Business Without Humanity Fails: Why Compassionate Leadership Is the Future

What if the future of business isn’t about profit margins, innovation, or even performance — but humanity?

In this episode of The Elements of Culture, we chat with Ryan Lavelle, CEO of Mpowa, to unpack what it truly means to lead with compassion in a results-driven world. Together, we talk about why the next era of leadership won’t be defined by control or metrics, but by empathy, trust, and the ability to see people as more than their output.

Ryan shares how his faith and experience as a CEO have shaped his perspective on human-centered leadership — from navigating the tension between results and relationships, to building cultures that prioritize both excellence and care.

If your business lost its humanity… what would actually be left?

Join us weekly as we dig into the real stories behind work culture transformation.

Not theory. Not fluff. Just honest conversations with leaders and innovators who've been in the trenches.

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Speaker 0:00

You look you look at the evolution of companies in the past ten years, you know. HR plays a lot bigger role now than it did in you know in the early type time times of my career. HR was thought of as more of a policeman.

Speaker 2 0:11

At Elements of Culture, we sit down with experts in leadership and team building to explore the DNA that drives a thriving organization. Welcome to Elements of Culture. My name is Taryn, and I'm joined with my co-host Julie today. And I am so thrilled that we have the honor of having Ryan Lavelle with us today. He is the founder and CEO of Empower. Um it's an impact power with AI and tech, and he's going to go into all the details that his company represents. But also, Ryan is joining us from the HM World Trade Center in Amsterdam today. Um I know you're having just a wonderful day, but welcome to the show. We're pleased to have you.

Speaker 0:50

Yeah, thanks, Tara. It's a great pleasure to be here today.

Speaker 2 0:53

Absolutely. We are we're so thrilled. I know we've had a chat on some many topics, but before we get into all of those topics and um, you know, some personal things as well, do you mind to share with us a little bit about what empower uh is and then also just you know your your own personal career journey and what's led you to where you're at today because you mentioned you're kind of in this like digital nomad place and season of your life. So as a founder and CEO, what does that look like? And and how did you get to where you are today?

Ryan’s Journey From Banking To Impact

Founding Empower And Its Mission

Speaker 1:25

It's a really long story. So, you know, we in the bounds of a podcast, I can't go cover everything, but I'm gonna try to give you the edited highlights. Um look, my my journey starts in very humble beginnings. Um I grew up, uh I was born in Slough, England, of all places. Um, you know, there's a famous uh poem called Come Ye Happy Bombers that was written about Slough. You know, it's an industrial town in the in the sort of just west of London, basically. Um my parents spill up when I was very young, and my mother moved down to live with her parents in the south coast of England. I went to, you know, a regular state school, comprehensive school. Um, but I was always, you know, I was a bright kid, so I was kind of always a bit ahead of the co the class and um, you know, a bit cheeky and you know, always being told to be quiet by the by the teacher. So um, you know, I always kind of raced ahead of things at school, and you know, I was kind of probably in the wrong educational setting, to be honest. Um, should have been a private school, but um, you know, it sort of got through my education, then I um went off to engineering to study engineering in uh Manchester. Um I've had a love of you know, every everything digital and computers, when when the personal computer came out, I was all over it and um I was even writing software at you know 14. Um so my journey has been one of you know watching the personal computer and now the internet revolution, right, from from its very inception um and all the miracles that you know have come from it. Um coming out of that, I went into banking. Um so I kind of you know did did well in my studies and got an opportunity to start my career in an investment bank where I was introduced, you know, luckily through family connections. I got in got into Bank Paribot. And um, you know, I was quite surprised to learn, you know, how a bank actually works. Um and I just saw a lot of getting, you know, frankly, gambling, you know, financial services is a is is a polite term. So I was quite shocked, you know, as a young guy coming into this thinking I'm gonna work in a bank, you know, it's all about money and helping society. And uh, you know, there I was sort of trying to figure out my place in this industry from a from a young age. You know, I'm quite ethical at at core, and um I didn't really know how to cope with it. Um but I went along with it. I was a young guy, just making money and succeeding and sort of growing and learning in in the industry. Um eventually I left the merchant bank and I went out into software companies, and ultimately uh the company I joined after I left the bank was acquired by an American company, and um I was sent to New York in the year 2000 to uh train the local teams on the product. So this um you know led to certain events. I was I was actually in Manhattan on the on the fateful day of 9-11, um, and that you know really sort of gave me a big shock, you know, really sort of opened my eyes to the world not being perhaps as you know, nice a place as as we think. Um and I, you know, went through a whole journey myself of relearning, um, challenging my own sort of perceptions of why things are the way they are. Um so through you know, sort of through that I found purpose. You know, I wanted to have more impact in the world and you know take it take a different track than I had been on up to then. Uh a few years later, I met an African lady uh on a business trip to London, and um, you know, that made me decide to move back to London. We got married, and um, you know, I got through that, got a lot more involved in in Africa and the problems um with Africa. So we fast forward another few years um via um actually moved to Holland. I spent eight years in the Netherlands working in the banking sector there, and finally in 2018, kind of uh a number of things happened, but you know, including the run-up to COVID, and I decided to you know branch out and start my own business. Um to have, you know, really to bring uh all my skills, expertise and networks uh to bear on the problems of Africa. So that's my personal journey. Um in terms of Empower, Empower is really a business that is designed um to impact at scale, really with the focus on you know the human. Um there's a lot of people out there sort of talking about technology or carbon or you know, cleantech. Um, but we're really a business that is focusing on what people, you know, the needs of communities at the human level and trying to sort of bring, you know, um ethical capitalism, you know, market-based solutions to these problems.

