Hey there everybody.

Welcome back to lead of the team.

What kind of leader creates a million unforgettable moments every single day on Broadway?

Stages, cruise decks, theme parks, arenas and even the Olympics?

While Ryan Stana is the founder, chairman and CEO of RWS Global, the world leader in immersive live entertainment across sports, theater, travel and family experiences from Broadway to Shanghai, his company delivers over 1 million live moments daily.

Powered by a global team of 8,000 plus artists and experts, RWS is the go to partner for industry giants and just secured major institutional backing to fuel international growth.

Hello.

Beyond business, Ryan also chairs the Broadway Dreams foundation, raising millions for the next generation of performers.

Ryan, welcome to lead the team.

Thank you so much, Ben.

I'm glad to be here.

You know, in my research and prep for this interview, it has been hard to get my arms wrapped around all that you, all that you all are up to, including you.

So this is going to be a fun one just to, just to dive in here.

So why did you start RWS Global in the first place?

Well, throughout my childhood I would go to amusement parks and I would sit and watch shows while my friends would go on rides.

And by high school I noticed that amateur and really unpolished quality of theme park entertainment and I saw an opportunity to provide the level of excellence that was missing.

I wanted to really deliver quality and I wanted to deliver innovation.

And, and when I went to college, I became a director and choreographer of these theme park shows and I realized there was this gap in producing high quality entertainment as the first touch point for a child.

So more people could afford to visit an amusement park than a concert or a theater.

And so why couldn't entertainment at a theme park be at the level of a Broadway show?

So I wanted to give that first touch point to a child so they could develop dreams to become a dancer, an entrepreneur, a musician, a talent agent and more.

And that was the key idea behind starting RWS Global in 2003 and 22 years later, which I can't believe I'm saying that 22 years later, RWS Global has not only become and set the bar for entertainment in the attractions and hospitality industry and the leisure industry, it has also made a significant mark in the broader entertainment and sports industry.

So that is why I started RWS Global.

So it started with like, hey, this could be more Broadway.

Like and at these, at these, at these parks, what were you, what were you doing?

Or how did you learn about this?

At a young age I would ask.

Questions, I would be curious and ask questions and When I was a young kid and would watch these theme park shows, I thought they were the most brilliant productions ever.

So I would talk to the cast afterwards, I would talk to the technicians and I would talk to operators in the park to figure out how this all came together.

That must have been intimidating at a young age.

Have you just always been able to sort of connect with people and not being afraid to talk to strangers and.

Yeah, I'm an only child and I'm an old soul and my parents and my family have great personalities.

So they have always taught me, you know, speak what you're thinking and connect with people.

Well, okay.

As a podcast host, I'm fascinated by this.

Is there a question throughout the years, when you're talking to world class performers or even people that maybe have that potential, is there a question that you like to go to, to ask them to, to learn from them?

Really, the question that I always start with is, where have you come from?

Because that says a lot about the person's culture and the way they're going to work.

Okay, all right.

And was there one moment or is there one person early on, like in a specific production or in a certain role that really got you inspired?

Not a certain person, just the industry.

And seeing guests react to experiences at a theme park, seeing how guests took in this world and to see the light that goes off on their faces, walking into these immersive worlds, that's what really got me triggered to go into this business.

Well, so what would surprise people?

So I'm a, I'm a person.

Like, I sit out in the crowd, I enjoy it.

What would surprise me, you think about like the, like the production side of this that a lot of people don't.

What would surprise you is the amount of work and preparation that goes into a simple 30 minute or 20 minute experience.

You would never think of the detail that goes into the creation of that.

And, and I think your mind would be boggled if you, if you learned what happened.

Takes a lot of hours to make it look easy, Correct.

Well, thinking about your background, you know, you started choreographing this stuff, getting into that side of it.

Yeah.

And then you're like, oh, wait, a lot of people would say, well, I'm just going to go try to choreograph and bigger area, maybe go to Broadway or something like that.

Yeah.

