In our growing journey to extend our praise to our awesomely talented and passionate team members and to give you the opportunity to learn a little bit more about each one of them, we introduce you to Ryan Brockschmitt, a leasing specialist at The Laurel Apartments in Downtown St. Louis, and the sixth stop on our Mills Associate Spotlight journey.

Ryan has a passion for people, honesty and St. Louis, and it shows. It shows every day in his role at The Laurel, in his eagerness to help residents, prospects and his fellow team members. But it doesn’t end after he clocks out, it extends into every piece of his life. And because of his knowledge and passion for the community, he has been recognized and rewarded as a valuable resource in the world of internet and social media in St. Louis.

Here’s what Ryan had to say about his projects, passion, awards…and a little bit about his pet peeves:

1. When did you create iLoveSoulard.com and why?

Aug 16, 2010. I thought I could fill a valuable niche. I wanted a singular place that people could go to find unique information and stuff about Soulard. I always read a key to getting people to read what you write is to focus on a niche you know. This is my niche.

2. What are the Top 3 Soulard events everyone should attend and why?

Mardi Gras is just an awesome series of great events and I recommend all of them. There’s also the Crawfish Boil, which is a great neighborhood event in the Summer.

3. Where do you get inspiration for your blog posts?

For iLoveSoulard I just get my ideas from the neighborhood. I try to think what I would want to see if someone else were running the show.

4. You’ve won a couple of awards. I know you’re not the bragging type, but I’d love to hear more about those.

I won the 2012 RFT Web Award for Best Neighborhood Blog for iLoveSoulard.com, which was pretty sweet. Then iLoveSoulard won Reader’s Pick for St. Louis Magazine’s A-List, which was also pretty cool. Most recently, I was asked to be one of the judges for the 2013 RFT Web Awards. That was a fun experience.

5. If you could spend the day interviewing and hanging out with one person, who would it be and why?

Anna Kendrick or Mindy Kaling. I have this goal in life to date a celebrity and I’m pretty confident that I could sweep either one off her feet given some time.

6. In terms of the internet/social media world-what do you consider your greatest achievement to date?

I once overheard someone in Soulard say that they moved to Soulard after reading iLoveSoulard and seeing how awesome the neighborhood is. Hearing her say that was really cool. I’ve also run into other people who read the blog or have read my column in the Soulard Renaissance. That column would never have happened without the blog. 

7. You have a lot of social media pet peeves. Why is that?

Someone once told me that social media is a lot like riding a bicycle: “anyone can do it but only a few can do it well.” She actually used something different than bicycle which I had to change, but the idea is the same. There are a lot of little things that people screw up because they either don’t know better or don’t care.

8. You recently started a new project: Welcome2STL. What is this project all about and what made you start it?

Originally I started that project to give people an outlet to share their love for St. Louis. I got a few really good essays and I want to get back into getting more. I have recently started another project as well though: STLHistory. I got an idea for this after going to the Missouri History Museum. I found the exhibits on St. Louis really cool but lacking. Lots of great things have happened in St. Louis and you could easily fill a museum with important and historic people, places and events. Plenty of quirky things have also been a part of St. Louis history that should be immortalized if you will.

9. What is the most important piece of advice you have for someone who is interested in starting their own blog?

Use proper English and don’t use exclamation marks. Besides that, I’ll refer to my answer to your first question regarding why I started iLoveSoulard.

10. You have to choose one: Footloose or Step Up?

Are we talking Kevin Bacon Footloose or the remake? And are we talking Step Up the original or Step Up 2: The Streets? Then again, Step Up: Revolution was pretty cool. I would have to go with the original Footloose with Kevin Bacon overall.

In keeping with the last question tradition: A shout out for Mills Properties – What interests you most about the work that you do?

Working with the residents of the building has been really awesome. I love talking to people and finding out more about what people do in their daily lives and their interests. I like the challenge of figuring out how to market the property too.

*Ryan is the creator and sole writer for iLoveSoulard.com. He is one of 12 bloggers for RealLifeSTL.com. He started Welcome2StL.com and has let it trail off a bit, but says he has plans for it.  He handles social media for The Laurel Apartments and does some social media consulting work on the side. His newest project is STLHistory.com.