From time to time, we like to highlight a talented member of the MDA team. This month, it’s our Senior Web Developer, Ryan Vurva, who has been with us since 2017. He is an integral part of the team and does an excellent job managing and coordinating all of our clients’ website development and design needs.
Ryan wasn’t always a website developer. In fact, before joining MDA, he was a bartender. He honed his coding skills at Brevard Community College and The Iron Yard coding academy. His job here at MDA involves creating websites and other online materials such as our clients landing pages. His favorite thing about the job is knowing that what he creates will make a difference to people in a meaningful way. And while he was great at “slinging drinks”, as he puts it, he is much happier knowing that the websites he makes are being used by people all over the country. It gives him a sense of purpose and satisfaction, even if he is doing all his work from behind the scenes — which is exactly where he likes to be.
Working for MDA has opened a lot of doors in Ryan’s life, professionally as well as personally. He says, “I owe more to my team than they know.” He loves that he is working with a team of people who he would actually be friends with. Ryan likes that everyone on the team has similar interests and a similar sense of humor, which makes work a lot of fun. “We are a group of people that know how to have a good time, even when we are too busy for it,” he explains.
When Ryan is not working, he’s likely watching superhero movies with his son, who is just now old enough to appreciate the cinematic masterpieces that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is a huge movie buff, so being able to share that with his son is a dream come true for him. And when he’s not enjoying a good flick, he might be out disc golfing, a sport he is truly passionate about.
One not-so-well-known fact about Ryan is that he is a total softy. “You put on a Disney movie or show me a clip of a veteran returning home to his daughter or his dog, and I am leaking like a faucet.” In most other situations, though, he’s pretty level headed. He’s not one to overreact or get angry, so it tends to surprise people when he gets emotional watching a sappy TV commercial.
We don’t mind that Ryan gets a little teary-eyed when he’s watching TV. (It happens to the best of us!) We think it speaks to his ability to empathize — a great quality for a web developer to have and probably a big reason why his websites are so successful. We enjoy working with Ryan because he’s dedicated, hard-working, and knows how to make us all laugh. We are very lucky to have him as part of our team!
