Tyrone's never-give-up attitude leads to success.
Originally from Los Angeles, Tyrone grew up in a rough neighborhood and knew he wanted something different for his future.
“We were a tight-knit family that worked hard, but the culture of the neighborhood was hard to escape,” shared Tyrone. “Eventually, my family decided to move to Michigan and I was excited for a fresh start.”
After moving to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan in the mid-90s, he began attending Mid in 2003 in pursuit of a business degree. But after running into some personal and financial obstacles, Tyrone knew that the time wasn’t right to continue his education.
He took a different tack and began working in the oil and gas industry. As a casing hand, who used hand tools to get casing connected and into the ground, Tyrone encountered issue after issue with threads becoming stripped or damaged.
“The problem just kept happening, so I thought to myself, there’s got to be a way to fix this.”
And fix it he did! Tyrone developed a thread protector removal tool. He joined a local entrepreneurship incubator and pursued a patent. But he encountered another roadblock.
“I really underestimated the entire patent process,” explained Tyrone. “I became a YouTube enthusiast, subscribing to every patent and entrepreneurship channel I could find, and even connected with a local patent attorney, but I just couldn’t get to where I needed to be with the project.”
As the patent effort lost momentum around 2018, he took advantage of another career opportunity and joined an innovative kiosk communications company to assist with business development, marketing, and strategic planning. At the same time, he also decided to return to Mid.
“Even though I’d learned a lot watching all those YouTube channels, I was missing entire essential skill sets that I needed to succeed in the business world,” said Tyrone. “And I knew where I could go to develop those skills—to Mid.”
Tyrone returned to Mid and resumed working toward his business degree. He is currently pursuing a 3+1 Northwood University Enhanced Business Studies Transfer Degree and expects to graduate from Mid with honors. This particular degree allows students to spend three years at Mid and one year at Northwood, resulting in a bachelor’s degree earned with significant savings.
“It was time I went back, to develop the skills and earn the credentials I needed to take my career to the next level.”
He has also continued to advance his career, and is now a majority owner in the kiosk communications firm he joined in 2014.
“I’ve made connections with college and local business leaders that I never would have had the opportunity to make anywhere else,” explained Tyrone. “Those connections are often the difference makers from having a great career to having an exceptional one. I’m so excited for the future.”