Speaker 1 6:00

Ryan, I love what you said about ethical capitalism. Um and so talk to me a little bit about your journey of building in power and the team and the people and how you embed that, and not even embed it, maybe some people have that innately in them, but how you motivate and speak to the principles, the core principles of your company and yeah.

Speaker 6:22

So we we made a decision um about 18 months ago when I learned about B Corp as you know a movement and a new um sort of way of going about business. We made a conscious decision to, you know, to join that movement and to you know shift and power towards being a B Corp. You know, we haven't yet reached this, you know, the level of um you know impact metrics and data we need to get the certification, but that we're on that journey. You know, we're in the middle of that journey as we speak. Um, you know, I think that you know, ethics and values and and you know the human side of businesses should be at the core of what we do. You know, that's what attracts the right people, um, attracts and retains them because they feel that you know they're putting not just what they do in day-to-day life, the business of what you know they what what motivates them and what they care about is intrinsic to the work they're doing as well. You know, both in how we treat our own team, but also respect for community, respect for planet, and respect for the bigger, you know, the bigger things we're all looking for in the world. So, you know, I've tried to really create a company that has that ethos that, you know, if you wake up in one morning and say, Where would I like to work? It's that, you know, it's that company that where you can feel your values are aligned with your work. Um and there's no conflict. You know, it's an open door management policy. We don't have kind of like Chinese wars, you know, it's a very flat structure, open communication, um, like light governance, but also, you know, strong where people people break the rules and we have, you know, you have to have hard conversations, we have them. Um that's really how I operate. And I like to, you know, I recruit people who, you know, reflect those values that want to change society and their communities, and you know, they're looking for that opportunity to be in a business that's doing that, you know, is dedicated.

Speaker 2 8:08

That's beautiful, Ryan. Do you feel like, you know, are there are there many companies that have that type of approach? Um, do you feel like, you know, we when we were talking earlier, you mentioned um just a couple of things and you briefly touched on two, is there's such a need to focus on people. Do you feel like corporations have done a good job focusing on the people? Do you feel like there's a shift in that within the cultures?

Values, B Corp Path, And Team Culture

Speaker 8:34

I do think there is a change. I think um you look you look at the evolution of companies in the past 10 years, you know, HR plays a lot bigger role now than it did in, you know, in the early type time times of my career. HR was thought of as more of a policeman, you know, in the early days uh of my corporate career. But you know, I do see, you know, as ESG and um you know uh these sort of mental health type pol policies and standards have become more prevalent. Companies are, you know, at least trying to make you know to put more effort onto welfare of their employees. Um but you know, for the bigger companies, I think a lot of that, you know, is more regulation driven than it is really at the DNA level of the business. So, you know, at least for me personally, um having been through a lot of uh life traumas and and challenges, and I know a lot of people out there also, you know, experiencing these things, to have a leadership of a company, you know, explicitly recognize these things and set up a company, you know, with with that kind of mental health first approach, you know, it's that's becoming more and more important.

Speaker 1 9:41

Um, Ryan, we had talked before the podcast a little bit about how you kind of got some training in mental health wellness and how you you're a big advocate for that. Talk to me a little bit about that because I think currently in the world, um, companies are currently still struggling with that. I think they've made small steps toward that, but talk to me about why that's important to you and talk to me about how that's changed the culture of your own company.

