Ryan Mendenhall has been an integral to the success of our Ask Me Anything Series of events. He schedules guests, manages the live events, and asks a nice mix of challenging and personal questions that elicit nuanced answers. 

Ryan's Story

Ryan Mendenhall started his first business in a college class, selling Kubb sets (a Swedish yard-game) he scored from a random warehouse in Michigan. That SEO side-hustle earned his team $20k in their first year—and a passing grade from none other than Paul Allen, Ancestry.com co-founder, who taught the class.

Ryan soon found himself expanding into other yard game websites with a couple of close friends in a campus incubator office space he got as a reward for taking 3rd-place in the business school's business plan competition.

Those early beginnings landed Ryan at 10x Marketing, Paul Allen's digital marketing company, where he continued learning the ropes of SEO from the inside out on massive client accounts like Little Giant Ladders, Sam's Club Auto, 3M and Robert Allen. When corporate shakeups cut the team loose right before Christmas (ouch!), Ryan rebounded by launching his own digital marketing company, ioVentures, with a buddy, using breaks to brainstorm SEO strategy (and occasionally throw in a round of Kubb).

He's since consulted for Disney, ADP, Podium, Spoonful of Comfort, and O.C. Tanner, among others, racking up triple-digit traffic gains and nailing #1 best-seller launches for authors (including himself). Known for wrangling AI-driven content systems and a bit of ADHD-fueled ideation, Ryan's never met a marketing funnel he couldn't optimize—or a rabbit hole he didn't want to explore.

Most days, you'll find him experimenting with automating SEO & content processes, tinkering with data, or chasing the next big SEO strategy—while trying not to get too distracted by Elon Musk interviews or the latest Lego set. When he finally comes up for air, Ryan's all about family, hiking in the Utah mountains, and building digital communities where marketers share, grow, and thrive.

Connect with Ryan

Instagram: ryan.a.mendenhall (more personal)
YouTube: @upyourseogame
Website: automatingseo.com