Ryan likes adventure, taking risks and is working on becoming the world champion of public speaking. Chelsea likes stability, smaller risks (like trying something different on a menu) and being outside in nature. We met in 2007 at a friend’s birthday party where we laughed solidly for 5 hours straight.
We spent the next 37 days getting to know each other before Ryan was off on a 7 month journey which included Washington, D.C., Italy and the Czech Republic. From the beginning, we had a unique connection and a comfort level that neither of us had experienced before. We decided to give the long-distance relationship a shot. It was an interesting way to start out our relationship because it relied heavily on communication and math (to figure out the time difference). We wrote letters (Ryan gets the award for writing to Chelsea every single day while abroad), talked on the phone and used web cams to get to know each other. It literally forced us to figure out how one another communicates and how to adapt our own styles.
Ryan returned to Colorado, got his appendix removed and we became inseparable. While being apart for that long helped us establish our communication style and appreciate being in the same time zone-it also gave us some separation anxiety. It makes us nervous to be apart for too long too often. We wrapped up college, moved to Portland, Oregon, (flew back to Colorado to make it official September 3, 2010) and we are learning life lessons together through the journey of life!
Our plan for #success is as follows:
LIVE a healthy and happy life
GIVE 10% to good causes
SAVE for tomorrow
TRAVEL to see what else is out there
Now that we live in Portland, we get overly excited about sunshine and brunch. Ryan loves his job as Director of Marketing and Communications and Chelsea is a social worker.
September 18, 2012 - 7:51 am
Hi Ryan,
I am a toastmaster from Singapore. Congrats on winning the 2012 World Championship of Public Speaking! I read your interview on the Six Minutes blog and was deeply inspired.
Your achievement brings to mind a quote:
“What your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.”
You and Chelsea are such a lovely, handsome couple.
September 18, 2012 - 6:21 pm
Howdy from Oregon Joni! Thank you so much. I like that quote and completely believe it! If we didn’t have people dream big we would not have planes, electricity or even photos of humans walking on the moon! I look forward to meeting you one day soon and as always…
DREAM BIG,
Ryan Avery
December 12, 2012 - 9:28 am
Hi Ryan,
Saw your speech at the 2012 world championship of Public speaking and was blown away. So I just had to look you up on the web. Would be awesome to meet you in person one day, truly a inspiration. Plan to be in Oregon next year maybe I will see you! Would love to sit an ask you questions on your success. I’m 23 an currently public speaking an to see you at 25 win such a big contest is awesome, motivating, and overwhelmingly good to see.
Thank you for reading and being you!!!
December 12, 2012 - 9:55 am
Thank you Troy. When you are in Oregon, let me know and hopefully we can meet one early morning for coffee and I can answer your questions. That is great to hear you are speaking at 23! That is when I started :) Keep learning and dreaming BIG!!! We are only as good as our communication skills so the more effective communicators we have out there, the better our world will be! Looking forward to meeting you in person.
February 22, 2013 - 1:18 pm
I am blown away by your story! Wow- 25 years old and so much under your belt.. I will be 40 years old, and just “getting my life started”- even though I have a daughter who’s getting ready to graduate high school in June! I guess the old adage, “better late than never” rings true in my case. I am a student at DeVry University in Portland majoring in Human Resource Management (but don’t want to be the “typical” cranky HR person….lol). You truly are an inspiration.
February 24, 2013 - 8:11 am
Thank you so much Carlen for this comment. It was wonderful to wake up to and I appreciate you checking out our blog. I hope you stay in touch and we look forward to hearing your future comments on our posts about life lessons.