You're like, no, wait, I'm going to start a company about this.

What was, what was the moment?

You're like, you know what I'm going to, you know, really Making that career decision and probably a lot harder decision to make to go start the company yourself.

And I suspect now your day, you're not choreographing.

Right?

I mean, you're, you're doing deals in Riyadh.

So I'm just curious, did you just say, hey, you know, I've had enough of the choreography piece of this.

I'm gonna go to the business side now?

Or.

Yeah, so.

So right out of college, I moved to New York City and I became an associate producer for a company that was producing quite a corporate and retail events across the US I was making literally $600 a week.

And I loved the job.

And it.

But in New York, that's like a dinner.

I know.

Exactly.

So you better love it.

An appetizer, Not a dinner, an appetizer.

So you had.

So you were living on love of the job.

Exactly.

And in my humble young twenties opinion, the company was run well.

But the entertainment lacked polish and lacked professionalism, and it also lacked a balance between creativity and operations.

And at that moment I realized you must have that equal balance of creativity and operations.

So I saw a very clear opportunity to raise the bar and, and was inspired to leave and start my own company.

And since then, really the number one goal has been to deliver best in class entertainment, whether it's in sports stadiums, retail centers, theme parks, museums, or cruise ships.

And I lead this dedicated team that's focused on going above and beyond for our clients and guests.

And we're focused on always raising the experience.

How did, how did someone who came out of that part of the business learn to start and run your own business at this scale?

Did you.

Do you have some good mentors, you read some books?

Is all trial and error.

So I think everything is trial and error, no matter if you have a mentor or not.

But I grew up, my parents were both entrepreneurs, only child, and they were very supportive of making all my dreams come true.

True.

So when I started the business, I knew nothing more than whatever I dreamt could come true.

And I operated in that mentality.

And also, if I were to make a decision, it had to feel right in my gut.

If it did not feel right in my gut, I did not move forward with it.

And just that basic instinct has kept this business going for, you know, 20 some years.

Yeah, there's like, it sounds like there's just been a self belief 100 in your life.

And perhaps it was.

Maybe it's just sort of natural to who you are.

But also it was fostered by your parents.

100.

My family had a very big influence and really my biggest source of inspiration.

So what do you think about from the standpoint of, okay, I have this.

This has been key to my success.

What are you.

How do you think about instilling this mindset in your employees around the world, especially when you don't see them.

Right.

They're off sailing, they're on a cruise ship.

They're on.

They're on a different time zone in Shanghai and you're in LA today.

How are you thinking about cultivating that?

So really I have what is called Ryan's top 13, or we now call it the founders top 13, because some people now at our size know who Ryan is.

Who's this Ryan guy?

Oh, he founded this company.

Oh, exactly.

Where is it?

And so that, that top 13 are the 13 items that I expect in every employee every day working for RWS Global.

So things like the three success strategies I focus with our employees is, is don't expect others to do work you will not do.

Stop, you know, stop.

Pick up the trash or clean up something that it's out of place.

That is one of them.

Another is first impressions count.

Dress nice, be on time.

Say your first and last name when meeting someone and they will never forget you.

And then.

So say your.

Say your own first and last and they will never forget you.

Why?

How have you found that to be a magic?

Well, I just feel that most, most people in life have a very hard time saying their name when they're meeting people at a cocktail reception, at a dinner, at a wedding.

You know, they'll say, hey, I'm Ryan.

But no, if you say, hey, I'm Ryan.

Stana, nice to meet you.

It makes an impact and it shows your confidence.

So always say your first and last name when you're meeting somebody.

I love it.

And interestingly, I have never heard that before, but it makes, it makes so much sense and it's an empowering thing.

Right.

100%.

And you should always, an employee, no matter what level you are, should always have that confidence to state your name.

And you find that most people have a very hard time doing that.

Yeah.

And it's interesting.

I, I think, and you've probably seen it sometimes if you've bought a ticket to an event and you interact with somebody working the event, you almost don't even talk to them or like, like it.

