Ryan Gresh ’09 (ENG) started his career as an enthusiastic young UConn School of Engineering graduate. He got a job as a design engineer at his Sikorsky, a well-known aircraft manufacturer in Stratford.
“I thought I was going to design a helicopter, which is the coolest job imaginable,” he says.
“I was very naive about what the real world was like.”
A few years later, Gresh left his 9-to-5 life behind for a completely different entrepreneurial path. He is the CEO and co-founder of The Feel Good Lab, a wellness-focused company that currently operates at his UConn’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP) in Farmington, and is primarily Known for its successful line of over-the-counter pain. -Relief cream for arthritis sufferers, athletes, and people experiencing chronic pain.
“I’m the type of person who always prefers green grass,” says Gresh. those helicopters. A million dollars wouldn’t stop me from doing what I’m doing now. ”
Gresh’s company is unique, but his entrepreneurial path is relatable. Many students may not know what they want to do with their lives after graduation. Or maybe after entering your career field, you find that it’s not what you thought it was. And he wants UConn undergraduates to know that it’s okay not to have all the answers right away.
“You are young when you are in college, you are young when you are 10 years out of college, you are young when you are 20 years out of college,” he says. “You don’t have to know everything. It’s okay to try different things and learn what you really want to do.”
The desire to give back is one reason Gresh has contributed his time and experience to UConn’s various programs as an alumnus. He serves on the advisory board of UConn’s Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI), and NetWerx is the Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship, which matches current students with alumni mentors. It is a signature program provided by and Innovation.
It was through NetWerx that he met another alumnus, Devin McNamara ’21 (CLAS). He was an undergraduate studying economics at the time.
As a student, McNamara was immersed in the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at UConn. He joined Welt His Institute and ran an entrepreneurship club on campus. He was part of Hillside Ventures, his capital fund of ventures run by university students, and he joined NetWerx when the program was still in the early stages of development.
“I thought it would be a good experience to meet someone who is a UConn alumnus who runs his own business or is in a similar field to what I wanted to be,” says McNamara.
Both mentors and mentees can participate and be matched multiple times through NetWerx, but Gresh was McNamara’s first mentor through the program.
It is no exaggeration to say that they hit it off.
“When I met Devin, he was so mature, he was still a student, but wow, he brought so much to the table,” says Gresh.
“Since COVID started, it was kind of right,” McNamara says. “I was missing out on a lot of internship opportunities because of the pandemic. , I need help here.”
McNamara undertook an internship at The Feel Good Lab and is out in the world after graduating from UConn in 2021.
“I went to the more traditional 9-to-5 shift,” he says, as Gresh did when he recently graduated. “Few years later we reconnected and here we are.”
They’re back at The Feel Good Lab, and McNamara is now an employee, working primarily on marketing efforts alongside NetWerx mentors, but also with the opportunity to work on many aspects of the growing business. .
“I think my favorite thing about working at a startup is wearing different hats,” he says. “Like Ryan said, he’s not just focusing on that one bolt of his. It’s cool because you can touch everything a little bit.”
McNamara points out that their NetWerx experience is a perfect example of an ideal situation. This creates an opportunity for both parties to continue to maintain a positive working relationship even after the program ends or the student graduates.
But McNamara and Gresh agree that the value of programs like NetWerx, and the network in general, goes far beyond the potential job opportunities.
“There is value in me and my students going out and making that one additional connection,” says McNamara. “It could be someone who can lead you to new job opportunities, or someone you might one day become a founder. And you never know what you can actually do.”
McNamara added: The class is great, its all great. But if you don’t have that network and keep honing your skills, you can only reach this far. ”
“You’ve been a student for four years, and Dot Edu email can open a lot of doors for you because people want to help,” Gresh said. say. “And UConn has an amazing alumni network.
January is National Teaching Month. For more information, Visit mentoring.org. NetWerxis Werth Institute’s flagship student-to-alumni mentoring program, and is open to both student and alumni mentors on a rolling basis.visit entrepreneurship.uconn.edu for more information.
Gresh is always interested in connecting with UConn undergraduates looking to network. find him on LinkedIn or email him ryan@thefeelgoodlab.com.
