Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas.

If you’re reading this today, I hope you’re somewhere warm, quiet, or at least moving a little slower than usual. Christmas morning feels like the right time to finish this story — and to pause before whatever comes next.

This year-end felt like the right moment to share where I’ve been, how I got here, and why this work exists at all.

So here’s the final piece.

Some reinventions don’t come from restlessness.
They come from responsibility.

When I took the head pro job at my hometown course, my son was five. That season of life worked.

Early mornings. Long summer days. Home late.
Golf demands that, especially in Minnesota.

It was a lot — but it was doable.

Then we had another child.

With two kids, the rhythm changed.

My wife needed to work earlier.
I needed to be home more.
And the math that once worked… didn’t anymore.

There wasn’t a dramatic breaking point.
Just a quiet realization:

This version of the job no longer fit the life we had.

So I stepped away from golf.

Leaving golf wasn’t about burnout or bitterness.

It was about honesty.

I loved the discipline.
I loved teaching.
I loved the culture.

But loving something doesn’t always mean it’s sustainable forever.

When I stepped away, I went back to what I knew.

Marketing.
Advertising.
Design.
Print.

As I stepped back into full-time marketing work,
client projects led naturally to a small t-shirt business.

As luck would have it, I shared an office with a guy doing vinyl graphics.
At some point, we both realized the same thing:

This shouldn’t be a side project.

That realization became Sign Guys.

Print.
Physical work.
Real things you can touch.

The kind of work that still feels finished when it’s done.

At the same time, the digital side never went away.

Websites.
Messaging.
Strategy.
Story.

That work became 4t Creative, which has since evolved into Growth Forge Studio.

Two businesses.
Two mediums.

One focus.

Helping businesses show up clearly and honestly.

Looking back, every chapter makes sense — even the ones that felt sideways at the time.

Skateboarding taught me how to see motion.
Golf taught me patience and how to teach.
Print taught me to respect craft.
Digital taught me how stories scale.

This newsletter comes from all of it.

Not from a straight line.
But from a life spent making things, learning tools, and adjusting when the math changed.

And now, we’re here.

We won’t be publishing next week.

We’re taking time to be with family, enjoy the holidays, and regroup for the year ahead.

Thank you for reading this year.
Thank you for being here.

We’ll see you in the new year.

— Ryan