Ryan Dent will be the first to tell you there’s nothing flashy about how he got started at PwC.

Ryan didn’t really have a plan. He was a 21-year-old freshman in college, fresh off a church mission to Hawaii, trying to figure out what was next. 

It was around this time that he remembered one accounting class back in high school. He knew he enjoyed it, so that’s where he started.

He knew from the start that he liked it and that it was a great place to begin a career. Over time, through consistency and effort, that initial interest developed into a genuine love for his work.

Twenty-six years later, Ryan is now the Office Managing Partner at PwC in Salt Lake City, having led audits and consulting engagements across the country.

He has spent time as a technical consultant in PwC’s New York national office, and built a career centered on the financial sector, including banking, capital markets, asset and wealth management, and FinTech. 

But if you ask him what actually built his career, he won’t point to a technical skill or a client success story. He’ll point to the people he had along the way.

Learning to Love the Work

When Ryan started in accounting, he didn’t have a vision for where it would take him. He started because it felt like a good fit and he was willing to find out if it would grow into something more.

When recalling this time in his life, Ryan said, “I think to become passionate about something, to find something you love, you have to do it. You have to put in the effort. You have to live in it for a while.”

And that’s exactly what happened. 

The technical work grew on him, but that’s not what kept him around. It was the people: his colleagues, his peers, and the partners he worked alongside. They were the ones who turned a “decent fit” into a career that he genuinely loves. 

This is a lesson that shows up again and again throughout Ryan’s story: passion isn’t always the starting point. Sometimes it’s the result.

A Global Firm With a Local Feel

In Ryan’s work, he spends most of his time serving banks, private equity and venture capital funds, and FinTech companies. 

But he’s quick to point out that PwC’s Utah practice reflects the market it serves; everything from small private companies to large public ones, with a growing focus on emerging and tech companies.

Ryan shares one story that captures what that global reach actually means in their practice. 

A CFO once called Ryan about a confidential project in Rome and asked who he knew in PwC’s Rome office. Ryan didn’t know anyone there personally, so he pulled a few names from the partner directory. 

He sent an introductory email, and within a couple of hours had a partner named Scott respond: “Ryan, I went to school in Utah. I know that client. How can I help?”

That small interaction showed Ryan how interconnected he could be with those he worked with, even from the other side of the globe.

“That’s the kind of thing that happens when you work well and have relationships with your clients in a way that they know who you are, we know who they are, and they know when they can reach out,” says Ryan.

It’s a small story, but it says a lot about how Ryan sees his work. It’s not about spreadsheets and busywork, but about the trust that makes solving hard problems possible.

The Trust Acronym 

Back in college, Ryan attended a leadership conference where a PwC vice president handed every attendee a small wooden token stamped with six letters: DWYSYWD. 

Those letters stand for “Do What You Say You Will Do”.

It’s a small sentence, but it carries a big impact that is built on trust and following through.

“Just be reliable before you try to be impressive,” Ryan remembers being told. “If people know you’re going to do what you say you will do, then trust comes. And that’s where a lot of business happens.”

Decades later, this one phrase is still the leading principle that Ryan leans on most. When he talks with young professionals about how to stand out early in their careers, he tells them that leadership isn’t a title you earn later; it’s something you can exhibit at every stage, starting now. 

When asked about the leadership qualities he’s seen matter most, Ryan says that two rise to the top: attitude and work ethic. 

A positive attitude is contagious in a way that pulls a whole team forward. And a willingness to look around the room and ask how you can help is what separates team players from everyone else.

A Culture Built on People

When Ryan was asked why he chose PwC over other firms coming out of college, he said it came down to the fit. 

Every firm had strong clients and talented people. But what set PwC apart was the culture, and it’s a culture he’s spent his entire career reinforcing.

“We don’t manufacture a product,” he says. “Our success, our secret sauce, is our people.”

And that philosophy extends beyond the office. PwC gives its people dedicated time to get involved in causes they care about. This is something Ryan has taken seriously throughout his career. 

He has served on the board for the Boy Scouts of America, sits on the Utah Food Bank board, and now serves on Utah State University’s board of trustees, his alma mater. 

He counts his involvement with MountainWest Capital Network among the most meaningful of these. Not just for the visibility it’s given him, but for the insight it’s provided into what makes Utah’s market work.

