▸ Born the second child to Denny, a Park Ranger, and Gail, an entrepreneur, Mitchell is exactly nine months younger than his older brother to the day. When Mitch was 13, his father drowned while following routine procedures for a swiftwater rescue, plunging his mother into a year-long depression that nearly cost the family everything. She began attending group therapy sessions for grief counseling, eventually meeting a man whose wife was dying of cancer in hospice care. The two began dating secretly, or rather without notice. The boys were introduced to him only after the relationship was deemed serious, with an engagement following soon after. They were wed soon after Mitchell turned 15.

▸ His family owns a string of businesses catered to tourism in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, including several small knickknack shops and cabin rentals, but the majority of their income comes from the family’s horse stables and riding school that offers guided trail rides inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mitch grew up around the stables, but his mother was reluctant to let him lead trail rides because of his father's accident. Ambitious even at 16, he applied for the position at a rival stable and was immediately hired, eventually forcing his mother to reconsider her stance. He worked as a trail guide until he was ready to leave for college.

▸ After high school, Mitch attended Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina, earning a BS in Conservation Biology before transferring to Vanderbilt University for a dual degree program, earning him a Masters of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences.

▸ Mitchell was always very active in the Boy Scouts, eventually achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, which helped him get his current position as a Wildlife Officer with the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area. Much of his job is centered around conservation education; he still works closely with the Boy Scouts of America as a Leave No Trace trainer during the summer months. In the winter, he picks up additional hours as an on-call contracted Snow Removal Operator for Denver International Airport.

▸ Upon completion of his undergraduate work, Mitchell and a small group of friends from Warren Wilson took four months off to southbound thru-hike the Appalachian Trail from its northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine to its southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia. Along the way, the group found a pitbull puppy that had been discarded along with its littermates stashed in one of the camping shelters in Pennsylvania. Sadie, as she'd come to be called, was the only survivor. Mitchell carried her in a special sling across his chest all the way to Georgia, making the trek off the trail into towns to buy her specialty canned food to help her gain weight. She still spends most nights trying to sleep on his chest.

▸ ESTP - The Dynamo: ESTPs are energetic thrillseekers who are at their best when putting out fires, whether literal or metaphorical. They bring a sense of dynamic energy to their interactions with others and the world around them. They assess situations quickly and move adeptly to respond to immediate problems with practical solutions. Active and playful, ESTPs are often the life of the party and have a good sense of humor. They use their keen powers of observation to assess their audience and adapt quickly to keep interactions exciting. Although they typically appear very social, they are rarely sensitive; the ESTP prefers to keep things fast-paced and silly rather than emotional or serious.