Welcome to Fluid Truck’s Trucker Spotlight blog! We love highlighting our awesome Truckers and introducing you to the great people behind Fluid Truck.
At Fluid Truck, our product is people. We bring in smart, talented people with a lot of ambition and give them the opportunity to grow and expand their skill sets rapidly. Our end goal is to equip every person who joins our team with the skills they need to one day grow beyond us and create incredible things on their own. Interviews are edited for clarity.
Today, we're thrilled to shine the spotlight on Ryan C., who leads our Hardware and Telematics Department and plays a pivotal role in Product Design at Fluid Truck. He’s one of the original Fluid Truckers who has been here from the very beginning, and seen all of the growth that Fluid Truck has experienced over the years.
Keep reading to learn more about an OG trucker and what makes him tick!
Tell us a little about your day-to-day at Fluid Truck.
I lead Product Design, Hardware, and Telematics.
Currently, my primary focus is on product design, where I'm deeply involved in solving key problems and enhancing user experiences. I also collaborate closely with the hardware team, ensuring that daily operational checks run smoothly. Fortunately, this team is highly capable and largely self-sufficient, which allows me to focus more on strategic initiatives.
At the moment, I'm leading a comprehensive redesign of our entire product ecosystem. This includes our website, app, various admin portals, and internal tools. The objective is to create a more unified and cohesive brand experience across all platforms, ultimately strengthening customer trust and engagement.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
Working with the people here! The people I work with are not only smart and talented but also genuinely enjoyable to be around. We're tackling meaningful challenges, and that makes the work both engaging and fulfilling. It’s a great environment, and I truly enjoy being part of it.
When you aren’t working, what are you usually doing?
Working.... but that's boring.
I love cooking and doing anything that involves creativity and working with my hands. We just moved into a new house so I'm busy gardening and doing all sorts of home projects when I’m not at the office.
Do you have any pets?
I have two dogs, Vega and Doug. Vega is a super mutt and Doug is more like Yoda than a dog... He's the Head Of Happiness at Fluid Truck and has been coming into the office as long as I have. If I'm employee #3, he's employee #4.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
There are two that come to mind: Speed should never come at the cost of great ideas. I think it's important to work quickly and efficiently, but I don't believe that it should be done in a way that sacrifices quality and creativity. I think that was Steve Jobs' motto.
And, if you always stay in your comfort zone, you'll never do anything different or better than what you're doing right now. Never stop learning and trying new things.
What motivates you at work?
I have an innate drive to seek perfection in everything that I do... at Fluid I have a ton of opportunities to do that and it's really fun to perfect my craft. Whether it's in design, or operations, culture, or business, I have the opportunity to exceed my own expectations. It's motivating to work somewhere that allows me to do that. Fluid doesn't really put boxes around people’s roles. If you see something that needs to be fixed, you’re encouraged to go fix it.
Do you have a favorite song lyric?
A quote and a song lyric -- If you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying. - Steve Jobs (paraphrasing Bob Dylan. )
It captures a philosophy I've always lived by: the pursuit of continuous growth and self-improvement. Whether in my personal life or career, I'm constantly striving to learn, advance, and evolve. To me, remaining stagnant—doing the same thing every day without challenging myself—is akin to slowly fading away. Growth is vital; without it, we aren't truly living.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Honestly, even the most monotonous job I’ve had, like bussing tables, had its upside. While it was probably the most routine job I’ve done, I was in college at the time, and it gave me the mental space to think through academic problems and focus on my studies.
If you could have a Fluid Truck full of one thing, what would you want?
Baby Dougs!
What’s your favorite snack?
Blueberries! I eat them every morning. They're Doug’s favorite too.
What would you tell someone who wants to come work at Fluid Truck?
It's an environment where you can excel if you can push yourself. We don't discourage failure. Failure is always a possibility, but if you're resistent to get to that point, then that's even worse. At Fluid it's like, we allow people to try things and try to solve problems their own way. And if it doesn't work, regroup and give it another shot.
Want to work somewhere where you can grow through trying and making mistakes, while being encouraged to get back up and try again? Click here to check out open positions at Fluid Truck!
