Tonia Patt’s career reads like a study in reinvention. Over 40 years, she has moved through fitness, marketing, retail and government contracting — industries with little in common except for the thread she carried through all of them: people.
Today, as vice president of people and culture at Two Six Technologies, she’s channeling that instinct into one of the faster-growing companies in the GovCon space, building out the talent infrastructure for a firm that supports some of the nation’s most critical security missions.
In this Q&A, Patt talks about how she got here, what she’s building and why, at Two Six, the people strategy is inseparable from the mission.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
My career has been rather eclectic, spanning several industries over the past 40 years: fitness and health, marketing, retail, and professional services in government contracting.
The common denominator throughout my career has always been people. Each role has been highly relationship-driven and focused on helping individuals navigate change, from inspiring physical transformation in the fitness and beauty industries, to influencing consumer behavior in marketing sales, to today helping organizations and employees navigate change as I lead People & Culture at Two Six Technologies.
While my career has crossed multiple industries, I have only had seven employers, including a brief period of self-employment, and I have only officially applied for one role, hopefully a testament to the power of networking and building strong relationships.
Nearly half of my career has been spent in Operations, leading teams of up to 300 people and driving revenue. My transition into Human Resources was somewhat unexpected and was inspired by one of the most influential mentors in my career. I was introduced to Joe Logue, CEO of Two Six, through yet another special relationship when the company was searching for a senior talent leader. During our first conversation over Zoom during COVID, I was inspired by his passion for U.S. national security and the critical missions that Two Six supports, a conversation that ultimately led me to the role I hold today.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
Throughout my career, I’ve worked in both small private companies and large public enterprises, but I had never considered joining a private equity-backed company. Two Six, formed in February 2021 with the backing of The Carlyle Group, presented a unique opportunity.
Two Six felt like a platform to do meaningful work where leaders were empowered to build, move quickly, and make a real impact. In just four years, I’ve expanded my role to lead People & Culture for a fast-growing company of nearly 1,000 employees, developing numerous initiatives and building a team that has surpassed my expectations.
Together, we’ve helped the organization grow and prepare to scale to even greater heights. The experience has reinforced something important about myself: I’m a builder — a builder of talent, a builder of programs, and a builder of companies.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
Two Six’s mission is to address some of the most urgent and critical security challenges facing our nation. I’m the proud aunt of four incredible children, and my personal mission is to help protect their future and leave this world a little better than I found it for them.
I believe that the work my team and I do at Two Six, supporting our leaders and employees who in turn support critical national missions, contributes in a meaningful way to making the world safer and better for the next generation.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
One of my top priorities is People Leader development, as the quality of our front-line leaders is a major factor in our success. Our People Leaders influence how employees and customers experience Two Six and how long employees see themselves with the company.
Another focus is employee engagement and experience measured through our Voice of the Employee (VotE) program. Over the past year, we evolved from a single annual survey to a series of check-ins aligned with the employee lifecycle, allowing us to better measure engagement and apply solutions that improve our employee net promoter score.
We are also advancing our compensation strategy to remain competitive and equip People Leaders with the information needed to make strong decisions when attracting and retaining talent. In 2025, we launched a proprietary tool that provides leaders with external and internal compensation data, aligning with our company value of transparency.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
Like most in the GovCon space, our People Leaders are billable. Helping them better manage their time and reducing cumbersome administrative tasks that pull them away from employees and customers is a key focus. Our People Systems & Data team is exploring simple AI solutions to streamline these activities and help our leaders focus on what matters most.
How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?
Collaboration is key to our success. It has served us well to build solutions with the customer; in this case, our People Leader population. We will reach into our People Leader community to confirm we are tackling the right problem and gather input on what “good” looks like. We will showcase and test solutions with them and gain early adoption along the way. We are in it together.
How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?
Mentorship and networking are critical in life, not just in GovCon. You can never have enough people invested in your success, and to benefit from those relationships you must reciprocate.
I once followed a mentor from one industry to another, a leap of faith that ultimately altered the trajectory of my career. Later, when I started my own consultancy helping companies improve their talent management teams and programs, it was my network that created every opportunity.
GovCon is constantly evolving and solving real-world problems. A strong network helps keep you informed and grounded, and the more we share knowledge, the stronger we all become.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
When I turned forty, I wrote a personal memoir titled The Next 40. My husband made it into a soft-bound book. I truly love writing and taking the time to self-reflect, always hoping to become a better version of myself.