Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders – Exclusive Interview With Ryan Anthony King
- Apr 4, 2025
- 6 min read
Ryan Anthony King is passionate about developing tomorrow's leaders. His approach emphasizes a growth mindset, embracing change, and prioritizing mental well-being in both professional and personal life. Through his journey as a learning and development (L&D) professional, Ryan has navigated mental health challenges that reshaped his perspective on high performance. This experience deepened his understanding of how to thrive in his field while leading a purpose-driven, fulfilling life. Ryan elevates wellness, performance, and personal growth to new heights by leveraging change management initiatives. His methodologies create meaningful impact, empowering individuals from all socio-economic backgrounds to succeed and thrive.
Ryan Anthony King, Learning & Development Leader
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life so we can get to know you better.
I’m a proud native New Yorker with a deep love for creative expression, especially journaling and writing. I’ve been happily married for 15 years, and we share our home with two small, very spoiled dogs. Nature is my happy place. There’s something incredibly refreshing about being outdoors and letting my mind wander freely. It’s my way of keeping my thoughts clear and my creativity flowing.
I’m passionate about sports, travel, and the arts, and I believe in embracing joy in the everyday. You’ll often find me laughing, being silly, and soaking up life’s simple pleasures. I’m also a lifelong learner curious by nature and always looking for new things to explore or understand.
Whether it’s nurturing my plants with my green thumb or spending quality time with family, I try to lead a life rooted in love, growth, and balance. I genuinely enjoy connecting with others and believe everyone has something unique to bring to the table.
Your journey has been shaped by both creativity and innovation. How do you integrate these elements into leadership and learning development?
I bring my entire life experience into everything I do. Like the Disney brand, I consider myself an Imagineer, someone who combines imagination with engineering to create something meaningful. Though I’m naturally introverted, I’m also a bit of a secret thrill-seeker! I love new adventures, trying fresh ideas, and pushing boundaries.
My passion lies in building from the ground up, whether it’s creating learning frameworks or refining established ones. I’m especially drawn to creative writing and storytelling, which has deeply influenced the way I approach learning and development. Crafting stories, plays, and narratives has helped me think outside the box and approach problem-solving with a creative, human-centered mindset.
At the heart of it all is servant leadership. I’m committed to designing learning experiences that are personalized, inclusive, and adaptable for people at every stage of their careers. Everyone learns differently, and I strive to create customizable solutions that honor those differences.
Creativity and innovation come to life for me when I can empower others, supporting today’s leaders in their evolution while helping emerging leaders prepare for what’s ahead. Servitude has been the key to unlocking fresh, effective solutions, and it’s a core part of how I lead, learn, and develop others.
What inspired you to transition from music education and early childhood learning to corporate leadership and compliance training?
Honestly, at that point in my life, I was still figuring things out. I was navigating new levels of independence and experiencing freedom in a way I hadn’t before. Growing up in a strict Christian environment came with structure, but it also presented challenges when it came time to explore the world beyond what I had been taught.
As a millennial, being introduced to technology and connecting with people from diverse backgrounds opened my eyes to possibilities I’d never imagined. However, I lacked consistency in certain areas, and that inconsistency eventually became my motivator. I realized I didn’t want to settle until I was fully aligned with becoming the best version of myself.
During a break from school, I took a job at the former World Savings Bank to support myself financially. That’s where I unexpectedly fell in love with corporate training. I was fortunate to work with incredible leaders and colleagues who saw my potential. They encouraged me, challenged me, and helped me recognize and work through my roadblocks.
Over time, I noticed something: the human experience in learning was often overlooked, especially for people from marginalized communities. That realization ignited something in me. I knew I wanted to be part of reshaping learning cultures to be more inclusive, diverse, and accessible.
