Forty Under 40: Carrie McKnight

Carrie McKnight left the University of North Carolina in 1997 with three things — degrees in both political science and industrial relations, and a deep love for the Tar Heels.

Her career path since has been “an absolute adventure.”

The Raleigh native spent her first five post-college years in Atlanta, working in the technology and financial industries, before pulling up stakes for Washington, D.C.

Matt Sagely, chief of staff for then-Congressman John Boozman, offered McKnight a job as the congressman’s senior legislative aide.

With a master’s degree in legislative affairs from George Washington University in hand, McKnight left Washington for Northwest Arkansas in 2005, hired by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to manage its Arkansas public affairs and government relations work.

After seven years and “an experience of a lifetime,” McKnight’s urge for a new challenge led her to CJRW, where she’s been since May.

It was during an informal meeting with Scott Caldwell, who heads the Little Rock-based firm’s office in Springdale, that McKnight learned the company was creating a public affairs division and he wanted her to lead it.

“The meeting got a whole lot more interesting then,” she recalled.

McKnight, married with two children, is a founding board member of the NWA Young Professionals. She says tennis and fly fishing are on her list of hobbies to explore in the coming year.