.Ryan
Nakada
.About me
I’m a Communication Studies student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, minoring in Entrepreneurship, with a focus on marketing and business development. I’m drawn to work that combines communication, digital strategy and relationship building.
My experience spans short-form video for 23rd Edition, social content and audience research at Wenspire, and a quantitative study presented at the Fresno State Social Science Student Symposium. I’m also currently completing the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate.
.Projects
- Goal
- Promote emotional well-being through organic social posts for a startup.
- Audience
- Young adults who want mental health support but avoid asking for it through providers, friends, family or employers because of stigma. My research found they turn to social media and anonymous communities like Reddit, often feeling unseen, lonely or emotionally exhausted and wanting to be heard. Many are already comfortable with AI for support (48.7% of U.S. adults used it for psychological support in the past year), but still care about privacy and a human touch.
- What I did
- Created 10 organic video and photo posts, guided by audience research and aligned with the brand's voice.
- Results
- Learned how to handle a sensitive topic with care and keep a brand’s voice consistent across video and photo.
Research
Market researchResearch summary+
This is a summary of the market research I conducted during my Wenspire internship. The full notes are available as a PDF at the bottom of this section.
Context: Wenspire is a startup building an anonymous mental health community platform, moderated by both AI and humans. At the start of my internship, I researched the market to find where marketing and outreach could work best.
Where people look: Because of the stigma around mental health, many people research on their own through the channels they feel most comfortable with, often social media. Marketing in those channels is key to helping them find Wenspire.
Funnel recommendations:
- Awareness: Educate without sounding preachy. Help people recognize the signs they may need support, then point them to Wenspire.
- Consideration: Explain Wenspire's value in depth, including how user data is stored and protected, to ease privacy and AI concerns.
- Decision: Make the waitlist signup easy to find.
- Retention: Send informative, personalized follow-up emails so people on the waitlist stay engaged.
Market trends: Always-on care and AI are shaping mental health support in 2026. 28.2% of U.S. adults with a mental illness said they did not get the treatment they needed, and 48.7% of U.S. adults used AI models for psychological support in the past year. Pairing human moderation with AI can bridge the gap for people who don't fully trust AI alone.
Community research: I studied anonymous communities on Reddit, such as r/mentalhealth, r/lonely, and r/trueoffmychest, where people post to be heard and feel connected. Common themes were feeling unseen, loneliness despite having friends, emotional exhaustion, a desire for connection, and relationship issues.
Sources: Cardinal Digital Marketing and Spring Health.
- Goal
- Edit short-form video capturing the culture of the FIFA World Cup for 23rd Edition, an Instagram docuseries.
- Audience
- Young adults who follow the World Cup and soccer culture.
- What I did
- As video editor, I shaped raw footage into polished short-form stories through deliberate sequencing, audio and visual storytelling, working closely with the client to stay aligned on a shared goal.
- Results
- I learned how simple cuts and zooms, paired with the right music, can elevate a video; how to work efficiently with a client and stay on the same page; and not to be afraid of trying new techniques.
- Goal
- Build a brand concept from the ground up for my Intro to Entrepreneurship class (BUS 310).
- Audience
- College students and young professionals ages 18–30 with busy, active lifestyles who want athletic clothing that works for the gym, class, errands and casual outings, and who care about looking put together.
- What I did
- Developed an elevated athleisure concept built around a minimal, premium look and hybrid apparel for busy lifestyles. Designed the product and brand identity, mapped the full business model, and planned a go-to-market strategy of limited drops, TikTok and Instagram content, and micro-influencer and student-athlete partnerships.
- Results
- Validated the concept through qualitative interviews and tested demand with an Instagram ad experiment (see Research & Experiments below).
Research & Experiments
Business Model CanvasPartners, channels, costs and revenue+
Value proposition: Elevated athleisure that blends comfort, versatility and style for everyday wear.
Go-to-market: Sell through a Shopify storefront, drive awareness on TikTok, Instagram Reels and influencer collaborations, and keep demand high with limited drops, community events and customer polls for future drops.
Revenue: Product sales from limited-edition drops, athlete and influencer collaborations, and pop-up sales.
Experiment 1Instagram ad test+
Objective: Gain customers and gauge interest.
