About Ryan
My connection to Japan started before I was born.
My grandparents moved from Canada to Nagoya in the 1950s as missionaries. My mother was born in Kyoto, grew up exploring rice paddies, and eventually moved to Vancouver — where she met my father. I came into the world in Birmingham, England, and in February 1997, our family returned to Japan. I was ten years old, curious, and completely uncertain about what life here would look like.
Japan became home. And it never let me go.
The entrepreneurial spark came early. In 2005, when Nagoya hosted Expo 2005, my dad turned to me in the car one day and said — "Ryan, maybe you can make something out of this." That was all I needed. My friends and I had noticed that Nagoya's 10,000+ bilingual residents had nowhere to find cinema listings in English. So we built one. We launched Nagoya's only English cinema guide, attracted advertising from the Hilton and local restaurants, and learned how to write a pitch deck and present it — at seventeen. When we all left for university at eighteen, the site closed — but the lesson stayed with me forever: find the unmet need, define it clearly, and bring a solution. It's the same thought process I bring to executive search today — identifying exactly what a candidate offers that the market hasn't yet recognized, and making that case compellingly to the right people.
At university in Vancouver, I was restless. I was selling phones, branded clothing, organizing events — I could see opportunity everywhere and I chased it relentlessly. But something was missing. The people element. The sense of genuine connection and purpose.
I found it on a summer internship in Tokyo in 2008 at Wall Street Associates, a headhunting firm. From my first day in that office — phones ringing, consultants connecting people with life-changing opportunities — I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. On August 26th, 2008, I was booked on a flight back to Vancouver to begin my third year of Commerce at UBC. I didn't board it. I went all in on Tokyo, on headhunting, and on the life I could see in front of me. I never looked back.
Seventeen years later, I've placed over 170 senior leaders across Japan's healthcare and life sciences sector — from biotech start-ups to global pharmaceutical giants. Today I work with RGF Executive Search Japan, partnering with global headquarters to find General Managers and Presidents for rapidly growing companies entering or scaling in Japan. Along the way I noticed something: the most talented executives weren't always the ones getting the best opportunities. The gap wasn't capability. It was strategy. It was self-marketing. That's why I created C-PATH™.
And honestly? I'm just getting started.
Outside of work, life in Japan is anything but ordinary — for any of us.
My father, a former charity director, is now sailing around Japan solo and funding the adventure through YouTube. My mother performs intimate, one-of-a-kind weddings in rural Japan and offers marriage counseling — creating the kind of bonds you simply can't get from an off-the-shelf ceremony. My brother writes and directs award-winning short films and commercials. My Filipino wife hunts down the finest Japanese gold and brings it to Filipino buyers at exceptional value — all on TikTok. And me? I DJ, take the family out on Tokyo Bay, and go on adventures at every opportunity to get the family together. After all, life is about creating memories that last.
We're the Sheppards. Japan is our home.
I believe there are thousands of executives out there — bursting with potential — who have never been taught how to self-market and write their own story.
That's why I do this. That's why I show up every day.
And when you're ready to stop waiting and start moving — ready to take control of your career, your story, and the next chapter you know you're capable of — I'm here. I've built the system. I know the market. And I'm in your corner.
Let's go.
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