The Greenville story of Chad Ayers

A protector, family man and businessman

Picture provided by Chad Ayers

Below is the story of Chad Ayers, owner of ProActive Response Group. Chad and his skilled team would enjoy serving you, your company, church or school. ProActive Response Group can be contacted at: 1-888-512-3530 or by emailing info@proactiverg.com

Name: Chad Ayers

How long have you been in Greenville? My entire life, thirty-six years. 

What is the most interesting fact about yourself? I went from being a high school baseball player to that of a college cheerleader and became an assistant leader on the SWAT Team with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. 

What is your background? I grew up in Greenville, the oldest of four boys. 

At a young age, I have always been a protector. Being the oldest of four boys, I have always felt like I had to be there for my brothers to both protect, and even sometimes prevent, them from getting into a fight or doing something stupid, anything that could get them hurt. This transferred into my career within law enforcement where I got to be a protector of the sorts. I always try to set a standard: be the best you can be, be a role model. One of the greatest things that I can have is my family name [Ayers]. What can I leave behind for this family name? What would this mean to the family if I did, ‘this or that?’ 

I grew up playing baseball but got into competitive cheerleading when I was in high school, which led me to becoming a cheerleader at the University of South Carolina where I pursued my degree in Criminal Justice. From there, I served with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office as an assistant leader on the SWAT Team. Through my experience with the Sheriff’s Office, I started a company, the ProActive Response Group, where I have now been at for four years. 

For me, I have always been a goal-driven individual, I want the best and I am going to work so that I can see such results. Going into college, I knew right away that I wanted to go into law enforcement; my grandfather was a police officer for about thirty-seven years. So, from there, I decided to go to the police academy, I finished number one in my class and then became Rookie of the Year for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Several years later, I became the Deputy of the Year. 

One thing that people from the outside do not realize, I believe, is the stress that gets put on law enforcement officers. Not just the stress of their safety, in knowing if they are going to come home and see their family, but the stress of dealing with other individual’s problems for twelve hours a day. It can take a toll on you: you are dealing with your own problems in your own life. Think about it: sometimes, people can walk into work and decompress from the home life. In law enforcement, you cannot do this. The thought process that you are going to get every bad guy, solve every crime, well, that is not going to happen. There is pure evil in this world, there are people that do bad things. You have to balance with doing the best you can because that badge you wear comes at a high-price. You’ll be highly scrutinized, you have authority but you have to be on the good side. Every law enforcement officer that I know truly loves what he/she does, they care about what they do. 

Being on SWAT, one of the most difficult things was being outside a door of a hostage situation or raiding a house in which some violent drug-dealer or murderer resides. You have to assume that they have guns on the other side of the door, but in SWAT, this is what you signed up for. You were called to do this. And when that door gets breached, when that door gets rammed, you do not know what is going to happen. Granted, your training will kick-in but there is always going to be a little bit of nerves running through you. There are nerves riding in that van, or that armored truck on the way to a scene. You have to remember that this is what you signed up for. 

Currently reading and/or watching: I am in season six of, ‘The Blacklist.’ 

What are your hobbies? I enjoy working out, running, and singing. I lead worship at my church, Outreach Church. 

What is a phrase(s) that you try to live by? Always see the glass as half-full. 

We can always start each day with a positive mindset, get up early and conquer the day. Get a good workout in, set positive foundations for yourself as you control your destiny 

Who do you work for?ProActive Response Group

What is your day-to-day? Tell me more about your company? I got tired of seeing, on the news, innocent individuals die daily due to unfortunate events. I wanted to provide an effective training and tactical curriculum that increased the chances of survival, eliminated mass-casualties.

Our teams go out into schools, corporations and churches, providing information and skills on workplace violence and active shooters: what happens when you face one? What do you do?

I do not know when or where the next event will take place, but there is a lot of bad training models out there. ProActive Response Group can help intervene as gone are the days when you simply silence your cell phone and hide under a desk. That is a terrible idea as victims hide under a desk, you cannot defend yourself when you are in this position. 

I want to provide our community on better options for them. 

We actually just finished training a local school district, and many school districts, want to check a standardized box on topics regarding active shooters and workplace violence. But I do not believe in just checking a box. I want to provide you, your community, your colleagues with effective training.

You are eighteen times more likely to find yourself in an active shooter situation than you are a fire in the workplace. Everyone knows what their fire escape route is, but people do not know the route to take when it comes to an active shooter; they do not want to talk about an active shooter.

We have to talk about it, these events are happening at alarming rates. Not only must you provide effective training on active shooters but we believe it is crucial to provide medical training: it helps eliminate fatalities. In every class, we teach how to stop massive bleeding. EMS is not coming into your facility until it is safe for EMS to do so. That’s a problem as one can bleed out in three-to-five minutes. You must be your own paramedic in that situation. 

A lot of people also need to approach active shooters from the business standpoint. That is, if you have fatalities, your business will likely become a crime scene for the next three-to-four weeks. In other words, your business is shutdown. 

What are the warning signs on active shooters? Social media posts and some sort of negative digital footprint. One must be situationally aware; if you see something, say something. Do not worry about being a snitch, we must take action, especially in the K-12 setting. If you can get out, get out. 

How would you describe Greenville? The number-one place to call home. 

How would Greenville describe you? Go-getter.  

What is your happiest Greenville moment(s)? Seeing Greenville grow. There was a time where you didn’t go to certain pockets of Downtown Greenville. Now, it is one of the most visited cities in America. 

Where is your favorite Greenville morning hangout? Jogging around Hollingsworth Park. 

Where is your favorite Greenville evening hangout? Rick Erwin’s West End Grille