Ryan Doolittle grew up in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She spent her formative years surrounded by nature and learning to make art out of clay. After discovering the joy of gifting what she had made to family she fell in love with making for others and hasn't stopped. After going to school for ceramics, Ryan received a BFA in Crafts/Material Studies with a focus in glass from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006. Determined to broaden her glass horizons, Ryan moved across the country to Seattle, WA, a major epicenter in the glass-working community.

In 2010, Ryan started traveling the world blowing glass for entertainment and sharing her love of the material with guests on Celebrity Cruises, representing the Corning Museum of Glass. After six years as a glassblowing sailor Ryan turned in her fins and settled in Corning, NY for several years representing the Corning Museum of Glass and helping raise awareness of the wonderful world of glass and helping the Museum increase its visitation. In the summer of 2020 Ryan embarked on a new journey of self discovery and renewal in Austin during the Pandemic and is an artist and instructor at GhostPepper Glass.