When most youngsters have been ready in lengthy traces to experience curler coasters at Hershey Park, Ryan Stana discovered himself gravitating to one thing that gave him a a lot greater thrill: the park’s theater. “I might sit and watch the exhibits — and I used to be captivated,” he advised Entrepreneur. “And after I was a senior in highschool, I used to be nonetheless watching these exhibits, however I began to note this ‘unpolished’ high quality. Perhaps my rose coloured glasses broke, however I noticed a chance to convey excellence and innovation to attraction and leisure leisure.”
Stana says he had two desires when he was a child: to grow to be a Broadway performer and to grow to be a instructor. And people two passions got here collectively when, shortly after faculty, he launched his personal dwell experiences firm RWS Global. “I’m very fortunate,” he says, “Each of my dad and mom are entrepreneurs and are extraordinarily supportive — they taught me that with exhausting work, something is feasible.”
Since its launch from the nook of a crowded New York Metropolis house (extra on that later), RWS has grow to be a powerhouse in dwell leisure, casting Broadway exhibits like The Lion King, creating leisure and experiences for cruiselines like Disney Cruise Line, producing world occasions just like the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Video games, and rather more.
Credit score: RWS World
Entrepreneur spoke with Stana to get the complete image of how he launched and grew his firm. Very like the exhibits and occasions RWS World produces, his story is full of drama and motion.
Inform us concerning the second you determined to begin your individual firm.
As quickly as I completed faculty, I moved to New York Metropolis and have become an affiliate producer for company and retail occasions. I used to be making $600 every week. The corporate I used to be working for had wonderful artistic, however they didn’t know function and price range. I can not consider I am even saying that as a result of after I was in highschool, I used to be horrible at math. However I spotted, “Hey, they’re making $200,000, however they’re spending $250,000.” I noticed that you want to have a steadiness between artistic and operational pondering. So someday I referred to as my dad and mom and mentioned, “I hate this job.” They usually have been like, “Ryan, why do not you go and open your individual enterprise?” And I mentioned, “OK.” So I stop.
In order that’s the choice — how did you truly begin the enterprise?
I went again to my house in New York Metropolis. I had two roommates on the time, Barry and Colby, and I mentioned, “I will open an workplace within the nook of our front room. And when the cellphone rings, I would like you to reply it so it feels like folks work right here. I am going to deduct cash from our utility invoice each month in case you do. I despatched out an e-mail that evening to all of the folks I had labored with and mentioned, “I now work for RWS World. When you’re , please attain out.” I did not inform them that I owned it as a result of who was going to belief a 21-year-old?
And when do you know that this concept was going to work?
About three weeks in, Clear Channel referred to as me about an upfront presentation and requested me to pitch for a $150,000 occasion. I bear in mind stepping into and pitching, and as I used to be leaving the room, the consumer got here out and mentioned, “Ryan, we’re supplying you with this gig.” And I knew we had one thing particular in our key providing: turnkey operations. We deal with the creativity, the folks and the operations, and have systemized the method.
Your organization does so many several types of occasions. Are you able to boil it down for folks unfamiliar with the dwell occasions house?
We are the world chief in creating dwell moments throughout leisure and sports activities. We’re primarily damaged down into six divisions: Design vacation spot, the place we are literally designing theme parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, customer facilities. Then we now have our land manufacturing division, the place we’re offering non permanent experiences and dwell exhibits in theme parks, retail facilities, and seasonal programming. We do pop-up model experiences in motels and resorts. Then we now have our at-sea manufacturing division, the place we offer full-scale Broadway-type productions and immersive experiences on cruise ships. Then we now have a retail and merchandise division. And our sixth division is our casting division. We offer over 8,000 jobs the world over for technicians and performers. We create a trajectory for our expertise, so you can begin working for us at Six Flags, transfer to a cruise ship, and in case you do effectively, get positioned in a Broadway present or a business. That enables us to nook the market.
Credit score: Medora Musical
As a performer, may you simply say, “Hey, I will forged myself as Simba?”
I could not say that and nor would anybody need me to say that anymore. I nonetheless get lots of pleasure in seeing the success of our expertise. That is what drives me. And after I say expertise, it isn’t simply the folks on the stage. It is seeing the folks in our workplace have success as effectively.
Are you able to give us a way of your organization’s income development?
We reached near about $50 million in income a yr after the pandemic. Now we have grown to 9 figures since then. We expanded largely via acquisitions. We acquired a casting firm in 2016 (Binder Casting), then we bought a vacation spot design enterprise in 2021 (JRA). We then purchased our largest competitor in Europe in 2022 (ted). After which we bought the sports activities division in 2024 (Nice Large Occasions), and most just lately bought an app (Concord Helper) that helps performers be taught their music in a sooner method, which permits our productions and our shoppers to economize. In 2023, we additionally took on a personal fairness agency, Bluestone Fairness Companions. I offered off a minority quantity of the enterprise to maneuver our firm into the long run.
Did theater college put together you for all of this?
I simply be taught as issues come. I really consider that you probably have a ardour for what you do, you’ll determine it out. I advised a buddy just lately that you just need not spend time getting an MBA. When you’ve got a ardour and you’re employed exhausting, you are going to have success. However in case you suppose being an entrepreneur isn’t 24/7? You are lifeless fallacious.
How do you develop in a manageable method that does not unfold your self too skinny?
I’ve made it some extent since day one to not make our success based mostly on myself or any particular person. It is about having the methods and processes for the corporate to develop. And having a timeline for motion. We are saying these are the issues we wish to accomplish in 2025. And if a brand new thought comes up, nice, we bump it to 2026. So as soon as we have laid that basis, the combination of these companies could be very easy. Now I might be mendacity to you to say that it has not been bumpy whenever you’re shopping for six+ firms, however you take heed to folks and respect what they are saying, and transfer ahead.
How do you flip your mind off? Can you watch exhibits and never have your work mind going?
I can not calm down after I watch a present — that I can promise you. Individuals would in all probability giggle after I say this, nevertheless it’s about discovering a work-life steadiness. And the one one who can change a work-life steadiness is you as a person. I at all times be sure that as soon as every week, I’ve someday that I shut off. That’s Ryan’s lazy day, the place I simply watch senseless tv and chill and spend time with my husband and my household to keep in mind that with out these folks, I could not be doing what I do.
