New Year Resolution…always one of those “must make” kind of things that you inevitably end up breaking within the first week of coming up with it. I’m just as guilty as all of us when it comes to it. This year is going to be different though…I swear it is.

You see, 2018 will be my 5th year in Austin. When I made the decision to uproot my family from Colorado to come here, I knew I was walking into a world of unknowns. My wife was 6 months pregnant with our 2nd child when we made the trek here. She’s a Colorado native through and through and had only lived outside the state once before (Tulsa, where once again she came to be with me BEFORE we were married). I left a city and I left a job that I had known for 8 ½ years, had as much stability as one could have in this crazy world of radio…and I’ll be honest, I was scared.

There are a lot of reasons as to why I was scared. Was I ready for such a big move? Would my family get through this together, or would it create a lot of strife and tear us apart? Am I ready to walk into a building with some of the best programmers and jocks in the country? I knew this…I have to up my confidence level, and I gotta do it fast.

Admittedly, I don’t have the greatest faith or confidence in myself or abilities. When something good happens, I usually chalk it up to something other than myself. Ratings are improving? I had a lot of help along the way. My son is getting better at baseball? Must be those lessons he’s taking. Sure, all of those things may be true, but I know I had something to do with them as well…it’s just taken me until now to realize it.

So Kramer, why are you telling me all this, and how come I’ve never heard any of this before? Well, it’s because I’m a notoriously private person. I’ve never been one to share every detail of my personal life with the world. Maybe it’s why I don’t understand social media as well as I should, maybe it’s just because I feel like what I do outside of work is no one’s business. I also realize though that it doesn’t give you a chance to know me, who I am, what I stand for. There’s more to me than just the guy who talks and plays music on the radio.

All this realization has led me to my New Year Resolution. I started watching these motivational videos on Facebook as they’d pop up and found myself intrigued. You see, I RARELY watch a video all the way through, but here I am, watching 5-8 minute videos of commencement speeches talking about how you have to attack what you want, not just wait for it to happen. It led me to seeking out more videos on Ted Talk, Goalcast, etc. and it motivated me. Not necessarily to just be better at my job or be a better dad, husband, etc., it has pushed me to be a better person in general. It has allowed me to want to be more open and let you into my life, see who I am through more than just a fishbowl. What are my interests? Who am I OUTSIDE of the speakers?

Well in 2018, 5 years into my arrival to Austin, we’re gonna get to know each other. No more 2 Facebook profiles (yes, I have 2, a personal account and a “station” account), no more hiding what I do outside of the radio station. I mean, I’m not gonna tag myself in every location I’m at, but I WILL open up to you more and give you more of a glimpse into my life. I want you to be able to say hello if you see me out and about and have a conversation about a common interest we may have. I simply want to be more…for you and for myself.

So, here we go. My name is Ryan (some know me as Kramer). I have a wife (Kelli) who I’ve been married to for 12 ½ years and 2 children (Tyson and Braedyn) who are 6 and ALMOST 4. I’m a father, husband, friend, baseball coach, slow pitch softball player, sports loving, daily fantasy sports playing, horse racing player, beer loving normal kinda guy.

Nice to meet you!

Sincerely,
Ryan Kramer

https://www.facebook.com/Kramer961
https://twitter.com/KramerTheBeat
https://www.instagram.com/kramerthebeat/

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