I’m Ryan Atkinson, and I run Concept Sustainable. In 2006, I left a 12 year career in the bicycle industry and returned to my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about who I am and how I want to live my life.

My wife Corey and I have made several small transformations in our personal and professional lives that collectively simplify our days and lessen our environmental impact. This website is a part of my effort to share my evolution to sustainability with my community.

I initially got interested a simple and sustainable life during high school. I started riding bicycles as a form of transportation. During the summer of my Junior year I decided to ride to my job as a gardener instead of driving the 12 miles. I got hooked on the satisfaction and energy that I got out of the experience.

To keep myself well stocked in bike parts I got a job as a mechanic at the local bike shop. One thing led to another, and over the next several years I moved up in the bicycle retail industry and learned valuable skills in self-sufficiency, small business, and management. I moved to New Mexico after college and got married, discovering soon after that working 60 hours a week in retail wasn’t for me.

I accepted a job at Trek Bicycles in Wisconsin, America’s largest independent manufacturer of specialty bicycles. Trek was my corporate sales and marketing proving ground. The company was progressive and energetic, and they empowered young employees like myself to manage our responsibilities independently. The management team was experienced and effective, encouraging me to develop quickly.

After spending a year in sales, I was promoted into the marketing department. I had a dream job, working alongside mountain bike legends like Keith Bontrager and Gary Fisher. I traveled the world promoting mountain bikes, managing media camps, dealer training seminars and public events. I was lucky enough to enter this job at the advent of a new bicycle technology, and I played a pivotal role in developing a market for the Two-Niner.

I left Trek after several seasons of developing the comprehensive marketing messages for each new year’s products. I felt that I had moved away from what had originally drawn me to the bike industry. I had started because I had a passion for independence and alternative transportation, but in the end I was more wrapped up in the sport and technology.

It was clear to me upon leaving the industry that I had developed a valuable tool kit for effective marketing. I had retail management experience, and understood small business and one-to-one customer relations. I had B2B sales experience, and understood the complexity of that relationship. I also had several years of global marketing under my belt, and knew how to excel in virtually every element of that profession.

Corey and I moved to Nebraska and started our journey towards sustainability, simplicity and happiness. In 2007 we started Harvest Design & Marketing, offering our clients sustainable marketing alternatives that save money and reduce environmental impact.

Our work-life balance has developed a harmony that I want to share through this site. I want to highlight environmental issues that intrigue me, and promote the positive sustainability activities happening in Omaha right now. I want to show that ‘regular’ people can make simple changes to conserve resources, limit expenses and run their homes and businesses in an environmentally sustainable way.

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Contact Ryan

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