This is Ryan Rutz's personal portfolio and professional website. It was purpose-built for a job search, showcasing Ryan's experience, skills, and approach to digital marketing, paid media, and AI-driven solutions. Beyond a standard resume site, it features interactive tools like the Curated Profile Builder, a guided site tour, and an AI assistant named Rutzy — all designed to give visitors a more engaging way to learn about Ryan's background.

Ryan is a digital marketing leader with deep experience in paid media, marketing operations, analytics, and emerging AI applications. He's spent his career building and scaling marketing programs across industries including retail, e-commerce, financial services, and technology. He's a strategic thinker who can also get hands-on with platforms, data, and code — this site being a prime example.

Yes. Ryan is actively exploring new opportunities and open to conversations about roles where he can make an impact. The best way to reach him is through the Contact page, or you can use the Curate & Share feature to build a tailored profile and send it directly to a hiring manager or recruiter.

Ryan is targeting senior and leadership roles in digital marketing strategy, paid media (SEM, paid social, programmatic), marketing operations, and AI-driven marketing solutions. He thrives in environments where he can combine strategic thinking with technical execution — building systems, optimizing performance, and leveraging data and automation to drive results.

The site runs on WordPress with a fully custom theme — no page builders, no premium theme. Every line of PHP, SCSS, and JavaScript was written from scratch with Claude and Claude Code by Anthropic as the AI development partner. The front end uses custom SCSS compiled to CSS, vanilla JavaScript (no jQuery or React), GSAP for animations, and Font Awesome for icons. The back end includes custom page templates, AJAX endpoints, Supabase for data storage, and Postmark for transactional email.

The site has been built over several months of evenings and weekends. It started as a straightforward portfolio site and evolved into something much more ambitious as new ideas emerged — the Curated Profile Builder, the guided tour, the AI assistant, and the various interactive features all grew organically. It's an ongoing project that Ryan continues to refine.

AI was central to the development process. Ryan used Claude and Claude Code by Anthropic as a true development partner — not just for code generation, but for architecture decisions, problem-solving, design system planning, and iterative refinement. Every feature was built collaboratively: Ryan provided the vision, requirements, and creative direction while Claude helped translate those into working code. It's a real-world demonstration of how AI can amplify a non-developer's ability to build sophisticated software.

The Curate & Share feature is a multi-step wizard that lets you build a customized version of Ryan's professional profile. Instead of sending a generic resume, you can select the specific skills, experience highlights, and qualities that are most relevant to the role or audience you have in mind — then share it via a unique link or email.

Visit the Curate & Share page and follow the wizard. You'll walk through several steps: choosing a profile name, selecting skills, picking experience highlights, adding optional context, and previewing the result. At the end, you get a shareable link and options to email it directly or copy it to your clipboard.

The wizard guides you through: (1) naming your profile and selecting a variation, (2) choosing relevant skills from Ryan's full skills matrix, (3) selecting experience and career highlights, (4) adding optional notes or context for the recipient, and (5) previewing and sharing the finished profile. Each step is designed to be quick and intuitive.

Yes. You can create as many curated profiles as you want. Each one gets its own unique shareable link. This is useful if you want to tailor different versions for different roles — for example, one focused on paid media skills and another emphasizing marketing operations experience.

Variations let you adjust the overall framing of the profile. You might choose a variation that emphasizes leadership qualities for a director-level role, or one that highlights hands-on technical skills for a more execution-focused position. The variation affects how the selected information is presented.

When you update a profile you've already created, the changes are saved and the existing shareable link will reflect the updated content. You don't need to generate a new link — anyone who visits the original URL will see the latest version.

No. Shared links are permanent. When you update a profile, the link stays the same and always points to the most current version. Recipients who previously received the link will see the updated profile if they visit it again.

Simple Mode is an alternative, streamlined version of the wizard for visitors who prefer a quicker experience. It reduces the number of steps and decisions, letting you create a curated profile with fewer clicks. It's great for people who want to share Ryan's profile quickly without going through every customization option.

Profile data is stored in Supabase (a cloud database) so that shared links work reliably and persist over time. Your profile selections are associated with a unique code — no account or login is required. Locally, some preferences are also saved in your browser's localStorage for convenience.

Yes. You can manage and delete your saved profiles from the Curate & Share page. Deleting a profile will remove it from your saved list, though previously shared links may still resolve if cached.

Once you've created a curated profile, you have several sharing options: copy the unique link to your clipboard, email it directly to someone through the built-in email form, copy a pre-written email text to paste into your own email client, or share it to LinkedIn. Each option is accessible from the profile preview and share screen.

The "Email to Someone" option lets you send the curated profile link directly from the site. You enter the recipient's name and email address, add an optional personal message, and the site sends a professionally formatted email via Postmark with the profile link and your message included.

This copies a pre-written email message to your clipboard, complete with the profile link and a brief introduction. You can then paste it into your own email client (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) and customize it before sending. It's a good option if you want more control over the email or want to send it from your own address.

