PRIDE Spotlight – Board of Director: Ryan Richard

  • Ryan Richard (Richard Supply Inc.)
  • Name: My name is Ryan Richard, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for my election to the BOD in 2016, and would like to ask for your vote this coming October for my reappointment.  Oh, sorry this isn’t that speech?  Just joking
  • Company: The company I work for is Richard’s Restaurant Supply.  I love my company and my job.  We are a full service dealership with a showroom, outside sales people, inside account managers, delivery trucks, and a newly created service department.  We also have a marine and industrial supply division, residential division, a rental division, and a custom laser engraving division.
  • Location: Richard’s has 1 primary location in Houma, Louisiana which is about 40 miles southwest of New Orleans.  In 2016 we acquired the IP of Loubat which  was a New Orleans based company since 1897.  A satellite facility in New Orleans is a consideration and I am working through that process now.
  • Do you have a niche or unique market? Our niche market is the marine and oil industry.  We also do restaurants and other land based jobs, but our primary industry in South Louisiana is the marine and oil industry.
  • How did you get involved in the Foodservice Industry? I was basically raised in the food service industry.  As a child my weekends we respent playing on pallet racks in our warehouse.  I helped install walk in coolers during high school.  I worked part time in the showroom as a summer job in college.  I started a couple businesses outside the industry during college, but ultimately decided to work with my family and see if I could bring some value to the company.
  • Describe the best foodservice job that you have done? The best foodservice job I have done has to be a restaurant/event venue called Chateau de’ Bayou.  The owners converted an old house on a bayou, into a restaurant/event venue.  I got involved with the job at the very  beginning, and still laugh at the conversations about converting the master bedroom and master bathroom to a kitchen.  This is right up there with converting an old bowling alley into a bunk house for offshore workers.  Once again, conversations about tearing up bowling lanes to make them bedrooms is still humorous to me today.
  • Describe the best job you have done this month? The job that I am the most proud of my team for accomplishing in 2017 is outfitting the galley in the largest vessel on the Great Lakes.  That just sounds cool.
  • What’s the greatest advice you have been given about this industry? The best advice I have been given about this industry was not necessarily focused on just this industry.  In order to provide a solution to a person’s problems, you have to understand their wants  and needs.  Get in the “mud” with them and understand their situation before you provide a possible solution.  This has helped me listen more and talk less at work, at home, and in general.  Thank you DPS (Cathy).
  • If you weren’t in foodservice, what other industries do you have an interest in?  If I weren’t in the food service industry, I would be in construction.  I have built several commercial buildings along with a couple residential homes for myself.  I love the concept of design, specify, and build.  I am a partner with my brother (Dustin) and my father (Henry) in several other businesses that are not in the food service industry, so I get to deal with different industries often.
  • What do you consider your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement has to be my wonderful family.  My wife Soniena and children, Max (9 years old) and Stella (6 years old) are very important to me.
  • What’s your favorite activity to do locally? My favorite activity to do locally is Fishing/Boating.  My family loves to boat ride, tube, water sports,  paddle board, fish, etc.  During the summer we fish a lot for many species in the  Gulf of Mexico from speckled trout to blue marlin.  My son caught his first yellow-fin tuna last summer.  Louisiana is Sportsman’s Paradise for a reason, we have the best fishing in the US.  I think it’s time to plan another Pride Fishing Trip down here.
  • What is your favorite activity inside of the office? Outside the office, my favorite activity is to spend time with my family and friends.  We love to cook, travel, fish, or playing on the water.  My son is now hunting and fishing with me, so my love for the 2 sports has shifted to his experiences and teaching him safety, responsibility, and respect for marine and wildlife.
  • Where is your favorite place to travel?  My favorite place to travel is to “the mountains”.  I have snowboarded since I was 12 years old, and I still enjoy it every trip.  The actual location is not specific, although I love several places in Colorado and Utah that I have visited.  Bringing my family to Montana is on my list in the near future.
  • Name one item on your bucket list. One thing on my bucket list “was” to travel to another country by boat.  Last summer my son and I, along with three other friends and their sons took a boat from Houma to the Abacos Bahamas.  We visited several of the Abacos Islands along the way.  Our wives and daughters flew and met us there so they didn’t have to endure the long travel.  The rest of the week we spent boat riding, snorkeling, scuba diving, collecting conch, fishing, and enjoying the beaches.  Very cool experience and our memories will live on forever.  The adventure along with the destination were simply amazing and an experience I will always treasure.

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