Meet Tyrone Mitchell of Responder Training Services (RTS)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyrone Mitchell.

Tyrone, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a native of Philadelphia and graduated from John Bartram High School, where I first discovered my love for theater. I attended a traveling history show performed by Freedom Theatre, which led me to join Freedom Theatre’s acting program. As a result, I earned a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.

After college, I appeared in numerous commercial, film, television, and theatrical productions to include Entourage (HBO), Weeds (Showtime), Close to Home (CBS) and ER (NBC). I also held a position as a Teaching Artist at The Leadership Program serving New York City public school students.

I later developed a passion to learn about other aspects of production and began working behind the camera on production crews in both Los Angeles and New York. I was invited to join a production team that was tasked with supporting a Military training exercise and was deeply rewarded by the experience of helping to save lives.

Soon after, I transitioned from the entertainment industry in order to support the training of Soldiers on a full-time basis. In 2009, I co-founded RTS with the intent of producing fully immersive training events, using entertainment industry techniques.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think each year looks different and you evolve over time. Financial stress occupied our early years. Developing and managing budgets, raising capital, and tax obligations. The next challenge we faced was personnel management; hiring, development, retention, dismissals, conduct policies, etc. Then we had the experience of revenue growth, along with the development of new capabilities.

Now we’re at the point where relationships matter more. The relationship between owners, our relationship with vendors, our commitment to family, and so on. The busier you get, the harder it becomes to give time and attention to everyone, and that could have a negative impact on those relationships.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Responder Training Services (RTS) – what should we know?
We offer a full line of production services and special effects and work primarily with the Army National Guard in support of their annual training events. To date, we’ve supported the training of tens of thousands of Soldiers. We maintain a vast network and believe our multi-industry backgrounds and partnerships make us unique.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Because we’re a portable operation, mobility is essential. We’re able to scale up or down according to resource requirements, adapt to various environments all across the Continental US, and tailor projects to customer needs.

At times, it’s felt like we’re a traveling circus, but we’ve streamlined our process over the years and ultimately developed a system that pretty much works anywhere.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rtsglobal.co
• Email: info@rtsglobal.co

Image Credit:
Michael LiDondici; Haj (wife), Taj (son), Zo (daughter)

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