Meet Ryan Klee of Rootstock

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Klee.

Hi Ryan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Rootstock emerged from the merger of my first company, Ryno Media, with my friend Tom Bell’s company, Chronicle. I came from a PR, marketing, and communications background, while Tom brought deep expertise in journalism, brand storytelling, and writing. Our skill sets complemented each other perfectly, and we began collaborating on high-level strategic communications work for B2B companies.

In 2021, we made it official and formed Rootstock. We recognized that thought leadership was becoming increasingly important, and we wanted to build our agency around that approach. So we created our own definition of thought leadership: elevating your industry with original thinking that challenges industry norms—because you believe there’s a better way of doing things, and people need to know about it.

Our methodology centers on getting to the core truth of what our clients stand for, then building an entire content ecosystem around that foundation. This includes securing speaking opportunities, building strategic partnerships, crafting strategic content like case studies and newsletters, ghostwritring books, and helping leaders establish themselves as genuine voices in their industries.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Entrepreneurship absolutely has its ups and downs — its peaks and valleys, highs and lows.

Like a lot of young companies, I started off doing well by leaning on my network and generating business through referrals and warm intros. We continued that momentum into the early days of Rootstock. We were learning, growing, and figuring out what our services really were, how we talked about ourselves, and who we wanted to work with. We were able to bring on team members to help us — a project manager, editor-in-chief, and strategic coordinator.

Then, life happened. In 2023, Tom, my co-founder, was dealing with some personal family issues, which led to him leaving Rootstock late in the year. Not long after that, we lost our two biggest clients (one of whom we had to seek legal assistance to secure payments they refused to make). Needless to say we started off 2024 in a bit of a tailspin. But I…we…had faith.

With my amazing team, community, family, and friends, we survived 2024. We got through it. We persevered. It wasn’t always pretty, and it was a really tough year. What was supposed to be a stabilize-and-scale year became a survival year. We learned a lot and we came out stronger.
2025 has been better and we’re on the right path. We’re going to finish the year about 29% up over 2024. We launched the Kernel of Truth offering, which has been game-changing for us and the leaders we work with. We’ve added team members. And we are very good at what we do and want to help even more businesses.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Rootstock is a thought leadership development and consulting agency. We work with ambitious, visionary leaders to grow their businesses through curiosity-driven discovery and relationship-centered strategy — teaching them to build sustainable influence by creating genuine connections, fostering authentic communities, and crafting compelling thought leadership content that builds trust and drives impact.

We excel at partnering with clients who are established but growth-focused, community-minded, intellectually curious, collaboration-ready, and values-driven.

We are becoming known for our incredibly powerful Kernel of Truth workshop. This two-hour intensive helps you identify and articulate your story in a way that becomes the foundation for everything that follows. You’ll walk away with clarity that changes how you show up in your business.

If you’re a founder, executive, consultant, nonprofit leader, fractional, or solopreneur who knows what you stand for but can’t quite put it into words, then our Kernel of Truth will help. Your KOT helps you answer four deceptively simple, yet incredibly essential questions:

– Who are you?
– What are you making?
– What does it mean to you?
– Why does it matter?

Firmly knowing the answers to these separates leaders who experience unencumbered growth from those who feel stuck, overwhelmed by options, or constantly second-guess their direction.

When you know who you are, what you stand for, and why it matters, everything else – your message, your impact, your growth – comes naturally. You’re not selling yourself, you’re being yourself.

Additionally, we are the creators and hosts (along with our friends at Robotproof) of the quarterly Atlanta Marketing Mixer, a growing event two years running that’s becoming well known for its genuine focus on authentic connections and community building. It’s also the first networking event I’m aware of that included a sound bath! You can read more about it here: https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2025/08/06/atlanta-marketing-mixer-entrepreneurs/.

I’m also an active member of the Good Energy Coffee Crew, an incredible monthly coffee meet up started by my friend and AMA Atlanta President Paul Carpenter. Highly recommend both of these fine communities!

I’m also proud to be involved with two other incredible Atlanta organizations:

– I’m on Conscious Capitalism Atlanta’s Thought Leadership Committee.
– I’m an Advocate at OnBoard, whose mission is to get more women on for-profit boards.

Finally, why does what we do matter? Rootstock’s process invites professionals to become leaders by embracing, valuing, and building from their whole truth, which means the communities that Rootstock builds are both durable and productive. While we often construe leadership as a solitary, lonely climb, Rootstock understands that any kind of leadership — including thought leadership — is meaningless unless it exists within the context of community.

How do you think about happiness?
On the personal side, I love being in nature, whether it’s hiking, mountain biking, playing in a river, wakesurfing, paddle boarding, sitting on a beach… Nature is important to me. It’s grounding, it’s centering, it’s refreshing, it’s invigorating.

I’m still active playing soccer a couple times a week and will play as long as my body allows me. And it’s not just the soccer; it’s the friends I have in my soccer community. It’s not just the game; it’s the people.

I’ve gotten into yoga in the past year and a half, and really enjoy it for the physical and mental benefits.

I have amazing family and friends, who make me super happy. I have an awesome dog named Ryder (probably the most handsome boy out there).

I love live music and having a beer at a brewery. I’m an Atlanta United season ticket holder and love going to matches. I am super stoked for the World Cup in 2026.

On the professional side, to me, happiness is catalyzing possibilities that change people’s lives.

I’m happiest when I’m bringing people together who need to know each other. Maybe it’s connecting a nonprofit leader with someone who shares their passion, or introducing two entrepreneurs whose skills complement each other perfectly. There’s this moment when you can see the spark happen—when two people realize they’re going to create something together that neither could have built alone. That’s the good stuff.

After going through cancer in college, I learned pretty quickly that life’s too short to waste on anything that doesn’t matter. The people who showed up for me during that time — who drove me to treatments, who sat with me, who refused to let me feel alone — they saved my life in more ways than one. That experience taught me that connection isn’t just nice to have. It’s everything.

So when I get to facilitate those kinds of meaningful relationships through Rootstock, whether it’s through our Kernel of Truth sessions or at the events and mixers we organize around Atlanta, I’m doing exactly what I’m meant to do. I’m helping people get clear on who they really are and what they’re building, then connecting them with a community that lifts them up.

The joy isn’t just in making the introduction — it’s in watching what grows from it. Seeing a client land a speaking opportunity, watching a connection evolve into a collaboration, or hearing someone say they finally feel understood and supported in their work. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.

Pricing:

• Kernel of Truth: $3,000
• Thought Leadership Strategy: $5,000
• Execution and Consulting Retainers: custom

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rootstock.agency/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-klee/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/rootstockagency
• Other: hello@rootstock.agency