Sweetest Couple
Written by Paige Feikert
Hand in Hand
Wichita Couple Goes All Out for Community and Home
Written by Paige Feikert
For as long as they can remember, Alicia and Ryan Baty have been part of teams. Alicia grew up playing volleyball in Western Kansas, where she also helped her parents with their cattle business. Ryan played professional baseball and now serves as chairman of the Sedgwick County Commission. But perhaps the most successful team — and the most enjoyable — is the Baty household.
“This is a massive team effort,” Ryan said. “I have roles that I do and she supports me in that, and she has the most important role supporting the home, we cannot be effective if we don’t support each other.”
‘I think most people know that my greatest asset in business and in politics is my wife.’ — Ryan Baty
The Batys balance schedules for four very active kids — Reese who is 13 years old and the only girl of the bunch, followed by 11-year-old Landry, 9-year-old Rhett and two-year-old Bryer. Reese is a competitive volleyball player who often plays games out of town. Landry and Rhett both play baseball and football, and Bryer takes the role of his siblings’ number one fan.
“We have an event or an activity or a practice or a game seven days a week in our house and the baby has to come to all of it,” Ryan said.
“[Bryer’s] ultimately the trouper because he goes to everything — he’s at practices, he’s at games, he’s in hotel rooms in other states for tournaments — all of the things,” Alicia added.
Love Like Remi Foundation 2025 gala. Thirteen-year-old Reese often joins her parents at local charity events.
A Heart for Community
But as often as Alicia and Ryan balance the schedules of their active kids, their kids are also very aware and involved in their parents’ chosen paths. Both Alicia and Ryan are business owners, Ryan serves as Sedgwick County Commissioner for District 4, and has spent years involved in Christian ministry. The Baty kids have witnessed firsthand what service to the community looks like.
“We wanted our kids to experience serving the community, and to see us live as examples in that,” Ryan said. “As much as it serves in our hearts to serve the community, we want our kids to see demonstrations to serve others.”
As is common with business owners and public service careers, the work day doesn’t always have a defined beginning and end. The Baty kids have grown to learn that and embrace it.
“We’re not able to check our work lives at the door, everything that we do is all encompassing,” Ryan said. “Our kids get to witness the highs of business and the highs of community success, but they also get to see the real heartbreak when there’s loss in the community, when there’s challenges in the community — they get a new angle.”
The Baty kids even gained hands-on experience with public service and running a campaign when they helped their dad on his campaign to office with the Sedgwick County Commission.
“When we were running a campaign, or just when there have been different opportunities for our kids to be involved in some fashion, Reese has really latched onto that,” Alicia said. “She loved knocking on doors, and she loved campaigning, but when given the opportunity to go to an event or go visit a local nonprofit with her dad, she has fully embraced it.”
While their kids are their top priorities, the Batys have found their passion in the community largely because their family is part of it. Ryan grew up in Wichita, graduating from Wichita Northwest High School before attending the University of Kansas to play baseball. Wichita is home for Ryan — it’s where he returned after a career-ending injury during his time with the Tampa Bay Rays organization, it’s where he started his business and where his parents still live today. Alicia grew up a few hours west of Wichita in Dodge City but moved here to study nursing at Wichita State University. The couple met at a Genesis Health Club location — Ryan as a patron, and Alicia as a front desk associate.
“We’ll see you at the restaurants, we’ll see you at school events. We’re very involved in the community because we are part of the community — we love this community, we love Wichita, we love the schools, we love getting to do life here,” Ryan said. “There’s not a degree of separation — we do life with people in this community.”
The family cattle sale held annually in Dodge City, KS. Alicia’s family are cattle ranchers in western Kansas and ranch work is a family operation.
A Heart for Family
The Batys want their kids to feel their passion for serving and their passion for the community, but they also want their kids to understand their unrelenting commitment to their family.
“At the heart of it, we have to keep at the forefront what’s truly important. There’s a lot of perspective that comes with that and it’s not always easy to make everything work, but when you know what your priorities are, it certainly works,” Alicia said. “These kids and our family that was given to us to foster. They are 100 percent at the forefront.”
But the Batys have found success in a large part because of one another — working together to run a home, a family, businesses and community outreach — no matter the circumstance, Alicia and Ryan make each other stronger.
“I think most people know that my greatest asset in business and in politics is my wife,” Ryan said. “She’s the one that’s kind of the thermostat in the house — she keeps things level-temperature, she keeps me level.”
The couple finds time to re-connect with one another. After the kids are home from their respective practices, the businesses are closed and calls have quieted, Alicia and Ryan take a few moments to themselves.
“For me, it’s about enjoying the journey,” Ryan said. “There are different seasons in our marriage and it’s really just about understanding the season that you’re in and working hard to enjoy it and enjoy each other and be thankful to God for what he’s given us.”