It's easy to make that person like the other and like, oh, they don't want, you know, I'm here, I'm paying and not even Treat them like as a human being.

Correct.

Like the kids dumping popcorn all over the floor.

Yeah.

You know, oh, someone's going to clean it up.

But if you are introducing yourself first and last name, it just gives you a different human.

I guess the word that comes to me is that there's a certain level of dignity behind that.

Yeah.

It adds value to you as an individual.

Keep going.

Sorry.

Out of those other 13, the other one that pops into my mind is no is not an answer.

Find the solution and exhaust all options.

Don't just think things can't be done and give up.

So Those, those top 13 items are what our expectations are, are for all of our employees and part of their onboarding process.

They are top those top 13 and also quizzed on those top 13.

And I always say jokingly, it should be hanging by your computer every day at work.

And some employees do it, some don't.

But everyone knows, you know, the founders top 13.

A couple of good things about that I think leaders listening today need to be thinking about too is those things are practical, they're actionable and there's a lot of fluffy fluff.

And a lot of the leaders try to encourage the behavior but they're not actionable.

They just get left in the back.

100%.

I think, I think your job as a leader is to be black and white.

Your job as a leader is to be clear and remember who your audience is when you're rolling things out.

Do not think that everyone thinks the way you do.

So a lot of times I will find myself asking my barber, hey, what do you think?

What do you think of these items?

And if they don't understand it, do you think 8, 000 people are going to understand it?

No.

You know, run it.

Have a test audience a hundred percent.

If my barber doesn't get it, how do I expect someone who's actually in the business that I, that I, you know.

Exactly.

In a different country and you have different languages of people like you.

Like, like you mentioned Shanghai.

Yeah, I know you guys are going into the Middle east really hard right now in different languages.

It's gotta translate.

Have you.

Yes, languages and on top of languages, respect for the culture.

So you have to look at everything in a global lens to say, how am I rolling this out?

How is this not only going to affect in writing but how will it affect that person in the culture that they are in in that part of the world?

Do you have a certain moment or a memorable time that you like to share when one of the 13 like Save the day for an event or for, for a customer.

Yeah, actually save the day in creative.

So I always say everyone has an equal voice around the table so you should think of no matter what role, listen to everyone around the table.

And one day we were in a creative charrette coming up with ideas for a client.

Wait, what Creative charrette?

Creat.

Yeah.

So a creative brainstorm.

Okay.

Charade is like a French word used for like brainstorming.

Okay.

Yes.

And we broke up in Alabama so we, we just call it getting together around getting together.

Yeah, we had, we had a creative get together and in that creative get together we had our facilities team in that creative get together and they were broken out in a section and.

And the facilities team had the best creative advice to win that deal for the client.

Their job has nothing to do with creative, nothing to do with production.

It has everything to do with running the facilities of RWS Global.

And those are the moments when in that founders top 13 everyone has an equal voice.

And we gave them an equal voice.

Oh yeah.

And they're probably used to with a lot of partners, hey, we're just here to make sure they don't go over budget or we're just here to make sure they don't make a.

Make a mess.

Yep.

You know, but no, the worker, Ryan and his team, they want us to be part of the conversation and I think leaders need to think about that.

Right.

Are you getting the best from all the teams?

Yeah.

In the conversation, not just performance.

On the creative side, why do you guys need so many darn creatives in your business?

Because, I mean what.

Because you think about creative, think about marketing in the event business.

How does that come?

Well, I mean creatives, that's everything that drives us in our day to day.

They are figuring out the call to action for the guests and the guests are so focused on authenticity nowadays that you cannot just throw something together because the this crazy thing called an iPhone or a cell phone, people can find the most creative ideas daily just scrolling.

So our creative team, which is 50% of our staffing, has to be thinking ahead of what is on social media.

So what?

How in the world are they doing that?

How are it.

So how are you staying ahead of social media when it's that it's on fire all the time?

It's called the creative team getting together and really focused on what is the next version that guests are looking for.

