Krumrie’s talent has him rocketing to success

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Ryan Krumrie made quite an in impression when he interviewed at Hager, Dewick & Zuengler.

“He had me convinced we were going to hire him in about seven minutes,” said John Hager, a founding partner at the 10-year-old Green Bay firm. “And what I saw that very first day in him, all that crazy potential and that he could be a superstar, has happened.”

In fact, Krumrie has been so impressive that he rocketed from associate to partner in just five years.

“He’s a superstar for us,” Hager said. “And his quick assent is because he’s been very involved in the community, to the point where I’ve had to say to him, “‘Ryan, you’ve got two young kids. You’ve got to make sure you don’t do too much.’”

“Too much” isn’t in Krumrie’s vocabulary.

“When my mom passed away it caused this internal drive to do as well as you can. It’s sculpted me as a person and an attorney,” said Krumrie, whose mother died from breast cancer when he was 12.

So, he spends his free time working with the American Cancer Society, the Wills for Heroes program and the Greater Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, which recently confirmed him as a new board member.

And, with help from his wife, Ericka, an attorney with Brown County Corp. Counsel, he still makes it home in time to put Katie, 3, and Russell, 6 months, to bed.

All from a man who never thought he’d be an attorney.

“I liked the idea of a lawyer, the idea of the law. But I never really thought about going to law school. It was never in my future.”

Instead, he focused on business, expecting a future in management or finance, until he took a couple of law courses.

“I fell in love with the complexity of legal issues and how it can affect businesses, how they operate, how they manage risk, how they manage a dispute. It was fascinating,” Krumrie said.

So, the next semester he took 18 credits of law classes.

“Everyone said law school is pretty grueling, and it’s not the same. But I thought if I could do this, I could do law school. And I got a 4.0 and attended all my classes, which I had never done.”

Today, Krumrie is devoted to his family, his real estate practice and his desire to stem the brain drain in Green Bay, which is why he’s involved in the Chamber of Commerce’s Current Young Professionals Network.

“It’s a problem, so I’ll continue to be involved. We’ve got to try to find a way to keep those people here,” Krumrie said.