Ryan said, “You think you’re giving to them, but they’re probably giving more back to you in your career than you can appreciate.”

Leading Through Uncertainty

Ryan has now lived through several economic cycles as a professional: the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, and COVID-19, among others. 

When the pandemic hit, and his team gathered for that first uncertain meeting, Ryan found himself reflecting on everything the group had already weathered together.

“If we did those together, we can do this together,” he told them. 

That mindset is one he still carries into how PwC is approaching its next big challenge of today’s world: adapting to AI. 

Ryan describes it as building the plane while flying it. It’s exciting, uncertain, and requires the same resilience that got the team through past crises.

“We’re not going to get it all right. But if we’re quick to learn, then I think we’ll be successful in the end,” he said.

That kind of leadership and teamwork is what pushes Ryan to go forward, despite uncertainty.

Where It All Started

Much of how Ryan leads today traces back to watching his father, who spent his career in banking. Ryan rarely saw his dad in the mornings growing up. 

Not because he was absent, but because his father had learned the value of getting to the office an hour or two before everyone else to focus before the day’s demands took over.

“Mornings are a great time to get stuff done,” Ryan said. And it’s a habit he admits he hasn’t matched as consistently as his father did.

But it’s one that shaped how he thinks about priorities, work ethic, and showing up for the people who depend on you.

That same influence shows up in how Ryan talks about mentorship in a broader sense. 

He credits the partners he’s had throughout his career who didn’t just answer his questions, but showed enough confidence in him that he started believing he could figure things out himself. 

It was one such moment — a partner telling him that she thought he could make it — that put him on the path to where he is today. He hadn’t even considered it until she said it out loud.

The Work of the Utah 100

PwC has played a leading role in validating the Utah 100 for years. And Ryan is direct in his beliefs about why that process matters so much. 

He gives a clear behind-the-scenes look at what the process looks like to be chosen for the Utah 100.

Companies submit their financial information confidentially, and PwC’s team takes it to the next level. They reach out, review tax returns and audited statements, and confirm that what’s been submitted lines up with what’s being represented.

“It’s not that they’re intentionally trying to send us bad information,” Ryan explained. “It’s that trust-but-verify concept.” 

That rigor is exactly why companies trust where they land on the list, and why Ryan’s team keeps coming back to do the work year after year.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Ryan’s story offers plenty of takeaways for founders and professionals who are working on building something of their own. Here’s a few to take with you as you take the next steps forward:

  • Passion follows commitment, not the other way around: Ryan didn’t start passionate about accounting. He grew into it by doing the work and giving it time.
  • Reliability builds trust faster than talent alone: Ryan’s motto, do what you say you will do, has shaped Ryan’s entire approach to relationships and business.
  • Leadership isn’t tied to a title: Ryan encourages people to exhibit leadership qualities at every level, not just once they’ve been promoted into one.
  • Attitude is contagious in both directions: A positive mindset can lift an entire team, just as negativity can spread through one.
  • Mentors don’t need to have all the answers: Sometimes showing confidence in someone is more powerful than giving them the solution outright.
  • Community involvement compounds over time: Ryan’s board work started with donating his time, and it’s shaped both his career and his perspective on Utah’s market ever since.

Looking Ahead

Ryan doesn’t have a simple answer for what’s next for PwC, and he says that’s by design. 

“We are writing a story that we really don’t know the ending to,” he said. What’s next for the firm will always be defined by what’s next for its clients and its people.

That means staying focused on unlocking the potential of AI without losing sight of the relationships that have carried them through every change. 

It means continuing to show up for the Utah 100 validation process that companies across the state have come to trust. 

And it means continuing to invest in the same things that got Ryan here in the first place: reliability, community, and people who show confidence in each other.

Whatever comes next, Ryan’s approach is likely to stay the same: be reliable before you try to be impressive, and let trust do the rest.

Want the full story behind Ryan Dent’s journey?

Listen to the complete MountainWest Capital Network Podcast episode, where Ryan shares his path to building trust and community.

[Listen to the full episode here →]

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/building-trust-in-business-leadership-lessons-from/id1818372923?i=1000788835354 


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/53PhbEBGFNRub1eBYhDy7v?si=arrWfq3HSX-8tDwKKYf8FQ 

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