The Nonstop Innovator
Senior Ryan Curley has some parting words of advice for next year’s first-year class: “Keep your dorm room door propped open as much as you can. You’ll make friends with all of your neighbors that way.”
It worked for Curley, after all.
“All of my current roommates were also my neighbors freshman year. We met because we propped our doors open. I’m going to miss coming home and just being able to hang out with my favorite people,” he said.
With graduation nearing, Curley is already feeling nostalgic for his undergraduate days at Endicott. He’s flourished here in ways he never anticipated or even imagined were within his reach.
For starters, there’s one game that the current co-captain of the men’s rugby team will never forget. It was November 2022 and freezing cold. The Gulls were the underdogs in a pivotal Elite Eight match against the University of Maine-Orono. They had to win to qualify to compete in the Final Four match.
Maine was decimating the team and the Gulls’ odds weren’t looking good. “Throughout the game, we were down by one, and they had been right on our line,” remembered Curley. “They committed a penalty with almost no time left. We kicked, got three points, and that was the end of the game. We won. Guys were crying. When I saw my family, even my dad was tearing up.”
In many ways, the way that game shook out is symbolic of Curley’s drive to succeed. He chips away at a goal and never gives up, regardless of the odds. “At Endicott, I unplugged the Play Station, and I stopped taking naps,” he said with a laugh. In fact, he barely slept. “I’ve spread myself thin at times and I don’t regret any of it.”
Talk about efficient. The entrepreneurship major and marketing minor is already an entrepreneur. Curley and Nik Kasprzak ’23, who both focus their studies on entrepreneurship and marketing at Endicott, founded their own startup Launch Partners back in 2021. Together, they took their idea from a smart side hustle to a legitimate LLC that offers brands social media management, website design, and marketing campaigns.
With the support of their mentor Gina Deschamps, Executive Director of the Colin and Erika Angle Center for Entrepreneurship, Curley and Kasprzak were given the chance to guide their own internship, pouring in time to further grow their business.
“Launch Partners gave us full-time employment for nine months during that time, which was just fantastic,” Curley said.
Their latest project involved web design for 188-acre Meredith Farm in Topsfield, Mass., and designing a new website for the proprietor of maple syrup, hay, and other provisions.
Curley has put just as much hard work into succeeding academically. During his sophomore year, he struggled with Professor John Mussachia’s notoriously rigorous finance class. But Curley devoted time and effort to passing, gaining an immense sense of pride with a good final grade. “Honestly, the experience made me realize that this is going to happen in the workplace. I’m going to get tasked with things that I won’t think I can accomplish and it’s going to be on me to see how I can do it,” he said.
“In college, all of my hard work started to finally pay off,” he shared. “I have ADHD and I really struggled from elementary school to high school. I put in extra effort for half the results. My parents used to tell me that if I stuck with something, one day it would pay off.”
That day has come over and over at Endicott for Curley, who is not afraid of the hard work that is required to make things happen.
A passion for athletics and entrepreneurship was what brought Curley to the Nest in the first place. As a high schooler in Marshfield, Mass., he started a youth rugby team which involved writing his first business plan, securing a partnership with the local Boys & Girls Club, hustling to secure funding, and ultimately training 120 South Shore kids to scrum, ruck, and pass.
Last year, he was the Beverly-based member of the student team that won the MTU-Angle Innovation Challenge, a 10-week international business collaboration between Endicott and Munster Technological University in Cork, Ireland. Rolling out of bed at 5:45 a.m.—even during winter break—to help mastermind a better, more dignified continence solution for those living with neuro-physical disabilities brought a far deeper purpose to what might have originally been a resume builder.
Collaborating with a team across time zones, sectors, and cultures has made Curley’s path ahead clear as day. He hopes to pursue his MBA at Endicott and then apply for jobs in international business afterward.
“I feel like now is the time to really use my degree and travel,” he said.
His door is propped wide open for adventure.