Speaker 10:04

Yeah, so you know, I I observe um just in just general in in society at large, you know, there's a lot of stress factors. There have been a lot of stress factors in the in the recent years, there's conflicts going on within and without social units, um, there's a lot of intergenerational conflicts, um, there's you know, there's physical conflicts going on, and we've had you know economic stresses and and a lot of different factors that are you know negatively impacting mental health, and a lot of people don't feel they have the control over what's going on around them to have good mental health. So, you know, these stress factors are increasing, and I don't think that you know, in general companies are a you know they have the the tools to keep up um with that problem. So for that reason, you know, have watching and seeing this and you know, having many cases of uh mental ill health, you know, in my orbit, but also uh family, you know, some family situations that I that I was faced with. Um I just felt that you know it took it on myself to kind of get educated on this subject, basically. Um and you know, the there are ways that we can you know create early intervention systems within companies if we're conscious of it and we have the right approach sensitively, of course. You don't want to be quizzing people all all the time about you know their mental health situations, but you know, you can, as I said before, we spend a good 60%, 70% of our adult lives working with other people. And um, if we're able to create a corporate culture that you know is observant of people's well-being and catches things early and has the right pathways, you know, to get to get them helped uh in time, early intervention, like all disease, including mental health, is is the key. You know, it's the key to solving it and uh preventing it, uh having worse impacts.

Are Companies Truly People-First

Speaker 2 11:50

Yeah, I I agree, Ryan. And I and I love that you personally decided to take a course uh and just educate yourself around mental health because so often what we see is, you know, it's language. Companies are using the language, but they're not actually, like you said a moment ago, making it their culture. Um, they're implementing things, but it falls on someone else's shoulder. It's almost like as leaders, they're not fully taking on that responsibility and ownership to change the culture, or that's HR's department or that's so and so's department. But I think at the core of it, it's something that we all as individuals need to be more aware of so that we can impact not ourselves as an individual, but also the team that, you know, are around us. What would you say for companies and leaders that aren't really sure where to start? Like for you, you kind of dove in and did some self-educating on that. Um, is it tools, is it resources? What do you what do you recommend if they want to grow in a healthy way and truly make an impact for their culture?

Speaker 12:55

Yeah, I mean, there are many great organizations out there, like in the UK. We've got you know great mental health charities like Mind. You know, if you're a more mature organization, you you just need a kind of like a place to start or a framework, you know. I would rec I would recommend or encourage CEOs to reach out and you know talk to these organizations. There's tons of resources online uh available that you can look into, you know, how how to set up mental health champ, you know, first aid champion systems inside your company. Um, but it you know, at the end it all starts with that awareness and that willingness to kind of shift your own personal beliefs. Um, so I think it it always starts with the leader, the CEO of the company has to kind of have an intrinsic understanding and emotional you know, animus or or or commitment to that issue. Um, because it will everything flows from that if the leader is sort of understanding how important it is to the business that you know, and actually if you look at the statistics, like poor mental health is having a massive economic impact.

unknown 13:57

Yes.

Speaker 13:58

Um, so it's not it shouldn't be seen as a well, we kind of got to do this mental health thing. It should be like, you know, because we care about employees and we actually want our employees to perform well at what they're doing. Um so it shouldn't be seen that way. It should be seen as a as a good business bottom line, it's a good investment, you know, in the business to make sure to optimize people's mental health.

Speaker 1 14:18

Yeah, Ryan, no, I totally agree. I think it is an investment. And I don't know that all companies see it that way because they're looking at the statistical ROI of it. And I think there is. I think when you have healthy cultures, you have I think there's a lot of things that impact. I think um the individual's health uh it improves. I mean, you know, there's so many companies, and being in the insurance background, I can tell you that, you know, you see the same health health situations in certain companies because the stress is creating that. And so for a company, I don't know that they're really thinking about, hey, this could actually help our overall bottom line. So I totally agree with you on that, that it is an investment in your employees. Ryan, talk to me a little bit about um, we talked about the human element and compassion. And um I want to talk to you a little bit about how you're processing and building. And I know you are currently doing um some initiatives in Africa as well, but talk to me a little bit about why that's important moving forward for companies as well, because we are seeing that there's a new younger generation that does care about those things, and those things are very important. And so um talk to me a little bit about that.

