We recently connected with Ryan Wilson and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
I have a disability, and grew up in the middle of cornfields in central Illinois. I was and still am a big Shaquille O’Neal fan. I watched as many basketball games with Shaq as possible, and I followed him from one team to the next.
As I watched his games, I saw many commercials with kids who looked like me — in a wheelchair, of a shorter stature — in hospitals. These kids never looked happy. They were always wrapped in bandages like a mummy, surrounded by friends and family, and stuck in beds. While these commercials can be helpful, they did not fuel my inner desire to achieve big things.
Then I went to the University of Illinois for college, and I quickly surrounded myself with elite athletes with disabilities. These athletes also looked like, but they were winning marathons and donning six-pack abs. It was amazing.
As big as their shoulders were, their hearts were even bigger. They without hesitation let me into their circles of friends, their homes and their families, and I felt like one of them. I saw a new way of living with a disability, and I realized I should not let any medical diagnosis diminish my dreams.
These athletes changed my life, and I want to make sure I help people connect with the organizations they need.
I created Team Trust Productions in 2021 to help organizations get known through captivating marketing videos and films. We tell authentic stories that establish meaningful relationships between the viewers and the organizations, and we offer marketing advice to maximize their efforts.
My friends helped me see a better way, and we hope to do the same for those we serve.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I created Team Trust Productions. It’s a disability led video production company. We create videos and films for organizations across the country, from Hawaii to Arlington, Va. The goal is to help our clients get seen, get clicks and make money through authentic storytelling.
It’s not uncommon for organizations to create some sort of marketing video and see little return on investment. Views are low and new clients is possibly worse. Then, the video becomes a source of disappointment and maybe frustration, and organizations just don’t see the full potential any video has.
We make sure we help our clients generate more than enough video views and dollars. We’ll offer easy tips — like changing the headline — that can boost your views exponentially. In fact, I had one video see a 700-percent increase in views just after changing the headline. That’s not a result organizations get if they are quick to give up on a video.
Initially, the goal was to help the disability community known. While that is still very important to me, we’ve released that our skills are needed by many, many people. That is something I’m very proud of.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I watched tons of NBA games with Shaquille O’Neal as a kid. He was my guy, and I had to see every game Shaq. But I kept seeing commercials of kids who looked like me in the hospital, and that did not add fuel to my inner fire to chase big dreams.
Once I my elite athletes with disabilities, then I realized anything is possible. These athletes are life-long friends, and they continue motivate me to chase bigger goals.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
While I never want to craft my own story or narrative as a sad one, I do think the health scare I had two years ago is rather significant. I had just started Team Trust, and I was grinding day and night to bring in business. I was seeing results, but my sleep was lacking
One day, I went to bed at 3 AM and woke up three hours later for a meeting. As I was getting prepared, I fell out of my chair and broke three bones. I have broken around 60 bones in my life, so this was no big deal. However, my broken bones required surgery, and anesthesiologists had a hard time intubating me. It took them five tries to slide the breathing tube down my throat, and my throat was starting to swell.
Once the tube was inserted, the machines were indicating that I was not breathing effectively, and doctors were unsure why. They eventually wheeled me to a children’s hospital, and I was given a smaller breathing tube. The tube was positioned slightly differently than the other one, and I bounced back.
This was an unexpected dance with death, and I am grateful always to breathe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://teamtrustproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rynowilson1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRynoWilson/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wilson-trust/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/32Ryno
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@teamtrustproductions