Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Creech.
Hi Ron, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in a small Louisiana town where nothing was handed to you unless you earned it. My family was large on both sides the kind of upbringing where faith, work ethic, and grit were the real inheritances. Entrepreneurship ran in my father’s bloodline, and whether I knew it or not, it found its way into mine. Life didn’t open with opportunity; it opened with hunger. I worked the jobs no one wanted, the hours most avoided, believing that if I stayed steady, God would eventually open a door I couldn’t open myself.
When I hit thirty, life forced a crossroads. A divorce, the loss of direction, and a moment when I had to choose whether to settle or leap. That leap brought me to Nashville. I took odd jobs, slept in my truck, went broke starting a tool company, and kept refusing to return home because something inside me said, “You have to make it.” When I met my wife, Laurie, she gave me a small lifeline, a vacant apartment to sleep in but the climb was still steep. After bankruptcy and starting over again, the opportunity came to buy into my family’s ladder store. I didn’t know then that it was a sinking ship, but I believed I could turn it around. Belief became the cornerstone of everything that came next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The early years tested every part of me. I inherited a business riddled with debt and lawsuits. For nearly eight years, I worked ten to twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week, barely making enough to survive. People often ask why I didn’t quit. Truth is, I didn’t know quitting was an option. I could only see the next rung above me.
I started the business with twelve hundred dollars and, at one point, a single miracle credit card limit of twenty thousand dollars that arrived out of nowhere when every bank had turned me down. That card kept the lights on. Faith kept my spirit alive.
Employees came and went. Bills stacked higher than sales. I unloaded trucks by hand in the heat, installed ladders and racks in the rain, and rebuilt my mindset as often as I rebuilt the business. I faced storms — literal and figurative. Nashville’s 2010 flood, health storms that damaged inventory, financial droughts that nearly broke us, and leadership lessons that forced me to stretch into a man I didn’t yet believe I was.
But God placed key people in my path. A stranger who loaned me money when I had no collateral. A California business owner, John Hancock, who took me under his wing and opened doors I never could have accessed alone. A mentor from my church, Kim Riley, who pulled me into rooms I never felt qualified to sit in. These people, along with faith and stubborn perseverance, carried me through the hardest seasons.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Nearly four decades later, my family’s ladder store has not only survived — it’s grown into a multi-business operation serving Nashville and communities across the country. What began with manual labor and prayer has turned into a commercial truck and van upfitting business, a laundromat, a coaching company, and a platform to help others climb their own ladders.
We’re still in the same building my family opened in 1986. That longevity is unheard of for a mom-and-pop shop, and it’s a badge of honor. Today, my daughter and daughter-in-law help run the companies, and we employ a team of dedicated people who believe in our mission.
My entrepreneurial journey has expanded far beyond products. I became a deacon, a board member, a mentor, and a teacher. I discovered a love for coaching entrepreneurs and leaders and guiding them toward the same “aha” moments that once changed my own life. I’ve stepped into speaking, helping people understand that climbing isn’t about perfection, it’s about steady faith, strong work, and refusing to let setbacks define you.
In 2025, we launched the Next Rung Radio podcast which is a platform born from decades of climbing, failing, rebuilding, and learning how to rise again. It’s another way to serve, inspire, and remind people that their next step is always within reach. We are now 10 episodes deep and have managed to reach number 58 in the top 200 best self improvement podcast out of 95,000 so needless to say with hard work, believe and perseverance blessings will always be a byproduct of it.
What does success mean to you?
Success once looked like income, status, or security. But life has taught me that true success is measured in impact: in the lives you touch, the people you lift, and the legacy you build through faith and service.
To me, success is becoming the man God created me to be. It’s loving my family well. It’s building companies with purpose, not just profit. It’s helping people think bigger, believe deeper, and understand that faith always comes before proof.
Success is doing work you’re proud of, with people you believe in, toward a mission that outlives you. Money is simply the fruit — never the root. The real reward is the journey, the climb, and the person you become along the way.
If my story offers anything, I hope it reminds others that their next rung is already waiting for them. Their next dream, next breakthrough, next chapter and all it takes is the courage to reach for it. Thank you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/roncreechofficial
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/roncreechofficial
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roncreechofficial
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-rung-radio/id1843252291
