WorkServed™ 006: Ryan LeCluyse

Work Served™ is an interview series highlighting those who understand what it means to serve the work — that is, to do well, work worth doing. Next up in the series is our friend, designer, photographer, explorer and adventurer Ryan LeCluyse.

Describe your “work.” (RL): I re-entered the freelance/self-employed world a year ago. Just prior, I was a UI Designer at Google X. To keep myself on task in my new title-less freedom, I developed a “mission” for myself: tell people’s stories using new/experimental media. Of course, in reality, there hasn’t been that succinct of a through line for my career path. With some reflection, I’d say I’ve always sought opportunities that stretch the horizons of what can be called “graphic design.” That seems to lead me to interesting projects and fantastic people again and again.

Tell us about a risk you’ve taken that’s paid off. (RL): The biggest risk I ever took was to leave college before I graduated (…I did eventually finish). I packed up my bags and joined some other optimistic graphic designers in rural Alabama as Volunteers in Service to America. We thought we could do good for an economically and geographically stranded town by bringing an injection of creative energy. For the first time in my life, I was bucking the path that I thought most people follow.

Tell us about a failure. (RL): My biggest failure is constant. I keep failing at it over and over. That “it” is honoring what I’ve learned about myself over the years. No matter how many times I say it, it’s getting harder and harder to get myself to take risks. In a weird way, I feel like a very reptilian sense of “career” is still lodged somewhere in my brain. Maybe I need to take another leap to finally squelch that one as well…

Who’s your hero? Why? (RL): I respect and look up to a lot of people, and I think those people generally have a few key traits in common. My biggest heroes are the people who love what they do and reek of that satisfaction. 
I watched this documentary Reaching Blue recently. In it, there’s this guy who’s an oyster farmer (or maybe a fisherman?) and during one interview, he has this goofy ear-to-ear smile, he says, “I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing. There’s nothing better for me.” That guy is my hero too.

Who/What is inspiring you right now? (RL): I’m reading Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. I’m only halfway through, but damn, it’s fantastic. It’s the story of a wheelchair-bound man who is writing a biography about his grandmother. His present mingles with his interpretation of the past and letters from his grandmother. The story jumps between narratives and “authors” but with each unique version of events you get a kindling of what becomes a beautiful 360° view of reality — not reality in the sense of “this is how the event happened,” but rather of what feelings are felt, how they’re reacted to and what legacy they leave in our minds. I’ve found so many phrases throughout the pages which describe emotions I’ve had, but had no words for. There’s some solace in knowing these feelings aren’t just unique to me; it’s inspiring to see them articulated so beautifully. The book makes me wonder how to push my work to be even an ounce as illuminating.

What are you presently working on? (RL): I’ve been working for about a year now on a series of interactive documentaries called Under the Tree. 
The series highlights the work of Mama Hope, a nonprofit organization based here in San Francisco. The project is meant to provide a more tangible view into the impact that Mama Hope, in collaboration with their partners in Eastern Africa, is having on those communities. Each episode is a snapshot of a day in the life of one partner and the community they are working to serve through social entrepreneurship. The third, and last, episode is in the works now — it’s about these two great guys, David and Erick, who founded an all girls school in a slum in Kisumu, Kenya where every external pressure imaginable works against young girls pursuing education. You can check out the first two episodes here.