Elise S. Mitchell

Elise Mitchell grew up in Carbondale, Ill., thinking she would become a trial lawyer.

But when a high school friend told her about public relations, Mitchell was hooked.

“I felt like I was born to be in public relations,” she said.

Many people would agree.

Mitchell’s clients now include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc.

Mitchell had been working solo for six years until 2001, when Mitchell Communications Group Inc. grew by 176 percent in gross revenue and Mitchell realized she had to have some help. She now has five employees who mainly work part-time from their homes.

It was also during 2001 that Mitchell help found the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and served as its first president.

Mitchell earned a bachelor’s degree in 1983 from Abilene Christian University in Texas and a master’s from Memphis State University in 1991.

She worked for a public relations firm in Nashville, Tenn., and two advertising agencies in Memphis. Also in Memphis Mitchell worked for Promus Hotel Corp., where she was the top public relations executive for the hotel chain that includes Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn. She moved to Fayetteville in 1995 and now has 20 years of full-time public-relations experience.

While working in Memphis, Deloss Walker of Walker & Associates Advertising told Mitchell to “be the most enthusiastic person you know.”

It has become her motto, and she tries to live up to the challenge every day.