When three friends banded together to parlay their Wall Street expertise into an agency, the goal wasn’t to build a big firm; rather it was to create a decent, balanced lifestyle for themselves. Listen in as Tom Ryan, CEO of ICR, shares how the firm’s growth to almost 300 strong with sector expertise across every communications discipline has meant great opportunities for the team.
About Tom Ryan:
Tom Co-Founded ICR in 1998. Over the ensuing years, he and his senior team have built the company into one of the largest independent strategic communications consultancies in the world by combining senior-level capital markets experience and deep sector knowledge with traditional corporate communications expertise. Besides working with clients in a variety of sectors, Tom is responsible for all aspects of ICR’s growth, execution and business strategy.
Tom has served as a senior advisor on over 100 IPOs at ICR, in addition to helping dozens of companies manage complex communications issues related to M&A announcements, secondary offerings, business model changes, activist and short seller attacks, executive transitions, and other special or crisis situations. His strategic advisory work spans large-cap to small-cap companies, as well privately-held companies.
Prior to ICR, Tom served as a Managing Director in the equity research department of BT Alex. Brown (Deutsche Bank) where he was a Wall Street Journal ranked analyst. He has extensive domestic and international business relationships and has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, CNNfn, CNBC, and Bloomberg Television.
Tom serves on the Board of Directors of the Chad Jacobs Memorial Foundation and The John Patrick Flanagan Memorial Foundation. He is on the Board of Governors of Fairfield College Preparatory School in Fairfield, CT and is a member of the Owen Graduate School of Management Alumni Board at Vanderbilt University.
About the Host:
Kim Sample focuses on helping the PR Council’s 100-plus member agencies thrive and elevating the PR profession overall. Prior to joining the PRC in August 2018, Kim was the founder/CEO of Emanate, a $35 million, 100+ person international marketing communications agency. During her tenure Emanate was named PR WEEK Agency of the Year and CRAIN’S Best Places to Work in NYC, and the team’s work for clients was recognized with numerous industry awards. Kim also worked at Ketchum, Marina Maher Communications and Golin earlier in her career, and has served Fortune 500 clients across a number of industries, including financial services, travel and hospitality, CPG and consumer electronics.
