By Ashley Reyes
The SEMA Future Leaders Network (FLN) named Ryan Rutledge, controls engineering manager at Air Lift Company, as the network's newest spotlight member.
Get to know Rutledge in his interview with SEMA News below.
SEMA News: What is the best advice you have ever received?
Ryan Rutledge: "The only bad decision is no decision." Both professionally and personally I use this mantra to move beyond roadblocks with confidence instead of being stuck in analysis paralysis. No one should be faulted for making a decision they can explain their reasoning [for]. If we can't make a choice, we can't make progress!
SN: What keeps you in the industry?
RR: The customers! I spend most weekends at events and it is so rewarding to see the excitement and ingenuity that customers have when interacting with products my teams have worked on.
SN: Where can you be found on a Saturday?
RR: A normal Saturday is spent behind my camera at a local show or track. Hobby photography has been a great way to blend the commercial and technical side of my career as an engineer with the artistic and creative side of the automotive aftermarket.
SN: How do you prepare for an important meeting?
RR: Note preparation independently, then a strategy huddle with my team to ensure a unified message and that all team members feel confident and included going in.
SN: If you could go to lunch with one industry leader, living or dead, who would it be?
RR: Charles Kettering who unfortunately passed in 1958. Not only did I attend his namesake university, but he was also an incredible industry pioneer. The genesis of the electric starter from Cadillac and Kettering after an industry leader's injury is one great example of his engineering prowess creating better lives.
Fill out an FLN member spotlight form to be eligible to be featured on FLN's social media, SEMA News and FLN member updates.