Meet Tyler Ruckstuhl | Small Business Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Ruckstuhl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When it comes to the consideration of risk, I don’t truly believe anything you do is ever risk averse. It seems to me that regardless of your ventures into the most conventionally risk prone or avoidant endeavors, your construal of risk has to act as a bit of a meter for your appreciation for what exactly it is you are doing. For example, In the realm of small businesses and maintenance therein, it seems to me that consideration towards risk plays an increased role in your day to day mental well being as success is seldom a given; however, if you are doing something that grants you joy and instills in you a sense of purpose, I can seldom see myself or anyone else for that matter electing to choose the path more travelled and prospectively conventional in risk aversion, as to me, the toll taken at the expense of the elusive question of ‘what if’ is far too damning.
To try and fail in the pursuit of happiness and purpose is far more of a life well lived than the alternative.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
So I act as the Business Manager to a Cigar Humidor and Lounge called The Smoke Ring in Webster Texas. For a brief run down of the transactional nature of our business, we provide a wide selection of some of the most highly coveted and passion driven cigars coming from families all across the world where the dedication of generations are to such a traditional and amazing craft. We pride ourselves in doing our best to ensure that our customer base has access to what the rich and historied tradition of cigar making presents itself as today.
Past the goods we transact in, what I believe we differentiate ourselves in is adhering to the one principle that our business exists in tandem with the customers we serve.
To exist and furthermore thrive, you must do your best in coming to the realization that you have positioned yourself to provide the best experience for the customers that choose to drive across not just the vast and sprawling city of Houston, though entire State of Texas. In further dissecting that belief, I would say the most antithetical notion therein is realizing the simplicity of creating not just transactions in your business, but experiences.
One of perhaps the most unfortunate yet experienced interactions I have had in traveling the country, visiting business of the same nature to the one I manage is seeing how lacking in apparent enjoyment some owners or staff of these shops have. The last thing the front lines of a business should convey is the dissatisfaction of having to assist a customer; and as simple as it might seem that this mode is quite the lesser of the two presented, it has still yet to fail to exist.
Going past this, one of the things that I hold most valuable in carrying myself as a face to the business and subsequently instilling in the others who choose to work here is, you should consider yourself honored that someone takes time out of their day to support you, the business, and the notion these familiar faces experience in your interactions every time they come back through your doors.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In all honesty, and I don’t think this would shock too many of your readers haha, though I hate competing in Houston Traffic. No mater where you live- and I have no doubt that someone coming from even Anchorage Alaska, will argue that their cities traffic is the worst in the world. It is rather comical that the severity of traffic has almost come to be a point of pride. Though I digress, back to the point, I hate having to drive over 60 minutes just to get to a special destination when it should only take 30. Because of this, some of my most enjoyed places are here in my neck of the woods. Places like Jinya Ramen for exceptional cuisine, Papa Bro’s Steak House on West Heimer, and Saint Arnold’s Brewery are all amazing places to grab a bite to eat regardless of the occasion. Even considering the disposition of the water, a day at the beach is never one regretted down in Galveston and the incredible venues like Space Center Houston and the vast wealth of museums and nature trails scattered all across Houston make a week full of activities very easy to fill.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would have to give a shout out to my close friends who have helped shape the way I think at the cigar lounge I run, The Smoke Ring, and pay my respects to the great orators and authors throughout time who dedicated works of literature and thought to the pursuit of living a life well lived.

Website: https://www.smokeringcigars.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmokeringcl/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesmokeringCL/