Meet Ryan! Ryan Ang is a Research Manager here at Guidepoint in our Singapore office. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles where he majored in Political Science. Eight months after joining Guidepoint as an Associate, Ryan was promoted to Research Manager. Read more below:
Guidepoint: What is the best part of working on the Client Service team?
Ryan: What I really value about Guidepoint is its culture and diversity. In the Singapore office where I’m at, it’s a culture of positivity and encouragement. It’s not uncommon to find people going the extra mile to help one another and motivate each other. And this also happens across all levels of leadership.
Guidepoint: What do you find most interesting about working in the expert network industry?
Ryan: In my daily job, I’m tasked with handling multiple different projects across all spectrums, be it health care, private equity, or banking, you name it. And I’m responsible for finding and connecting subject matter experts to my clients to help them better understand a particular market or enhance their due diligence. It is very rewarding on one hand to learn about new industries daily and on the other hand, being consistently challenged.
Guidepoint: What’s something you learned unexpectedly while working at Guidepoint?
Ryan: I would say being exposed to diversity in all aspects. Daily, I work with people from all over Asia, such as Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and so on and so forth, and through collaborating with these people, I’m able to learn about different worldviews. Guidepoint is truly a marketplace for brilliant minds.
Guidepoint: What’s the most unique kind of expert you’ve worked with at Guidepoint?
Ryan: The most unique expert I have spoken to was a CTO of a quantum cryptography company who was an ex-C level executive at Blackberry. He is Canadian so we also bonded over the quirks of Canadian culture, a place I went to for high school.
Guidepoint: Who is your biggest career inspiration whether internally at Guidepoint or externally?
Ryan: My biggest career inspiration has got to be Ralph Bunche, a UCLA alumnus (my alma mater) and the first UN Under Secretary who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Fun fact: UCLA’s Bunche Hall is named after him.
Guidepoint: Where do you hope your career takes you in the next 5 years?
Ryan: I hope to do an MBA within the next 5 years and eventually run for office someday.
Guidepoint: What would you consider yourself an expert in or at?
Ryan: I consider myself an expert in dad jokes. I am a fan of bad puns, but on a more serious note, I consider myself to be thoroughly versed on MENA geopolitics, since that was my focus throughout my undergraduate career.