Ryan Hayter was always a storyteller. But if you ran into him years ago on the Kansas State University campus where he attended college, he might not have called it his passion. Not yet anyway.
While attending K-State, his foray into the world of journalism gave him an abrupt yet vital introduction to the power of the written word. He found a position writing for the university newspaper, the Collegian, and was tasked with covering the city commission elections. In his first published story, he included a quote from a candidate who had spoken in jest. Ryan, however, took the candidate literally, the story went to print, and as Ryan tells it, the quote in his story “ended up ruining [the candidate’s] political career.”
This was a difficult lesson to learn so early in his writing career, but he quickly learned how powerful a story can be, for good and bad. With that realization, Ryan discovered his passion. He dove headfirst into the world of news writing and reporting, and eventually found his way into public relations, following in the footsteps of his mother’s career. Intrigued by the field of PR, he decided to go all in, finishing with a degree in journalism with a focus on PR and a minor in marketing.
Fresh out of college with his PR and marketing credentials, Ryan’s career path remained unclear. One thing he did know: as a 20-something who had grown up in Manhattan, Kansas, he had to leave and see the world.
He headed for Seattle, seeking adventure and new experiences. With no connections in the region, Ryan relied on his determination and a willingness to try new things. Eventually, he landed a six-month unpaid internship with the largest PR agency in Seattle, Rocky Company, which is now part of a global company.
His internship role was in crisis communications, working on a campaign for a disposable diaper company in an effort to dissuade customers from cloth diapers. The role initially turned him off from PR. He remembers thinking at the time, “I never want to do PR again after that.”
Fast forward years later, Ryan reflects, “Now I actually love crisis communications. I love how it has an impact for companies. But at the time, I was too young and nervous that every day I was going to screw something up.”
When the internship concluded, he held a series of odd jobs in what he described as “a terrible job market”, before finally landing a corporate communications coordinator role at ERA Real Estate, one of the world’s largest residential real estate franchises. At ERA, he worked with offices around the world and developed a global PR program, which included launching the world’s first online real estate service. “It was an incredible learning experience for me. I’m really glad I went corporate at first and learned the ins and outs of how organizations operate, how important communications is to any organization,” says Ryan. “It’s vital.” Little did he know, his next position was about to test the limits of his crisis communications skills.
While he worked for ERA Real Estate, the company was acquired by a New York Stock Exchange company in New Jersey. Out of 180 employees, only two people were offered jobs. Ryan was one of them. To start, his job was to communicate the layoff announcement to his peers, which he recalls was a daunting and unexpected task. Ryan recalls, “I was young, I didn’t know what I was doing. But it was kind of my first communications project where I was heavily involved, and that was really challenging to do”.
Commitment to inspiration leads to entrepreneurship
After assisting ERA through the acquisition process, Ryan’s PR journey accelerated, taking him to Hallmark, followed by a dream job at K2, a well-known ski company. Eventually, he was heavily-recruited by Real Networks, and he finally accepted the role.
A high-paid position in a large agency forced a moment of truth for Ryan when he discovered it was a miserable place to work, with the staff under constant stress. After only eight months, Ryan quit the position. From that point, he promised himself that he would only work with people, products and services that inspire him every day. This promise to himself was the start of his entrepreneurial journey and the beginning of his first PR agency, Hayter Communications.
He started freelancing and after only two weeks, he landed his first global client. Over time, Hayter Communications grew into a well-known agency within the $887 billion annual outdoor recreation industry, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. The agency worked with primarily global lifestyle brands, including Diamondback, Raleigh, MSR Camping, Coleman, Lululemon, Danner Boots, and more, giving the agency influencer status within the outdoor industry.
Ryan’s expertise soon caught the attention of Microsoft and Sony, who hired him to bridge the tech and outdoor markets. He recalls that he and the Hayter Communications team became known for their ability to take tech, outdoor lifestyle and mainstream media and tie it all together. Ryan also focused on creating experiences for the world’s top journalists who cover lifestyle topics.