And we have to be six months a year ahead of that to thinking what.

What is the next Item that's going to make people say, wow, because the.

Guests don't know what they want probably most times.

Correct.

It's the trap of we'll know it when we see it.

Correct.

How are you managing your team and budgets and be like, man, you know, they're going to want something big.

They're not even going to tell us what they really want.

Yeah, you're managing it by working ahead, being on schedule and working ahead to say, okay, what are we developing for 2026 and 2027?

Not what is right now.

So working ahead allows you to budget accordingly and be ahead of the curve with guest satisfaction.

So you're creative, but it sounds like with your team, but you have got a framework, you've got a timeline to help channel that in a productive way.

Very, very much so.

Really.

My main contribution to the company that I really work off of is called A Time in Action.

So it's a document that I created for RWS Global, and it really maps out what RWS Global needs to accomplish each month to hit our annual goals.

And each department builds their own version to align the global version.

And it really details the tasks down that need to be put in place to accomplish our goals in 2025.

In every meeting I ask, where are we with the time in action?

What's on track, what's behind?

It keeps everyone accountable.

And I even use it in my personal life.

So what's important is once we set our global time in action for the year, we don't sway from that.

We're not adding.

We don't go into a meeting and say, now let's add that task to accomplish in 2025.

We go in and have our list of accomplishments for 2025.

We put it in the time and action, and that's what we work towards.

If leadership or if a team member says, hey, I think this is a great idea, I say, put that on our 2026 list.

We're not veering from our 2025 list.

And that is the day to day that I use.

And it's a time and action.

And to be honest, Ben, I don't know how I learned that.

It is something that has just been part of the culture and operation of the business since day one.

Really good to note for leaders listening today is being a creative force isn't just about being creative.

It's about giving a team a framework to scale that creativity in a positive, productive way.

Because you could have just easily been like the guy who's, hey, I do just amusement parks and we have a couple hundred people and, you know, we just do that really well and.

But you've got a framework that you can scale across millions of interactions every day.

Exactly.

And I think that's a really good thing.

And maybe it'll be in your book.

Yeah, I hope so.

And I hope someday I find documentation on how I came up with it.

And I still can't remember.

So if anyone out there is listening that says, I taught Ryan about the time in action, please tell me it.

Was your second grade teacher.

Yeah, I guess so.

He or she will call you today.

There you go.

You didn't thank me for that.

But it also, I can see it emerging from just putting in the reps too.

Yeah.

Seeing events don't go well, you know, and when you're, when you're swinging for the Olympics and there's so many details, there just got to be a framework and it's got to be one that can scale time zones, boundaries, levels of people, levels of education.

100%.

Listen, I know we're talking about business, but also a time in action works great in your personal life as well.

When do you want to own a home buy?

When do you want to go on this vacation by.

You have to set those goals for yourself because if you don't have goals as an individual, you're not going to be strong at giving goals as a leader.

Yeah.

I often think about one of the seven habits Stephen Covey begin with the end in mind.

And sometimes people a hard time envisioning that or and more importantly for leaders, helping their teams.

Yes.

Know that thinking about you since you're the founder, how do you think about, like you mentioned the 13.

It used to be Ryan's 13.

Now it's just a 13.

Sort of extracting your own personal brand from the brand of the bigger organization.

Like, is that important right now?

How do you think about that, especially from an entertainment business standpoint where your brand does enable the larger picture in some way.

Yeah.

So two things.

That has always been a focus of mine since I started the business, not to make me the dominant individual within the company.

The greatest compliment I get is when people call one of our offices and say, does Ryan still work there?

Yeah, because that means it is running without me or.

Or my guidance.

And that is the biggest compliment.

And when I was starting the business, most companies that do what we do as a business, either it's like Ryan Stana Productions or they have names for it like, you know, Entertainment plus Productions.

And I was like, I don't Want either of those types of names because it sounds sort of egocentric.

Number one and two, a little cheesy that I thought, why would any big multimillion or billion dollar organization want to hire someone that comes from, like, Showbiz Plus Productions?

