Ryan Doss was born in Athens, Georgia and raised in Jackson County. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in accounting, and later completed a MBA. Ryan worked in public accounting at a CPA firm for seven years before becoming the CFO for a 34 unit restaurant group. From these experiences, he went on to found Provisions Accounting, a full service accounting and consulting firm tailored to food and beverage clients around the country. He lives in Bogart with his wife, Dana, nine-year-old son and six-year old daughter, and their 12-year-old black lab, Lyla.
What’s do you like most about your career?
I’ve got two answers. The political answer, which is true, is I like being influential in a client’s business and their success. I like being able to provide valuable input that will be a foundation for future decisions. I also like the freedom of owning my own business. It allows me flexibility to balance work and time off.
What’s your favorite thing to do in and around Athens?
Date nights with my wife. Dana loves Last Resort, and I like it too. I like to hop around, I don’t really have my one spot. We’ll go to Akademia, Last Resort, The Place. I like to go to a show at Georgia Theater every now and again. We don’t get to do that as much as we used to but that’s sort of the perfect date for us. We love Georgia football and baseball games too.
If you could see any band, anywhere at any point in time, who would you see and where?
That’s a tough question. I’ll throw one out there, because it would be a re-creation of going to this exact concert, and we had a great time: Jason Isbell at the Georgia Theater. I’ve seen him at other venues and it just wasn’t the same. The GA Theater is just a special place in Athens.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
It took me longer than I would like to admit to learn to be grateful. In a lot of areas. One, for all my parents sacrificed in raising me. I should’ve been so grateful during that time. Now that I have my own kids, that’s when it really hits you…what your parents really did for you. In other areas of life too, like teachers spending their time to help you and managers training you as a young intern. It took me a longer part of my life than I would’ve liked to learn gratefulness.
What’s a book you find yourself rereading, referencing or gifting most often?
I’ve referenced the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell quite a bit. There’s a part on the “ten thousand hours [of practice to become a master]” and there’s a couple good things in there. One’s about a NHL team and determining, “What is common among this team? Why did these people make it to the NHL?” It wasn’t that their parents had money or that they were in private school or had all these private lessons; the common thing among them was their birthday. They all were a certain age and were able to get in more playing time over their career just because of a cutoff of their birthday. There are a lot of other cool things in there too. For instance, with Microsoft, there were many things in Bill Gates’ career that just lined up. He happened to live within walking distance of the University of Washington and had access to a computer so that he could learn to code. All these little things, by happenstance, that turned into changing the world by building Microsoft. So I think that’s a really neat book.
What’s your favorite movie, first movie you saw in a theater?
Whenever Back to the Future is on TV, I watch it. I’ve probably seen it 100 times. Tons of these movies from when I was a kid, comedies like Dumb and Dumber or The Mask, basically any ‘90s comedy is my answer.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I have two bucket list trips that I’ll hopefully do in the next ten years. One, I want to go to Hawaii. I’ve never been. Two, I want to spend at least two weeks or more anywhere in Europe. Hawaii first.
If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it be?
“Slow Down.” This does not mean physically slow down, but it could be. Life moves at a fast pace these days and I believe we could all benefit from slowing down, being more present, and just taking it all in.
If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?
I would love to have a meal with Warren Buffet. That would be cool. A chili dog and a Coke at The Varsity, that’s kind of tailored to his taste and mine.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word “home.”
Favorite, comfort, and family. Home really is my favorite place. It’s where I find peace and happiness and we are so grateful to live where we do.