Mental Health Training And Early Intervention

Speaker 15:30

Yeah, so I think um we, you know, we've we've we've lived for certainly certainly I've lived for most of my adult adult life in, I think, in in a in a kind of let's say an economic, social economic model that is it's pretty anti-human, really. Um and you know, you can see the effects of that in all in all aspects of our society. You know, we've done a lot of damage to the planet, we've done a lot of damage to human society, and um, you know, there's we claim that's created the biggest, you know, the most successful civilization in history, and look at all this wealth and private jets and all this, but really, you know, I don't think that's true because if you if you really count the cost of it, of the system, it you know, it's actually massively in deficit, even if you just look at it from an from a perspective of in investment in infrastructure alone, never mind the human cost. So I think that um I don't think the two things should be separate, that you know, you can have a compassionate way of doing business uh that respects people and communities they serve um while you know still making making good profits. Um it comes back to the same point I was making about mental health, right? If people are happy, they're healthy, and they're functioning well, then they're productive. Um, you know, they're more likely to create innovation, they're more likely to come with ideas, and they're more likely to grow your business or do good things for the community. So um, yeah, and I think that's that's kind of the macro view. But you know, on a deep personal level, I think that um we're you know, we've we've lived through this traumatic time, and um society is calling out for that, you know, compassionate leadership um to kind of take us through the the the difficult times that we've been facing as a as a society. With all the problems we're facing. So um helping others first, you know, comes uh comes naturally to me. I've been uh doing a lot of it in Africa, but you know, but it also starts at home. You know, I've had as I said, uh, you know, some some experience of of mental health in my family that really you know opened my eyes.

Speaker 2 17:26

Yeah, you mentioned uh compassionate leadership. Um it starts with us, it does start at the home. And I think that if we all as a society in the different nations that we represent, different businesses that we represent, if we all operated that way that and we took that approach, compassionate in our leadership, we're compassionate with those around us, the world would be a better place. Um and it does take self-reflection. Um, I know we're talking macro level. I know we're talking about the individual as well, but when it comes to your team at Empower Ryan and the things that you are doing, um, whether it be on the compassion side or maybe it's a non-for-profit sector of the business, when it comes to the team, how how do you go about? And obviously, I mean, we could sit here all day and talk about um, you know, the things that we're discussing and compassion and empowering people. But when it comes down to it as a leader, what are the the things that you are doing within Empower to encourage your people to take the same approach? Because at the end of the day, you're responsible for how you conduct your manner and and business. But how do you translate that over into the team to really grasping that same approach?

Speaker 18:42

Our approach, you know, at Empower is is is is basically creating leaders. This is why alongside as I went along the journey of Empower about a year and a half ago, I had this sort of realization that, you know, um actually I love coaching. I like coaching people. Um because I like number one, I like solving problems, and I really get a buzz when I solve a particularly difficult problem that someone else can't see. But then if that if that in in solving that problem you you really turn someone's life around or you change their approach to a business issue or a family relationship issue or something, and then it you see the light go on, that's powerful. Um, so you know, I I branched out into initially life coaching, but then I went into professional business coaching because I wanted to embed that skill in the company so that I'm not really a CEO, I'm actually a coach of coaches because that's then how we're gonna spread this compassionate leadership model by teaching people how to coach others. You know, we shouldn't really be instructing uh, you know, in a mature company it's really about coaching leaders and and getting the best out of them. And how do you how do you do that? It's like without kind of teaching them to suck eggs. You know, I don't want to hire a team of experts and then tell them what to do. But I do want to kind of coach them when they're getting it wrong and sort of correct, you know, course correct. So that's that's kind of more my style now. It's more light touch, but with coaching when people run into problems or they, you know, I can tell they're burning out or they're struggling, I'll step in and kind of you know pull them out of it.

Practical Resources For Leaders

Speaker 1 20:09

Yeah, so love the coaching. That's tearing in my soapbox here. Um we have, I think the language for coaching and the rhetoric for coaching um in corporate America. I don't know how efficiently it's happening. Uh so talk to me a little about what when you're coaching people are you coaching them through just work stuff? Are you coaching them through character building? Are you work are you coaching them through skill sets? How are you doing that and what's your approach in that? Or is it always an an individual approach depending on the person?

