Ryan d Mason

Ryan Mason, a best selling author known for The Digital Playbook and recently named by Yahoo and Fox News as one of the Top Entrepreneurs to Watch, is the savvy Founder & CEO behind Luxe Brand, Americas leading luxury shoelace provider, of which has been featured on Good Morning America, NFL Network, Foot Locker stores, and on over 30 athletes and celebrities; and BizBuzz, providing integrated marketing automation software and services for over 250 small and medium-sized businesses. In each of these roles, Ryan is known as a disruptive force with an eye for setting new standards of excellence, and he never shies away from the opportunity to tackle new and interesting challenges. Ryan believes that people, process, and platform are the key elements to building a powerful business and he's here to share the benefits of that approach with others.Ryan's biggest dream growing up was to play football in the NFL. His father, Larry Mason, played collegiately at the University of Southern Mississippi and Troy State University. He also played professionally in the NFL, CFL, and USFL. Football was in Ryan's blood, and he only hoped to follow in his father's footsteps. When asked for advice, Larry gave Ryan one word: perform.Working his tail off for four years, Ryan proved himself as one of the premier high school players in Alabama. In 2011, he had broken state records for total tackles in both a single game and in a career. At the Nike Combine, Ryan ranked in the top 3% nationwide for the 5-10-5 drill, but scouts counted him out for one uncontrollable reason. For the top-level colleges, Ryan was undersized.Exiting his high school career, Ryan was offered full-ride scholarships from only two colleges. Despite taking official visits to major Division I schools, size remained a major cause for concern. Ryan decided to accept an offer to attend the University of North Alabama, a small Division I school, on a full football scholarship. While not the level of competition he had hoped for, Ryan remained optimistic about his future ahead in the sport.What began as the next opportunity for Ryan to fulfill his lifelong dream quickly turned out to be more different than expected. Almost 3 years into his collegiate career, Ryan faced uncontrollable obstacles that kept him sidelined and unhappy. His future in football looked dim, and the chances of ever making it to the NFL was extremely low. The pressures and demands of the student-athlete life left Ryan torn, and he eventually had to make the biggest and toughest decision of his life: stepping out on faith and leaving the game of football.Previously relying on his athleticism and raw talent to pay for his college degree, Ryan was quickly hit with the financial demands of schooling. Through his hard work and perseverance, he was able to land another full scholarship for academics, making his transition into the business world much smoother. Ryan eventually graduated with a bachelor's degree in Professional Finance and two minors in Business Administration and Innovation Engineering from the University of North Alabama.While attending UNA, Ryan was pushed by his mentors to create something revolutionary. With their knowledge and assistance, he launched a ground-breaking company in 2015 that took the shoe industry by storm: Luxe Brand Luxury Shoelaces.Ryan's new company struggled at first, as he failed to crowdfund the project. Despite winning state-wide business competitions, his project never took off on Kickstarter and his campaign was a bust. Eventually, Luxe Brand became a huge success, as Ryan's luxury shoelaces landed on Good Morning America, NFL Network, in Foot Locker stores, and have been worn by athletes and celebrities including DJ Khaled and Kevin Gates.For the first time in a long time, Ryan had truly found happiness. And in 2016, Ryan took another huge step forward in his business career, launching BizBuzz Digital. For him, this was his chance to teach entrepreneurs the power of people, processes, and platforms through digital marketing.Now, BizBuzz provides integrated marketing automation software and services to over 250 small businesses.