A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight: Rene Ray

A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight: Rene Ray

Rene Ray has a niche for guiding those pursuing a technical career, particularly for women pursuing an un-traditional employment path. She understands the desire to have a career based on one’s individual schedule. For her, the goal was not to have her name on a building, but to do something she loves and is meaningful, while having a balance between a career and a robust family life.

Ray’s path toward success is the same one she helps others achieve, showing them it is possible to have it all.

Ray grew up in Rolling Prairie, attended New Prairie High School and graduated with a full academic scholarship to a local university. However, she realized the pre-law field, which was the degree she began to study, was really not for her. So, at age 19 she started working in retail, managing a store in Broad Ripple in Indianapolis. Working her way up, she found her calling in sales and marketing management.

In 2005, she started working at Kelley Services in the district manager position of Northwest Indiana. For the next 10 years, she worked in corporate America, before quitting to start her own business and do things her own way.

In 2015, R2 Strategies, LLC was founded, a company for sales and marketing management.

“It is what I’ve been doing all my life,” she said.

She specializes in corporate sales training and training for individuals or anybody who wants to learn how to sell more, how to close the deal, and other relationship tactics.

She also does workforce development and recruiting, helping Human Resource departments figure out how to hire smarter, better, and faster.

“I realized I was doing a lot of sales training nationally for other managers within the company, teaching others how to sell more and it was working and I liked that,” she explained. “I wanted to focus more on that and wanted to have a lot more freedom. So, having my own business provided more freedom financially and a better work life balance.”

Coming from a family of several entrepreneurs, the self-employment world came natural to her.

Rene-Ray-02Her salary and schedule are all unlimited now, she said, which allows her to decide how she spends her time during the day. Even though, she still works up to 60 hours a week with client meetings and presentations, she can now make sure her time with her family is always inked in.

Ray and her husband have been married five years. They both have one child from a previous marriage and a three-old.

Weekends and family night dinners are high-prioritized time, Ray said.

“I always have home-cooked meals. We eat very healthy diets, all organic,” she said. “It is very important to me to have dinner at night with the family, so we do a lot of cooking together.”

Weekends are spent at parks, playgrounds, and the beach. However, some of Ray’s non-work time is spent on one of the several boards and organizations she is a part of, including the Rotary Club of La Porte and Women in Leadership of La Porte County.

Last year, Ray joined Rotary after being asked to present about her work. Now, she is currently the Vice-President in line to run the club in a few years.

“I never joined to be president or in charge, but I think being a part of a group and not being in charge doesn’t work,” she said. “That was how it was in high school. I was involved in everything, I was the president for everything, and was the leader in group projects. I guess I’m kind of bossy, but assertive, is what I like to call it.”

Living in La Porte, she believes the city’s leaders are great at promoting leadership for both men and women.

“I love the leadership in La Porte. I think our Mayor is fantastic, I’m a big Mayor (Blair) Milo fan,” Ray said. “She has surrounded herself with big, high-impact leaders, and the things going on are exciting, especially for young leaders.”

Ray’s own leadership is powerful. She speaks at the Local high schools, the AK Smith Area Career Center, and many other businesses, showing people how to achieve their career goals their own way.

Her bossy, assertive, voice empowers those looking to the future, whether it is for additional education, a first job, or a career change. Listen up, folks, because she is one of those leading La Porte to success.