Hi, I’m Ricky.
I live near Athens, Georgia, but I was born and raised in Sam Black Church, West Virginia, and those roots still run everything I do.
My Marshall University days set the tone. I was Mr. Marshall, a WMUL DJ, and worked Campus Watch, and I spent my nights making music. I won talent shows with the groups I was part of, R&B and ILLEET, and ILLEET went on to perform at Marshall’s Annual Diversity Breakfast, a local church service, and even a concert at a 4-H camp.
I’m a student affairs leader and people developer with 20+ years in higher education and student housing. I spent 14+ years with University of Georgia housing, including as an Assistant Director overseeing 3,500 beds across 13 residence halls, and I led large on-site teams as a Community Manager in private student housing. I’ve supervised managers, built their benches, and run a learning lab that prepared employees for their next role before they ever applied for it.
Developing people is the through line. Whether it’s a resident assistant finding their footing, a graduate assistant stepping into supervision, or a full-time manager growing into their next level, I build the structure and the trust that help people get there.
I bring a learning and development toolkit to that work too. I’m CPTM, Birkman Method, and CAM certified, and these days I consult with teams through Birkman, helping leaders understand how they and their people actually work so they can work better together.
Outside the professional lane, I run Retro Age Mobile, my vintage toy and game business, buying, selling, and trading the stuff 80s and 90s kids grew up on. I’m also a lyricist and musician, writing and recording original music on my own schedule.
Warm, direct, and allergic to corporate fluff. That’s me in a paragraph. Stick around and you’ll get the full picture.