This opens a LinkedIn share dialog pre-populated with the curated profile link. You can add your own commentary before posting. It's a quick way to share Ryan's profile with your professional network or send it as a LinkedIn message.

Recipients see a clean, professional profile page with the skills, experience highlights, and context you selected during the wizard. It's designed to look polished and intentional — not like a generic resume dump. The page includes navigation to explore the full site if they want to learn more.

Yes. When using the "Email to Someone" feature, you'll see a preview of the message content before confirming. You can review the recipient details, your personal message, and the profile link before hitting send.

The guided tour is a step-by-step walkthrough of the site's key features and sections. It highlights important areas — like the skills page, experience timeline, curated profile builder, and AI assistant — with brief explanations at each stop. It's designed to help first-time visitors quickly understand what the site offers and how to navigate it.

Yes. You can share a link that starts the guided tour automatically when opened. This is useful if you want to introduce someone to Ryan's site in a structured way — for example, sending a tour link to a recruiter or hiring manager so they get the full experience rather than just landing on the homepage.

When someone opens a shared tour link, the guided tour starts automatically. They'll be walked through the site's highlights in order, with tooltips and animations guiding them from section to section. They can exit the tour at any time and browse freely.

The tour takes about 2-3 minutes to complete, depending on how much time you spend at each stop. It's designed to be quick and informative — enough to give you a solid overview without requiring a big time commitment.

Rutzy is the AI assistant built into this site. Powered by Claude (Anthropic), Rutzy can answer questions about Ryan's background, experience, skills, and career goals. Think of Rutzy as a knowledgeable guide who can quickly surface relevant information about Ryan without you needing to click through every page.

Rutzy can answer questions about Ryan's professional experience, skills, education, and career interests. You can ask things like "What is Ryan's experience with Google Ads?" or "Tell me about Ryan's leadership style" or "What industries has Ryan worked in?" Rutzy draws from the same information presented throughout the site and responds conversationally.

Rutzy does not collect or store personal information. The conversation happens in real-time and is not tied to any user account or identity. If you choose to share contact information during the chat (for example, asking Rutzy to pass along a message), that would be handled through the site's contact form, not stored by the AI.

In Simple Mode, Rutzy's responses are shorter and more direct. Instead of detailed explanations, you'll get concise answers that get straight to the point. It's useful if you already have a good sense of what you're looking for and just need quick facts.

The site uses a minimal cookie consent system. Essential cookies (required for the site to function properly) are always active. Analytics and optional cookies are only enabled if you accept them through the cookie consent banner. You can change your preferences at any time.

The site uses localStorage to save your preferences — things like cookie consent choices, curated profile drafts, tour progress, and Simple Mode settings. This data lives entirely in your browser and is never sent to a server unless you explicitly take an action like sharing a profile.

You can clear all locally stored data by clearing your browser's localStorage for this site. In most browsers, you can do this through Developer Tools (Application tab > Local Storage) or by clearing your browsing data. The cookie consent banner also allows you to reset your cookie preferences.

No. Personal information you provide (through the contact form or profile sharing) is used solely for its intended purpose — reaching Ryan or sharing a profile link. It is not sold, shared with third parties, or used for marketing. The site does not run retargeting pixels or share data with ad platforms.

The cookie consent banner appears on your first visit and lets you choose which types of cookies the site can use. "Necessary" cookies are always on (they handle basic functionality). "Analytics" cookies help Ryan understand how visitors use the site. You can accept or decline non-essential cookies, and change your mind later.

The full privacy policy is available on the Privacy Policy page, accessible from the site footer. It covers data collection practices, cookie usage, third-party services, and your rights regarding your data.

Ryan lives on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota with his family. It's a beautiful spot west of Minneapolis — great for summers on the water and, of course, plenty of Minnesota winter.

Ryan is a busy dad of three, so a lot of his time outside work revolves around family activities, kids' sports (especially hockey — he's a dedicated hockey dad), and spending time on the lake. He also enjoys building things with technology, which is how this site came to be. When he can steal a quiet moment, he's probably tinkering with a new project or watching a game.

Yes. Ryan is married and has three kids. They also have a golden retriever who is, by all accounts, the most popular member of the household. Family is a big part of what drives Ryan — both personally and in how he thinks about work-life balance.

The lake life and the hockey culture. Living on Lake Minnetonka means summers are filled with time on the water, and winters mean hockey season — both watching and shuttling kids to rinks. Originally from Wisconsin, Ryan has fully adopted Minnesota as home (though he'll never give up his Wisconsin roots entirely).

Ryan is motivated by building things that work — systems, strategies, teams, and tools that create measurable results. He loves the intersection of strategy and execution, especially when technology (and increasingly, AI) can amplify what's possible. He's at his best when he's solving complex problems, optimizing performance, and helping teams see what's achievable when the right pieces come together. This site is a reflection of that drive: he saw a gap in how job seekers present themselves and built something to fill it.