A Life of Personal and Professional Resiliency: Robert Ryberg ‘13 MBA

MBA graduate, certified addictions counselor, former CEO, angel investor, founder of both a consulting firm and a healthcare roll-up strategy micro-fund. Just naming a few of Robert Ryberg’s ‘13 MBA accomplishments, which might make him sound like a seasoned executive nearing the age of retirement. However, though a seasoned professional, Ryberg has achieved all these accomplishments by the age of 32. And through everything he has done, he remains true to one guiding principle: to use his talents to make a world a better place. 

Ryberg was admitted into the Eller MBA program at the age of 23, making him the second youngest person in his cohort. “Prior to joining the MBA program, I was working as a substance abuse counselor and had a decent amount of operational experience running addiction treatment programs, but I just didn’t have the business skill sets that I knew I would need to advance my career,” he says. “Though I didn’t have the professional experience that most of the individuals in my cohort had, the MBA program was very welcoming and the experience allowed me to gain professional MBA experience before entering the work world, which I think worked out in my favor.” 

While he found support in the classroom, entering the boardroom was a different story. After graduating from Eller, he started Peak Consulting Partners in 2013. “I vividly remember being laughed out of boardrooms and multiple times being asked where my dad was,” he says. Instead of acting out of anger, this only fueled Ryberg. He says: “These experiences taught me patience and redoubled my commitment to my success.” 

This resiliency is something that Ryberg exemplifies in everything that he does, and it also merges his personal and professional life. “I am in long term recovery after getting clean and sober in 2007 at the age of 19,” he says. “After years of help from friends, family and professionals, I was finally able to get to a better place. Because of that experience, I feel a strong desire to help people succeed and find their strength.” 

Even in the face of judgement for his age and inexperience, Ryberg’s dedication payed off. After three years, he sold Peak Consulting Partners to C4 Recovery Foundation, which provides continuing education for addiction treatment providers, and then became the CEO of C4. Around the same time, he started Crestview Capital Partners, with the goal of consolidating small outpatient mental health counseling centers in the Midwest. Within two years, he led the company through a period of rapid growth, including five acquisitions, and then sold the company for $11 million dollars. He has reinvested the proceeds from that sale to form Crestview Capital Investments, where he invests in a variety of small businesses, mainly focused in behavioral health care and addiction treatment. In addition, he is currently an angel investor and member of Desert Angels, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization that focuses on investing in businesses here in the Southwest.  

Through all of this, he kept his Eller MBA experience close to his heart. “When I started at Eller I had a lot of self-doubt, being someone without much professional experience at the time,” he says. “I worked so hard in that program, and it paid off—the Eller MBA was one of my first professional successes. Eller taught me to stay resilient, to stay the course, to remain teachable, responsible and accountable. I always found myself looking back at that experience and leaning on it anytime I had self-doubt.” 

In addition to continuing his efforts to identify and support businesses doing good in the world, he also wants to continue to give back and help students who may be following in a similar path. “I was not the perfect candidate for the MBA program, but they took a chance on me, and the program helped me develop in places where I was struggling and needed assistance,” he says. “I feel a lot of gratitude for what they gave me, and I want to help mentor the next generation of Wildcats, especially those wanting to make a difference in the healthcare industry.”