Forty Under 40: Ryan Gribble, 38

Ryan Gribble went all the way to Japan just to get home.
An Arkansas native, Gribble attended Westminster, where he met Phil Bradley. Bradley played pro baseball in Japan and helped Gribble get a job there.
Gribble made a mark by introducing Japan’s first westernized mascot, for Hiroshima. He later helped strike lucrative deals with 7-Eleven and U.S. Cellular for the Chicago White Sox.
Both helped him return to Arkansas in 2008 as part of the ISP team that handles University of Arkansas athletic department advertising, sponsorship and multimedia rights. The UA team won ISP’s Breakthrough Property of the Year award, and Gribble added a company MVP award for 2009.
Gribble said the team award was more gratifying because he and the staff arrived on campus just a week prior to kickoff. Both meant a lot to a guy who attended his first UA game as a third-grader.
“It’s a brand I’ve always been a fan of, so just to be a part of the evolution of the brand is something I enjoy,” he said.
Gribble also enjoys spending time with his wife and 1-year-old son, Eyan. Other than that and an occasional round of golf, he’s focused on making the UA the strongest of ISP’s 60-plus college partners.
“I want Arkansas to be the best-run and most-respected property in the country,” he said.