We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan Gutierrez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?

After over a decade in b2b and b2c community work, one thing I’ve learned is that self-awareness is everything. Tools like Clifton Strengths have helped me name not just what I’m naturally good at, like strategic thinking, building relationships, and influencing change, but also where I tend to struggle. That kind of insight has shaped how I set goals, how I show up for my team, and how I choose the right partners to fill in the gaps. For me, leadership isn’t about being strong in every area. It’s about knowing where you need support and being open enough to build around that. That’s where trust starts to take root.

This kind of self-reflection becomes even more important when you’re building community or leading engagement across diverse groups. Inclusion doesn’t begin with a strategy. It begins with understanding how your own background, experiences, and assumptions shape the way you lead. From there, it becomes about creating space for others to show up fully too.

Honestly, some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about inclusion came from the opposite. Early in my career, I found myself in rooms where decisions were being made about communities without anyone from those communities present. It was frustrating, especially for someone who cares deeply about merit based equity. That absence had consequences. It also lit a fire in me to create spaces where people don’t just have a seat at the table. They’re actually being heard.

And on the flip side, I’ve been lucky to be part of teams that got it right. At Privacy Exchange Community, I helped launch member empathy programs that weren’t just about listening. We actually followed through on what we heard. That built real trust. It made people feel respected, valued, and part of the process.

Inclusion isn’t a one time project. It’s a mindset. A culture. It’s something you build over time through reflection, alignment, and shared accountability. And while tools like Clifton Strengths aren’t the answer on their own, they can be powerful when used with intention. They’ve helped me grow into a more present, thoughtful leader, and I’ve seen how that kind of leadership can ripple out into stronger, more inclusive communities across the company I have built with co-founders and members.

Ryan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey, I’m Ryan Gutierrez. I’m a community strategist, privacy advocate, and someone who really loves bringing people together around ideas that matter. Over the last 10+ years, I’ve worked across education, tech, and mission-driven spaces to create communities where people feel seen, supported, and inspired to take action.

I actually started in education, helping first-generation students navigate college access and success. That experience taught me that real change happens when you build with people, not just for them. That’s stuck with me ever since. Whether I’m helping a company grow customer engagement or mentoring someone trying to break into tech, my goal is always to make sure the people involved feel valued and heard.

These days, I work at the intersection of privacy, leadership, and community. I help teams connect the dots between compliance and trust, between customers and brand loyalty, between people and purpose. I’ve led customer marketing programs, built professional networks, and launched initiatives that turn feedback into real impact.

If there’s one thing I try to bring to every project, it’s heart. I believe community isn’t just a marketing tactic. It’s how we build stronger teams, better products, and a more inclusive future. What sets me apart is that I’m always thinking about the people first. I’m not just focused on the metrics, I’m focused on the moments that make the metrics possible.

Some of the work I’m most proud of includes scaling a mentorship program for high schoolers, creating a trusted space for privacy professionals to connect, and helping brands turn customer stories into fuel for growth.

If you’re someone who cares about building real connection, whether that’s with your audience, your customers, or your team, I love to build something meaningful with my co-founders.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’m a community strategist and privacy advocate, but really, I’m someone who just loves helping people feel seen and supported. Whether it’s mentoring a peer, building a customer community, or helping a brand lead with trust, I try to show up in a way that’s consistent, authentic, and people first.

My journey started in education, supporting students through college access and success programs. That experience shaped a lot of how I work today. I learned early on that showing up doesn’t mean being perfect. It means being real, being present, and following through. And that mindset carried with me into tech, where I’ve built programs around customer storytelling, engagement, and inclusion.

I’ll be the first to say I’m not an expert in everything. I’ve never pretended to be. What I am good at is finding the right people, asking honest questions, and building something meaningful together. Some of my favorite work has come from moments when I wasn’t the smartest person in the room, but I was willing to listen and bring folks together to make something better than any of us could do alone.

These days, I spend a lot of my time helping teams connect the dots between privacy, trust, and community. That means listening to what people need, turning feedback into action, and building spaces where folks feel respected and valued. It’s not flashy work, but it’s real. And it matters. I find that the gap between knowing something and actually doing the thing comes with a vast gap, and my strength rests in closing that gap.

One story that sticks with me when I think about resilience happened early in my career. I was juggling a full-time job, being the best father to my three kids under the age of six, studying for grad school in the evenings, and trying to get a new community program off the ground. It felt like doors were closing left and right. I couldn’t get the community off the ground. No one was acting on my outreach. I remember thinking, “Am I the only one who believes in this?” But I kept showing up. I focused on the client members who were counting on me, and the custromers who were just as committed. A year later, that program grew by 25 percent and every customer member was retained in the marketing programs and their lives were better for having purchased the vendor. That experience reminded me that progress doesn’t always come from big wins. Sometimes it’s just about sticking with it and building with what you’ve got. The micro habits will lead to transformational change if you have the right vision and mission tied to action.

I care a lot about how I show up for people. I’m proud of the work I’ve done, but more than that, I’m proud of the relationships behind it. I want folks to know that if we work together, I’m going to bring care, honesty, and consistency every time. That approach has led to the success of co-founding a company that lives out it’s values.

If that’s the kind of energy you’re looking to build with, I’d love to connect.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The way I met my co-founders is really a story of trust, time, and shared purpose.

One of them and I have worked together for over several years now. We started out on a small project, and that turned into multiple collaborations across different companies and roles. We just kept saying yes to working together because it always felt right. We’ve got this natural rhythm and a shared mindset around community, impact, and leading with people first.

The second co-founder and I connected during a company transition. It was one of those high-pressure moments where you really get to see how someone leads and communicates. What stood out then still holds true now thoughtfulness, integrity, and a real commitment to building things the right way. That experience gave us a strong foundation and a clear sense that we shared the same values.

The third member of our team is someone I had the chance to work with on a separate project, and right away I was blown away by their creative talent. Not just from a design perspective, but in how they think about storytelling, identity, and experience. They have a way of taking an idea and making it feel real, human, and exciting. Their creative vision has already brought a whole new dimension to what we’re building together.

What brought the three of us into alignment is a shared belief in the importance of data privacy not just as a compliance issue, but as a foundation for trust and connection. We’ve all seen the consequences of treating privacy like an afterthought, and we believe there’s a better way. So we decided to build it.

The best part? We already know how to work together. We know where each of us shines, and we’re not afraid to lean on one another. No one’s trying to do it all. We each bring something different strategy, operations, creativity and it works because there’s mutual respect and a whole lot of heart behind it.

At the end of the day, we’re building something we believe in, with people we trust. And that makes all the difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://privacyexchange.net/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjgutierrez/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrivacyExchange/videos?app=desktop&view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=2