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What is your favorite childhood memory?

Riding horses, skiing and hiking with my family in the mountains where I grew up.

What has been your most defining life experience?

I was a private equity investor and made a tough choice to become a CEO. It was as difficult as raising a child for the first time.

What has been your toughest life experience?

I was an athlete growing up and skipped some years after high school, and then I really struggled catching up in college.

What do you believe to be the most important leadership skill?

COURAGE. With strength of heart, everything good naturally follows.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Competing as a skier for the United States in the Olympics when I was 17. It was the first time I really felt patriotism.

Ryan Heckman

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Ryan has been an investor, CEO and entrepreneur for nearly 26 years with a calling to build great organizations that elevate industries and the lives they touch.

Ryan was previously the founder and CEO of EVP Eyecare, a regional provider of surgical eye care with operations in Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Prior to forming and successfully selling EVP Eyecare, Ryan co-founded Excellere Partners, a private equity fund focused primarily in the healthcare industry with approximately $2.3 billion of capital under management.

As an entrepreneur who eventually recapitalized his business and reported to a private equity board of directors, serving as CEO, coupled with a long career as a private equity executive, Ryan feels a calling to elevate the private equity industry in service to other founders and their employees.

With this deep sense of purpose, today Ryan is a Co-Founder, Managing Partner and CEO of Rallyday Partners, with a vision to establish the firm as a destination for the best entrepreneurs who seek a more powerful and fulfilling source of capital as they scale their organizations.

Ryan is a two-time Olympian in skiing and is the Founder and Chairman of CiviCO, a Denver-based leadership development organization that supports leaders across the private, government, and non-profit sectors. He resides in Denver with his wife, Nadia, and two children, Reese and Chase.