Speaker 20:43

Yeah, so I I've gone through a complete uh coaching academy boot camp, like it's taken nine months um of training, and this this framework is holistic, so it covers everything from you know um core business competencies that you know need need every business needs to have, and where they don't have that framework in the right way, then the business will fail. So business fundamentals. But on the on the human side, um I've been taught a particular methodology where you actually it's holistic. So you start with a problem that you're you know, the problem that's stated by the coachy, I need to fix this or this isn't working. And then you run through a method called coach and it actually drills down into every aspect of the problem that may go into personal life, relationship, family issues, or impacts. So it, you know, it's very, very effective at getting to the root causes and unblocking, you know, basically identifying the anchors and things that are preventing people overcoming it. And in sort of if even in 15 to 20 minutes, if it's done properly, you can get results. So I you that's the method I use, and I've used it effectively already quite a bit with my team. And um, you know, people I've practiced still and say, so for me, it's still it's still I haven't like done it. I'm not doing it yet professionally. I'm using it within the company, but I intend to, you know, get out and actually do it commercially as well when I when I have more time.

Speaker 2 21:58

Wow, that's that's amazing. I think um, you know, like you said, being self-aware and educating yourself on how you can make an impact on your personal life, but also to really invest in the ways that you can help build your team from that coaching standpoint. Because so many of the leaders that we talk to, you see this trend with compassion and transparency and really supporting your, you know, your team members in a different way than what, you know, corporate used to look like, um, because it's certainly come far away from this buttoned up, you know, rigid type of culture that it's had a reputation for. And the trend has been such a level of transparency and humble leadership, I would say. Um, which I think is needed. We we do all live in a world where there's so much going on, and our worlds, especially with technology, everything kind of intersects um into the way that we operate. And at the end of the day, we are people. Um, we want to make an impact. And um, that can look different when we have the a great coach alongside of us or a great boss who's cheering us on instead of you know I think you said it.

Speaker 23:12

You said it you said it really well earlier, which is like the best coach is the discipline of the market. And we're, you know, we're heading into a into a a big tran social transformation now with the Gen Z you know coming up, and they they're just not gonna tolerate the things that you know our parent our parents tolerated. So, you know, that's gonna create a heck of a lot of transformational pressure on businesses to think think and act differently in the way they do things. So if you're not on that, you know, if you're not already thinking that way and operating that way, you're gonna get left behind by by the market itself, you know. So it's it's no longer a nice to have, it's it's a it's an essential.

Compassionate Business And Profitability

Speaker 2 23:45

Yeah, absolutely. And Julie and I have had many conversations about the generations at work. And you know, the I think the the beautiful thing too is that we all have something to learn from one another. Um, instead of just taking it as this is the way we've always done it. No, actually, we can learn something new, right? Or like you said, they're not going to tolerate it. Um and they will speak their mind.

Speaker 24:06

They will speak their minds. The other thing I love about the, you know, one of the great things about the internet, and you know, we can do things in a global way now, a decentralized way, and a more, you know, therefore, a more inclusive and a more diverse way that brings in different cultural perspectives and different ideas, um, which, you know, is a strength to any business, right? If you embrace that and and have a globally diverse team, you know, um, it can can bring new perspectives, you know. So there's a there's a lot of opportunity around today that there wasn't 10 years ago when the the technology wasn't really there to do it.

Speaker 2 24:39

Yeah, I absolutely agree. Now you mentioned um you're kind of in this new season um in life for yourself personally, but also with with work as you continue to build um empower. But you mentioned you're up because I said, Ryan, are you based in London? You're like, well, I think I'm officially a digital, you know, nomad. So what does that look like for you right now?

Speaker 25:02

Yeah, I mean, um I kind of it's funny because I I I'll tell the anecdote actually of um a realization I had a few weeks ago. I I was doing my Sunday morning uh walk on the beach down in I've been staying in s with family for a few months in uh Sussex and I was walking on the beach and I can't there's this there's this particular beach where I go and the it's sort of the tide goes out and then there's this kind of rocky promontory that kind of emerges from the water when the tide goes out. So you can actually walk out onto this these rocks and wander along. It's about a mile, you know, route. And you and I came to a certain point in the in this route where I couldn't I it was sort of submerged. I could see I can kind of wade over here, but I can't see what's on the other side. Can I, if I go over there, can I get back to the shore? I wasn't sure. And then I was like, well, I'm just gonna go anyway, you know, and we'll see what happens. Um and then kind of into my head came the we walk by faith, not by sight. Um so I'm I'm at that stage of life where you know I put a lot of groundwork in the business and creating opportunities, and there's a lot of things about to kick off, and I can feel that. So I now have the you know, I have enough kind of confidence of faith to just go. Um for me, practically that means I've left England for the time being, and this is the third time I've got off uh the shores of the UK, and um I'm in Holland at the moment for family reasons for a few weeks, but then I'll be going to Texas. I've been invited, personally invited to an investment symposium um from an impact um accelerator that I'm working with. Uh, there's a whole group of investors going to be there. So for me, it's just an early stage. I'm not actually going to raise money, you just want I just want to get in amongst these people and you know put put the word out that we exist and that we know we're we're coming. And then from there back to Nigeria for a couple of months. We've got critical projects we're launching there. And then, you know, it could be any one of a number of African countries from there for the next uh period, you know, a few months. I don't actually know uh precisely where I'm gonna be is the honest answer. I will let, you know, the course of events direct my path.