I then returned to school to study Human Resources and Business Management while continuing to build learning platforms from the ground up. I also stepped into full-time pastoral ministry at the age of 28, launching two churches in Texas. That work deepened my love for human development and reinforced my conviction that every person, regardless of their background, deserves equal opportunity and access to joy, peace, and purpose.
My journey, from early childhood education and music to corporate leadership, has been anything but linear; however, it has been guided by a constant passion for helping people grow, evolve, and find fulfillment in both life and work.
Monday Night Connect evolved into the Faith Community Foundation. How has this experience influenced your approach to leadership development?
The transformation of Monday Night Connect into the Faith Community Foundation stemmed from a powerful realization: Many people were making daily decisions without fully understanding the long-term impact of those choices. I had personally experienced the consequences of poor decisions both spiritually and professionally, and those moments became turning points in my life.
That journey inspired me to create something more splendid, something purpose-driven. The Faith Community Foundation was born out of my desire to help individuals become the best version of themselves. It became a space for guiding future leaders not just by teaching skills but by focusing on character development, self-awareness, and empowerment.
This experience has profoundly shaped my approach to leadership development. It taught me that authentic leadership begins with intentional living. By helping people understand how their choices within a single 24-hour period can shape their lives, careers, and relationships, I’ve been able to support their growth in both meaningful and measurable ways.
At its core, my work through the Foundation has reinforced my conviction that leadership is about service, accountability, and the courage to grow and that everyone deserves the tools and support necessary to reach their fullest potential.
As someone who struggled with traditional learning, what strategies do you use to make leadership training more accessible and effective?
I’ve learned to lead with empathy and curiosity because I know firsthand that traditional learning methods don’t work for everyone. In my role at StoragePRO Management, I focus on listening to the voice of the people. I regularly engage with staff at all levels through surveys and meaningful conversations, asking questions like: How do you learn best? What topics excite you? What inspires you to apply what you’ve learned?
These insights guide how we shape our training programs. I believe that choice fuels growth. By offering a variety of learning solutions, self-paced modules, hands-on training, peer learning, and coaching, I empower individuals to explore their learning journey and discover what indeed resonates with them.
At its core, accessibility means giving people the freedom to learn in ways that work for them, not just what is convenient for the system. That approach not only boosts engagement but it also transforms development into something personal, relevant, and lasting.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
In 2020, I faced one of the most transformative and challenging moments of my life. At the height of my career, as President and CEO of the Faith Community Foundation, an executive coach, and a leader in organizational change, I found myself on an unexpected journey that led to multiple hospitalizations for mental health issues. After four rounds of treatment, I realized it was time to confront long-buried family and religious trauma and begin the deep work of healing.
That experience marked a turning point. I stepped down from my leadership role and chose to prioritize my mental health. Over the next four years, I made a conscious effort to focus on healing, self-discovery, and rebuilding my life. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, I also committed to relearn what it means to be a high performer this time without sacrificing my well-being.
Today, I proudly serve as a mental health peer advocate, intentionally integrating mental wellness and life-work balance into the learning and development programs I lead. That pivotal chapter reshaped my approach to leadership, making it more human-centered, inclusive, and focused on creating space for people to grow personally and professionally.
What’s next for you in the world of leadership development and innovative learning solutions?
I’m continuing my journey at StoragePRO Management, where I’ve been given a meaningful platform to design impactful programs and influence the next generation of leaders. My mission is to expand that reach globally, connecting with individuals who are eager to grow, regardless of their background or career stage.
As technology continues to evolve, particularly with the rise of AI in learning solutions, I’m committed to exploring innovative ways to integrate these tools while staying grounded in what matters most: the human experience. My focus is on creating learning environments that are both high-tech and high-touch.
I’m also excited to build on my work as an author. I previously published a leadership book titled "Lead to Succeed," and I’m currently developing Version 2 of the "Lead to Succeed" Leadership, Mentorship, and Development Program. The next chapter will highlight the importance of embracing change and how doing so can profoundly transform both leadership potential and the human condition.
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