After nearly two decades with Hayter Communications, Ryan was offered the opportunity to sell his agency to a larger agency in 2017. The process took two years to complete, and Ryan reflects that he learned a lot about contracts and negotiations on selling a company.
In search of what was next, Ryan needed a new sense of direction. “Right after I left [Hayter Communications], I went to South Africa for a month and just disappeared in the bush for a while and had revelation about what I need to do with my life,” says Ryan.
From local to global and back to local
After careful thought and consideration, Ryan decided to move back to Manhattan and be closer to his aging parents. “I left my life in Seattle and the mountains, the world travel, and everything, to move back to Kansas, and kind of come full circle,” says Ryan. “It feels good just to get back to my roots.”
When he returned to Manhattan, he started freelancing in PR, starting out with consulting on the side to stay active in the field he loved. His consulting work didn’t even have a name since he intended to keep his workload small, but the growing demand from his clients compelled him to expand his team. Eventually he was advised to name his agency, and in an effort to keep it simple, he decided on Hayter Industries.
Being back in Manhattan is opening new opportunities for Ryan to share his expertise in PR and communications for global brands with small businesses and startups, both in the region and across Kansas. He is currently working with Wichita-based Yoder Smokers, a small but established premium grill company with an extraordinary, high-end product. Despite their quality, the company message has spread more through word of mouth than earned media. Ryan hopes to change that.
Ryan’s ideas for promoting Yoder Smokers demonstrates his scope of experience and the years of relationship-building across the outdoor and lifestyle industries and media outlets. In June, he’s collaborating with Kansas Tourism to bring national journalists to Kansas to showcase the beauty of a state often relegated to flyover country.
“I’m working with Kansas Tourism and Alchemy Bikes to do a media adventure in Manhattan Kansas, bringing in eight national journalists from Esquire and Forbes and [other] top media outlets who have never been in Kansas.” Ryan wants to highlight all that Kansas has to offer through an unforgettable event. “I’m just going to throw the biggest, most fun media event they’re ever done because these journalists get invited all over the world to [cover] everything.” He adds, “But because I’ve built friendships over 20 years with these people, they’re like, yeah, we’ll go to Kansas.”
It’s good to be home
Working to promote Kansas itself, as well as a Kansas-based small business, has Ryan thinking local as he eyes the business environment of his hometown. Ryan says he’s now asking himself, “Now that I’m back, how can I promote [local] brands?”
After decades of work in public relations and promoting companies and brands of all sizes, he knows PR is an essential part of any business plan and promotional strategy. And yet it’s one of the lesser utilized forms of marketing.
His goal is to help Manhattan-area small business owners and startup founders maximize the impact of PR to get their messaging out in a powerful way. “I’ve worked with hundreds of startups,” he says, “I can tell most startups where they’re going to fail before they even know because I’ve spun through it so many times.”
Eager to dive into the community, Ryan is already brainstorming ideas for bringing interesting people and ideas together. He’s tossing around a concept of hosting a “Think and Drink” event, which he envisions as a conversation with “the best, most fun, creative minds [coming] together for casual conversation where there are no rules.” He hopes to create an atmosphere where people can speak openly about the issues in the town and share their ideas for making it a better place.
Ryan also wants to meet with more entrepreneurs and startup founders and offer his advice on helping them promote their business and establish their messaging. “I’d love to meet with more startups, learn about what they’re doing and just advise. I don’t charge for that. I just enjoy meeting people and hearing their ideas and sharing my experiences.”
Finding his way home to Manhattan after decades gives Ryan a new perspective of the city. “What I love about Manhattan is how it’s noticeably friendlier.” Interactions with his local gym or even area fast food restaurants reminds him why he chose to come back all these years.
But for Ryan, his work, recreation and lifestyle choices all come back to the power of words and the importance of communication, not just in business but in relationships and the community. He says, “I really focus on how we can all communicate better and get along better.”