That just is not a Focus name.

So I started out as just RWS and RWS and Associates.

That was our original first name.

So it sounded.

Those are your initials, is that right?

Correct.

Okay.

Correct.

And I did that because I wanted it to sound above average as a name.

So.

And a lot of people said it sounds like a law firm.

And I said, that's great because it gives a certain clout when you walk into a room.

And then as we've grown, the name has morphed a lot.

But RWC Global really covers who we are now today.

So you were you.

And did you just not want to be out front on this with your name or you said just the credibility standpoint?

Well, the day that I started the business, actually, I sent an email to all the people I worked with through the years.

And when I sent that email out, I said, hey, I no longer work for this production company.

I now work for rws because I did not want to say I owned it because who was going to trust a 21 year old?

And that was the main communication.

I love that.

It was like an organic thing.

You're like, wait a minute, who's gonna want to come join me if it's like, hey, I'm starting my own little side business, My little karaoke business or whatever.

No, no.

I'm starting an organization and I've got a future in mind, a big vision.

Yeah.

And, yeah, I think it's cool.

Yeah.

That was the main focus.

Oh, so, so good.

I've got so many, so many questions to go.

We don't have much time.

Yeah.

A question that I like to ask oftentimes is when you had an unexpected twist or failure in your career and how did it lead to your success or growth on down the road?

Yeah.

So really coming out of COVID and navigating a major growth phase for this company, both organically and also through acquisitions, I really started listening to too many voices and I lost the sight of my vision and my leadership got really muddy.

So once I really reset and I aligned my vision with the data and trusted my instincts again.

Remember at the beginning of this podcast I said about trusting my gut, Everything became very clear.

And that reset really propelled us forward to the global powerhouse that we are today.

And I could not be more thankful for capturing that vision at that time.

Oh, yeah, Covid was an interesting time for everybody, but for your business, it was devastating.

Right.

Because yeah, you're doing things where people couldn't go.

Yeah, it was.

For us, it was a triple whammy is what I tell everyone.

We had.

We were in entertainment, we were in the cruise industry, and we acquired two companies during that time.

So it was a complete triple whammy in coming out of COVID and acquiring now, I think it was another 175 employees within the acquisitions and balancing all of that.

And that's when I lost sight.

Because what I did when I was acquiring those companies, I was learning as I was acquiring those companies because I wanted to respect where they've come from.

And I was listening to the leadership at each of those companies, and I was getting confused on what my vision was.

And I really had to take a day and say, stop, Ryan.

Stop listening to everyone else.

You are here for a reason.

You have this vision.

Let's look at the data.

What needs to change in these acquisitions?

What needs to stay, and what will move us forward?

And as soon as I took the data and followed my gut, that's when things propelled into the future.

What a story.

Taking us back to that day.

Yeah.

From a practicality standpoint, as a leader, do you journal or do you have like a coach you work with or are you just sort of like sitting on the mountainside?

I have on a daily basis, I have a notes app that I write my schedule for the day and then tasks that I need to accomplish in the day in that notes app.

And then at the bottom of that list, I have future ideas and future planning.

And every week I go back to that future ideas list and say, am I going to accomplish that future idea today or not?

And that's how I keep a very streamlined look at what I plan to do.

How long does that daily check in take, typically?

Oh, my gosh.

Couple seconds.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah, but.

But I am very much like today.

It was like 5:00am Wake up, 5:30 workout.

I mean, everything is listed out on my daily schedule.

Yeah, I think it'll surprise a lot of people that a creative focused company has got so much structured organization to harness all this stuff.

Well, that's only.

That's the only way a creative company survives.

A creative company cannot survive just on creativity.

A creative company has to have a balance between operations and creativity.

And that is the balance I strive for every day.

Rock on, sir.

So what does the future look like for your company?

Because a couple things.

One, your international expansion, which you're adding, I mean, and you're not expanding into like Maryland, your experience completely different cultures that you've operated before.

