through massive cuts, no work, hearts broken, dreams slashed, and squeegees dropped.
But, with every disruption there is creation and I know that faith is anti viral. Hope is alive, but tonight, we raise our glass to these, shall you return or find greener pastures. Don’t give up, be strong, #pressonward #poweringtheprint 💚"
#PRESSONWARD
I knew we had to completely reinvent, do things differently, be proactive, and complete all of this extremely fast! I had already been thinking about things we could do for weeks, just waiting to see what the new reality would be and what would be needed.
The ball started rolling when I saw the Kettle Bell Ammo Box.
ROQ.us President Ross Hunter texted me a picture of the Kettle Bell Ammo Box, an idea for manufacturing something new during this turbulent time. While the box has yet to see the light of day, it started the RRAAP –“Ryonet ROQ Allmade Attack Plan.” That plan has spun up creation, invention, and resolve ever since. We discovered how to become an essential business and how to help and give back to our community. Huge credit for our teams at Ryonet, Allmade, and ROQ.us who have embraced every pivot, turn, roadblock, and powered on!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT RYONET MANUFACTURES
VIRAL ENTREPRENEUR
One thing I knew is that things were going to be crazy. At Ryonet our positivity value says, “Embrace The Craziness,” and I wanted to show what embracing the craziness looks like. I decided to document our journey into the unknown. Since we're all entrepreneurs and have heard or seen viral videos, I decided to punch the coronavirus in the face and start a vlog series called the Viral Entrepreneur. I’m four vlogs in and I am super glad I did it. Nothing like this has ever happened before, but it’s those of us who go for it, try new things, fail, get up, and don’t give up that literally create the new landscape of life moving forward. I hope you join me in creating a new tomorrow!
#PressOnward #ViralEntrepreneur #PoweringThePrint #FeelYourImpact #DontStopThePresses
FIRST VLOG EPISODES:
- Episode One: Don't Give Up
- Episode Two: Making an Essential Business
- Episode Three: Lights, Camera, Action
- Episode Four: Busting Fraud and Allmasks
FOLLOW RYAN MOOR TO SEE THE NEXT VLOG
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
