Shawn Ryan, MBA

Current Position: Senior Financial Analyst at Holman

Story last updated: Fall 2024

Coming from a smaller high school, I knew that I was not meant to go to large state school and be one of 500 students in a lecture hall. I was introduced to GMercyU during the recruiting process with Lacrosse Coach Dana Lindstrom and after my first time on campus for a visit, I knew it was where I belonged. The successful lacrosse program, the campus size, and its proximity to home checked all of my boxes, and I was eager to become a Griffin.

I think what makes GMercyU different from other colleges is the strong student-to-faculty ratios in favor of the students, and the actual people within the campus community.

There are so many “rock stars” within the community of GMercyU - professors, coaches, administrative assistants, athletic department staff, maintenance employees, and so many more, that contributed to my awesome college experience. In tight-knit communities like GMercyU, you take on a relationship of friends and colleagues with the people you encounter every day, as opposed to being “just a number” and a face at larger schools.

Academic Experience

Professor Ralph Hoffman, Professor Carlo Silvesti, Professor Ron Bruce, Professor Alan Harper, and Professor Stephen Mumford were all pivotal to my success in the classroom.

Each professor’s unique background in the real world of business and their specialty and focus shaped my learning experience and taught me so much.

They all genuinely cared about my success as a student-athlete, and not just within the confines of their classroom, to which I am eternally grateful.

During my time at GMercyU, I interned with Holman Enterprises, based in Mount Laurel, NJ. During the fall of my junior year, I would spend several hours a day browsing Indeed for internship opportunities in the Greater Philadelphia area.

One of Holman’s business sectors is the automotive retail industry, which is how I had known of the company prior to coming across the posting. After several fruitless applications and interviews for other company’s internship programs, I had a really good feeling after doing a phone interview with Holman's recruiter and a few weeks later, I was offered a position within their program.

Holman’s internship program is a very well-structured program, with the perfect balance of doing work that matters to the business (not filing papers and coffee runs), training events, and fun networking opportunities.

I was placed in the accounting department of the Holman Ford Lincoln dealership in Maple Shade, NJ, and worked under the controller performing a variety of reports and projects related to cash inflows and outflows of the dealership’s sectors --New Vehicles, Pre-Owned Vehicles, Parts, and Service--and where money could be saved.

The entire staff was welcoming from day one, and my boss served as mentor and now friend, with whom I am still in contact. During the course of the programs, interns were randomly grouped for various research projects that would then be presented at the end of the summer to various managers throughout Holman, which was a surreal experience knowing that some of the most important people in the company cared so much about the research and input of the interns that spent only 10 weeks with the company.

I was very fortunate to receive a full time offer at the end of the program upon graduation, which helped open the door to my current role as a Financial Analyst.

Life on Campus

I always sought out opportunities to get involved beyond my tenure with the lacrosse program because I felt that immersing myself in the campus life was a key to a more fulfilling college experience. During my time at GMercyU, I was an Intramural Sports Official and Supervisor, a member (and former President!) of the Investment Club, and a member of the Campus Hearing Board. Additionally, I was asked to be a member of the School of Business Advisory Board and participated as a guest speaker and panel member for various recruiting events for GMercyU and the School of Business. 

Life as a Student-Athlete

Being on the lacrosse team was one of the most impactful experiences on me as a person. Coach Lindstrom’s program is much more than your average team sport, with the structure that causes you to grow and evolve from a young teenager to an adult ready and eager to conquer the real world.

Lacrosse is just the vehicle to which he teaches life lessons and core values — accountability, commitment, and discipline — that are still prevalent in my life after lacrosse.

While Coach measures success with winning like any other coach, his proudest accomplishments are not on the lacrosse field. He sees value in what he does and the effectiveness of his program when his players make it through their four years and go on to have successful careers and lives after lacrosse.

To this day, I still chat with Coach Lindstrom a few times each week, and he is genuinely one of the most important people in my life as a valued mentor.

Lastly, the men I had the privilege of wearing the same jersey over the course of my four years weren’t just my teammates — they were my brothers. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today without Coach Lindstrom’s lacrosse program.

Post-Graduation

After graduation, I was fortunate enough to land one of the coveted five positions out of over 100 applicants within Holman Enterprises’ Financial Analyst Rotational program, a three-year program geared towards creating financial leaders in the company.

In the program, you “rotate” to a new role after spending a year, so that at the end of three years, you will have a well-rounded understanding as to how different parts of the collective company operate.

My first rotation was as a Financial Analyst of their entity Auto Truck Group, based in Bartlett IL, for which I relocated to Schaumburg, IL just a few weeks after graduation. Although certainly a daunting notion to move 800 miles away from home at the age of 21, with the support from my family, friends, and girlfriend (now wife), Victoria (Goebig) Ryan, a fellow GMercyU ’19 grad, I was ready to undertake the challenge knowing it would benefit me both as a person and as an employee for years to come.

In my second rotation, my responsibilities grew, and in addition to the reporting I had done in year one, I also supported a large, comprehensive system migration project with data scrubbing, demoing, and process documentation. In my third rotation, I was responsible for ad-hoc reporting requests, varying levels of client analyses, and proces documentation within our fleet management operations. 

Within my current role, I support our clients and prospects in financing conversations with regards to aligning their fleet management strategy with their broader business objectives.