Then there's also this idea of like the tick tock ification of events and how it's interacting with social media and how things are changing with preferences of these other generations.

Where.

How do you see it playing out for you and just entertainment in general?

Well, I mean, in general, you're correct.

Our global growth is a major focus for us, but it's really tying everything we're doing into telling a story to the guests.

So where we are now as a business, from a global growth, we probably will not go to any additional headquarters into the future since we now have seven across the world.

But what we're going to do is layer in telling the story.

So while we have shows and experiences on ships, while we design theme parks and museums, while we produce sporting events, while we provide merchandise, while we provide the hiring of the talent, all of that goes together in telling a story to the guest.

And our goal is going to be how do we make everything flow together in a great story that make guests leave with an emotional souvenir on a daily basis?

All right, I love that.

An emotional souvenir.

Now, now I want them to buy souvenirs, but I also want them to leave with that emotional souvenir.

Well, that will keep coming back more than the T shirt.

Right?

The emotional souvenir, that's what triggered for me because I'm like, yeah, that's the, you know, you might get the T shirt for the souvenir.

Yeah, revenue.

But the emotional souvenir is what people come back for.

Can you walk us through your vision for that?

Whether it's a sporting event or a park?

Like, what would that tying together of a story look like for a guest?

Sure.

So from the immediate, what people tend to not think about is the second you drive in to that location, it tells the story how you are greeted with where you are parking, how you walk from the parking lot over to the entrance gate.

When you walk through the entrance gate, every one of those beats has a creative moment that you can make the guests say, wow, I am walking into a new world.

And that's how we have to think.

How would parking make me feel that way though?

Does it mean what like, what about a parking experience would.

Well, I think you could probably account just from going to the grocery store a bad or good parking experience, right, Ben?

Many bad ones, especially with shopping carts and parking Lots.

The grocery store.

Correct.

But.

But our job is to make it a good one.

So what are we doing different?

Are the lines painted a certain color?

Is there an icon that you look up to and you think, oh, that's really smart.

And they'll never forget looking at that icon.

And then you go back and maybe you and your family that you're with, it's a scavenger hunt to find that icon, which is where your car is parked.

There's a way to raise the experience in everything you do and every touch point for a guest.

That sounds like a cool world.

Yeah, it's a very fun world our team gets to play in.

Yeah.

I.

Hopefully you're working with some grocery store chains to help them figure this out.

We haven't gotten there yet.

We haven't started raising the experience in grocery stores.

I don't know if that's in my future.

But hey, if someone's listening and has some money to spend, you can call us.

All right, there we go, y' all.

All right, so final question.

Right.

Take it.

Take this anywhere you want.

Maybe a story you were hoping to tell or an idea that you didn't get to the.

That you'd like to share.

Send us out.

Oh, sure, sure.

So I think one thing that I think is very, very important for every individual to know, and I wish my younger self knew that, is that you cannot chase respect.

Follow your dream, and the respect will come.

When I was younger, I really thought I had to prove something to the world, Especially.

Especially I came from a very small town in Pennsylvania and landing in this fast paced, image driven world of New York entertainment, I believe that if I played the part and worked hard enough, I would earn the respect in the industry.

And sure, hard work matters, but chasing the respect is a losing game.

And what I've learned is really respect comes from that authenticity.

So don't chase the respect.

Be authentic and the respect will come to you.

So, yeah, like, it's so easy to sort of change your approach to please others and entertainment, where you're trying to please an audience, but it sounds like there's a different piece of that in the business side of it.

Like, what's your personal mission?

And having the courage to show up as you be you and like, it is.

It is.

There is a certain dignity and respect I think that people get or like, you know, clearly Ryan's on a mission here.

Yeah.

To do it his way to create something and people take Note.

Usually, yeah, 100%.

100%.

But, you know, always follow your dream.

And that dream, when it comes true, it will gain the respect.

Thanks for coming on lead the team, Ron.

Of course.

Thanks, Ben.