Ryan Wilson: Community Builder

Ryan Wilson is co-founder of The Gathering Spot, a private membership club focused on black entrepreneurship. Wilson talks about how they expanded despite social distancing amid the pandemic. Ryan Wilson is the Co-Founder and CEO of TGS Holdings, a consumer lifestyle and hospitality company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company’s holdings consist of The Gathering Spot, a private membership club; and A3C, a music, tech, and film conference and festival. At the age of 24, Ryan and his business partner, TK Petersen, raised private capital from investors to open their first Gathering Spot location in Atlanta. The club has established itself as a home for creatives, business professionals, and entrepreneurs and regularly hosts notable and culturally impactful events. Ryan recently opened the second Gathering Spot location in Washington D.C. Responsible for the company’s overall management and strategic vision across all holdings, Ryan is leading the club’s physical expansion to Los Angeles and forthcoming markets, as well as the company’s digital platform TGS Connect. Ryan has been honored as the Small Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, selected as one of the 2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under Forty honorees, and was the recipient of the John Lewis Emerging Leader Award by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. He was also selected to join the inaugural class of Shea Moisture’s Social Justice Coalition. Atlanta Magazine named him one of “Atlanta’s 500 most powerful leaders” from 2019 through 2021, and he was awarded Atlanta’s Best Influencer by WXIA-TV. He has also been named one of the country’s most influential African-Americans in The Root 100 and the Ebony Power 100.