You know you've got a GREAT man when...

...he is continually talking you up to impress other people.

(warning this post may be a little mushy)

Let me set the stage. Ryan's roommate is Patrick Higham. Patrick's dad is Paul Higham who use to be the Chief Marketing Officer at Walmart for 8 years. So naturally I was very intrigued by this becuase I work with Walmart in their PR and Marketing departments. Patrick told us that his parents were coming in for a day and that he was going to have dinner with them. So what did I do? I invited myself to that dinner! Yes I did. I wanted to meeting the man who came up with the Walmart Smiley face. I mean come on people, I occasionally meet in the "Paul Higham Conference Room" at the home office. You know you would have done the same thing.

So we were off to PF Changs. Ryan knew I was excited about this. I had been talking about it for a while. Throughout the dinner I was trying to be polite and not talk about work the whole time but Mr. Higham was very interesting. He kept telling us stories about Mr. Sam (Walton that is) because they were good friends.

Anyway, Ryan could tell I was holding back so he decided to do the talking for me. Ryan and Patrick grew up together so he felt comfortable talking so openingly with Mr. Higham. Throughout the dinner, Ryan would say things like "now what big shot at the home office complimented you?" and "you have met with the current CMO right?" or "tell Mr. Higham about when you spent 3 months at the home office." He even told the Highams about the other leadership roles I have in outside groups.

Ryan really wanted Mr. Higham to be impressed by me and I thought that was very sweet. I know this may seem small to some people but it meant a lot to me. He is always encouraging me and is always proud of my accomplishments.

Thank you Ryan for helping me out and standing by me. I am so lucky to have a guy like you!