Approach: Ran a social media ad as an Instagram Reel through Meta Ads.
Results: $24 in ad spend ($30 with fees) brought 544 views, 15 profile visits, and 16 likes. The outcome was inconclusive: engagement showed people were interested in Court & Stitch, but it did not validate the value propositions, so the next experiment was built to test them better.
Experiment 2Interest form test+
Objective: Further validate the value propositions and gauge potential customer interest.
Approach: Ran a photoshoot for new material, then a second social ad that sent viewers to an interest form, targeting users in the SLO area and other college towns.
Results: $16 in ad spend ($22 with fees) earned 2,722 views, 1,312 reach, and 21 form responses. 71.4% found versatile clothing appealing, 76.2% change outfits once or more a day, 66.7% would wear the products throughout their day, and 90.5% wanted to stay updated. The outcome was validated, and the decision was to pursue.
- Goal
- Design a mock clothing brand to test my skills in apparel design and in building an online storefront that is ready to sell.
- Audience
- Young adults ages 18–25 into alternative style and outdoor culture.
- What I did
- Designed a mock clothing brand and its online storefront, including the logo, a six-piece Current Collection (tees, a sweatshirt, a long sleeve, and a cap), and the home and catalog pages.
- Results
- Completed a six-piece collection and a sale-ready Shopify storefront, from logo to product pages. The project gave me the confidence that I could organize an entire brand chain myself, and I carried that confidence into the projects that followed.
Storefront
Shopify StorefrontHome and catalog pages+
The RTRN online storefront. The home page opens with a full-width hero image and the Current Collection, and the catalog page lists all six pieces with availability and price filters and a free standard shipping offer on orders of $75 or more.
- Project
- “I’m Sorry.” vs. “I’m Sorry!”: The Effect of Punctuation on Sincerity and Accountability Perceptions. A quantitative research study co-authored with Kiran Atwal and Savanna Batto, presented at the 51st Fresno State Social Science Student Symposium (May 1, 2026).
- Question
- Texting strips out tone of voice and body language, so readers lean on punctuation to judge tone. Does ending an apology text with an exclamation point instead of a period change how sincere and how accountable the sender seems?
- What I did
- Designed and ran a posttest-only experiment with 60 university students, who were randomly shown a fake apology text containing either exclamation points or periods and rated its sincerity and accountability on 1–7 scales. Built on Language Expectancy Theory and presented the findings to a symposium audience.
- Results
- Punctuation made no measurable difference. Sincerity averaged 2.95 with exclamation points and 2.94 with periods; accountability averaged 2.92 and 2.89 (both p > .90). Neither hypothesis was supported, which suggests what a message says matters far more than how it is punctuated.
Study Details
MethodDesign, sample and stimulus+
Participants were 60 students at a Western university, recruited through an online questionnaire (78.3% female, 40% third-years, 70% White). Each was randomly assigned to read an apology text from a hypothetical partner who cancelled a celebration party for the participant’s work promotion at the last minute, then went out with friends. The texts were identical except for exclamation points versus periods. Sincerity and accountability were each measured with four items on a 1–7 scale (α = .934 and .938).
H1: exclamation points raise perceived sincerity. H2: exclamation points lower perceived accountability.
FindingsDiscussion, limits and next steps+
Sincerity: exclamation points M = 2.95 (SD = 1.46, n = 33) vs. periods M = 2.94 (SD = 1.32, n = 27), t(58) = 0.053, p = .958. Accountability: M = 2.92 (SD = 1.36) vs. M = 2.89 (SD = 1.48), t(58) = 0.096, p = .924.
Punctuation signals tone, but here it was too subtle a cue to create a real expectation violation, and participants likely focused on the message content. Limits include a single university sample. Future work could test emojis, wording, message length and more diverse populations.
Takeaway: focus on what you say, not minor stylistic details.
.Credentials
.Skills
- CapCut
- Premiere Pro
- Short-form editing
- Canva
- Shopify
- Quantitative research
- Experiment design
- Customer interviews
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft Office
- Claude
- ChatGPT
- Meta Ads
- Google Analytics (GA4)
- Notion
- Miro
- ClickUp
.Contact me
I'm looking for internships and part-time roles in marketing and content. Let's make something worth sharing!
Email meLinkedIn