Meet Ryan
Actualization through
Science-backed resilience and performance for those who serve, compete, and lead — delivered with actionable wisdom, not platitudes.
If You’re committed to the pursuit of greatness, to closing the gap between who you are and who you can be,
you’re in the right place.
Hi, I’m Ryan Munsey and I’m obsessed with human potential and performance.
More specifically, I’m passionate about ACTUALIZING - the work that we do to close the gap between who we are now and who we know we can be. I also love that word because it implies that we must take action in order to make it real. You can’t cheat the work. You have to Move The Chains every day if you’re going to be an elite performer.
A lifelong athlete, I went to Clemson University where I received a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition. I would be a RD (Registered Dietitian) if that orthodoxy wasn’t so backwards.
Instead of the stale hospital corridors, I chose to work with athletes and hard chargers.
While at Clemson, I fell in love with lifting weights. I learned the ropes, the programming and sprint technique from the same coaches who taught NFL players and US Olympic sprinters. After being an arms length away from truly elite performers, I was hooked.
I could never go back to mediocrity.
I read everything I could my hands, used my kitchen and my body as a my laboratory and owns a few shows as bodybuilder. That led me to modeling contract in New York City after graduation. After a short stint pretending to be Derrick Zoolander, I moved home to become a Personal Trainer.
That didn’t last long. I knew there was a better way - for both the clients and the trainers - so I opened my own gym, House of Strength.
From 2012-2016 I built and eventually sold my own performance training facility.
During that time, I worked with thousands of athletes and general population clients. We helped dozens of kids earn scholarships to play sports in college - including multiple in the SEC.
I wrote for the biggest online publications and magazines in the fitness world, got the sport of Strongman added to the Virginia state Olympics, while training with and learning from the biggest names in powerlifting, bodybuilding, Strongman, as well as the strength coaching world.
I grew tired of answering the question of “How do I undo the damage I did over the weekend?” every Monday. I became much more fascinated with the WHY behind people’s inability to align their actions with their goals and values.
My curiosity evolved from programming to why some people are successful while others are not.
That led me to selling the gym and working with academics, neuroscientists, and other lab coats on the theory side of psychology and behavior. Meanwhile I simultaneously worked with high performers like Olympic & pro athletes, special forces operators, and elite business leaders on the application side of behavior, performance, and leadership.
I also consulted with multiple CPG startups helping them scale to 8-figures and beyond in marketing plus leadership and organizational development roles.
All of this was synthesized into my first book, F*ck Your Feelings - a title that hints at one of the solutions for effective self-regulation and self-management.
Since it published in 2018, FYF has been a bestseller in multiple categories, multiple times, including hitting #1 on Audible in leadership, business and careers.
Since F*ck Your Feelings published, I work with sandeaters (aka, elite performers) who are committed to their pursuit of greatness. This work comes in the form of keynote speaking, 1:1 coaching, consulting, and workshops around the world.
My second book is written and slated for Q1 2027 publish date, with BenBella Books.
I love single-origin, pour-over coffee (preferably Ethiopian or Kenyan), music, great books, lifting, hunting, fishing, and spending time with high caliber, growth-mindset people, especially my wife - the badass doctor, yoga instructor and crusher of pull-ups.