Coaching As A Leadership Model

Speaker 2 26:58

That's beautiful. Yeah, you mentioned um a Bible verse, we walk by faith and not by sight. And I think that this is a season in life for many that we do have to walk by faith. And I think sometimes we don't always know what that looks like. Um but allowing the Lord to guide you in those seasons and your journey is so, so important. Um, and it's clearly, I think, one of the reasons, Ryan, why you have this piece about the unknown, because sometimes I think fear can hold many of us back from taking those steps of faith or taking those risks or going to a new country or starting that business. Um and when you when you know that you know it's the right thing to do, not everyone's going to be in agreement with you, but there is such a level of faith that's required.

Speaker 27:49

Yeah. Um, and I wouldn't underestimate it. In my case, it's taken five years. So, you know, and I did not expect that when I started this company. It's been a it's been a real battle uh in some respects. But then, you know, I sometimes I sometimes look at it and I think it the amount of time it takes is proportional to the impact it's going to have. And because of the scale we're doing this and you know what what I'm what I'm shifting with Empower, you know, that I think sort of spiritually and otherwise is why it's taking so long to to manifest it.

Speaker 1 28:20

Um Brian, what is what is your what do you want the legacy of Empower to be?

Speaker 28:25

That's a very good question. Um Yeah, I mean we want we want to shift a couple of things, right? First thing we want to shift the narrative about Africa and about developing countries in general, because there's a lot of this, you know, stigma. These people are always, you know, handouts, they want money. You know, we we want to change the narrative that, you know, actually most people in these countries want they want an equal playing field. They want opportunity. So we want to change this toxic kind of you know, this toxic narrative that's going on around development aid or you know, non-profits or Africa in general, and give at give Africans the a voice, you know, with with the quality that they deserve, right? Um that's one. So if we can we can play an appreciable role in shifting that and and bring some you know more respect into the the dialogue, that that's a big be a big one. Uh but more but also then the you know the areas where African society and politics and you know um you know grassroots need do need to change their mindset and they do need to uh do more work on being sustainable and thinking about you know how what they're doing is going to be profitable and actually have revenue. Um that's another big aspect of our work. It's not just about carbon, it's about changing mindsets. So yeah, we really want to be catalyst in in transformation, you know, transforming multiple industries and and people's mindsets on both sides of the divide, you know. The people that the beneficiaries, the donors, but also the people that are receiving the funding. You know, you want people to work harder on collaborating and you know respecting each other.

Speaker 2 29:56

Wow, that's that's so good, Ryan. Um, I just I commend. You for being number one, a compassionate leader, but also reflecting on how you can really truly make an impact and leave a legacy that's really changing cultures and nations. Julie and I, on a personal note, our heart is to have the same kind of impact and to be able to do that through business or through relationships. And I just think that that's so wonderful that you bring that to your team and the way that you lead. I think, you know, for us personally, we could probably have a conversation that would last, you know, for hours. And hopefully we'll have the chance to do that sometime. But for this podcast, I just want to say thank you for joining us and for sharing your expertise on your approach in leadership with Empower and just your journey in general. And I I do wish you all the success as you put your hands to the plow as you continue to build and connect with the right people.

Gen Z Pressure And Global Teams

Speaker 31:00

It's just been uh it's been a great conversation. And I really uh want to thank you again and uh thanks for the opportunity. And um, yeah, to everyone out there, believe in yourself, you know. It's it honestly, that's all it takes. You know, I'm I'm not coming from some remarkable background, you know. I'm just someone who decided to get up and do something and and and not and just refuse to accept the status quo. That's the message.

Speaker 1 31:20

Yeah, love that. Thank you so much, Ryan. We really appreciate you joining us.

Speaker 31:24

Pleasure. Thank you.