Forty Under 40: Mailena Urso

Mailena Urso pursues what brings her meaning to her life, and as a result, she owns two diverse businesses with bright futures.

Urso helps companies with website development, branding, and marketing through her business, Concord Adams. She has one full-time employee and uses contractors.

She and her husband in 2018 also launched Big Box Karaoke in Fayetteville and are negotiating a lease for a second location in Rogers.

Urso was raised in Van Buren by a hard-working single mom. She earned a degree in journalism, focusing on advertising and public relations, from the University of Arkansas.

She was a CMO for Lauren James and worked six years for Collective Bias.

“That was one of the highlights of my professional career,” she said of Collective Bias, which she joined in 2011 as the 11th employee.

Urso and her husband also lived in Chicago and in Japan, where she taught private English lessons.

“That’s where we discovered private-suite karaoke and fell in love with that, so we created a business plan,” she said. “This is a passion project, 10 years in the making.”

Big Box was immediately profitable. Their location offers seven rooms, the largest accommodating up to 25 guests, a lounge for food and drink, and a patio.

The concept appeals to all ages, extroverts and introverts and those with disabilities, and “customers who don’t fit the typical profile,” Urso said.

They had to lay off most of their team early in the pandemic but focused on their take-out menu — inspired by Asian-fusion street food — and the sale of wine, beer, and sake.

“We have a full bar with signature cocktails, and we’ve focused on the growing community of sake lovers,” Urso said.