Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Sleeper.
Ryan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a graduate of the UCF DeVos Sport Business Management Program and an avid sports fan, I began my journey in data analytics primarily as a hobby by visualizing sports data. In 2017, nearly a decade after building a Tableau and data-visualization blog following, writing my first book, Practical Tableau: 100 Tips, Tutorials, and Strategies from a Tableau Zen Master (O’Reilly), and establishing myself as a leader in the field of visual analytics through recognition as a Tableau Visionary, Tableau Global Iron Viz Champion, and Tableau Public Visualization of the Year author, I began traveling the country to host both public and private data-analytics training events, in Orlando and across North America.
As our training program grew, inspired by his revolutionary work in visual analytics, we rebranded to become Playfair Data, honoring William Playfair, who invented the bar chart, line graph, and pie chart. At that time, we expanded our consulting and dashboard development services and digital training content available worldwide and on-demand. Shortly after we hired our first full-time employee and released our virtual-training library, now called Playfair Plus, the Covid-19 pandemic completely changed the way we do business. While our in-person training offerings were halted, the need for the resources grew, so we decided to adapt and grow alongside our needs.
Through 2020, we continued to hire in pursuit of building our virtual training library and internationally recognized consulting services and have since been fortunate enough to work with some of the best brands in the world. Today, Playfair Data consists of an incredibly talented, diverse team spread between Overland Park, Kansas, and Lake Nona. Our data analysis and dashboard design work help our consulting clients solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. These include lowering greenhouse gas emissions, supporting cancer research, ending the drug overdose epidemic, optimizing consumer behavior, reducing supply chain costs, and much more.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Like many businesses, the pandemic changed the way we do business forever. I’ll be the first to admit that we had no idea where it would take us when we built out our first video production studio and started a subscription-based virtual learning platform in 2018, but I’m so grateful we had much of that already in place when the lockdowns came. After the initial shift, we got down to business by working in our studios with our growing team to build our Playfair Plus library of training tools. Simultaneously, the consulting side of Playfair Data began to necessitate the growth of our team. Our small size and rapid expansion have allowed us to grow very intentionally and hire for our team members’ unique attributes and skills. While we still hold our specialized, 4-day training events in-person and virtually, Playfair Data has organically grown to establish new consulting partners across a variety of industries and expand our on-demand video library at Playfair Plus, and we are extremely grateful for that growth.
We’ve been impressed with Playfair Data, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
While I’m very grateful for the growth and success Playfair Data has experienced, our team and their collaborative efforts are the true heroes of this story. With both Overland Park and Lake Nona offering incredible pools of talent, the innovation and execution Playfair Data has become known for starts with our team. Additionally, our “industry agnostic” approach has allowed us to come alongside a wide variety of clients, furthering our team members’ individual professional development. In 2022 we began our internship program, and we have been fortunate to host three interns since then from several Florida-based universities. Our brand-new office has officially begun construction, and we are excited to get started there in the Spring of 2023 as we work to continue our expansion into the Orlando area.
What matters most to you?
To keep it short and sweet: Do the right thing. This statement has been our #1 core value since the very beginning. Whether it be in how we approach the relationships we’ve built with our clients, how we treat our fellow team members or the quality of the very work that we produce, we will always strive to do right by our people in our efforts to positively impact the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://playfairdata.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playfairdata/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlayfairData
Image Credits
Lake Nona
Ryan Sleeper
Playfair Data
