Bess Heisler Ginty originally thought she would work in international relations on the other side of the globe, but it turns out she found her calling much closer to home.

Today she is the president and chief executive officer of Kids for the Future (KFF), a family owned and operated business that provides early intervention and therapeutic services for 1,300 children and adolescents with developmental delays and emotional or behavioral issues at its facilities in Forrest City, Helena, Marianna, Marion, Parkin, West Helena and Wynne. Since it opened its doors in 1997, KFF has grown to 450 employees with total payroll of $15.5 million.

Ginty first started working at KFF when she was growing up in Wynne, and she always enjoyed it.

“I would spend my summers working in treatment rooms, the kitchen and I even cleaned my fair share of bathrooms,” she says. “Anywhere there are children makes for a very sweet environment.

But she had other plans for her life. She double-majored in international relations and European studies at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, with the intention of moving to Europe and working for the European Union.  Continue Reading

*Click here to see Bess’s full profile from the Arkansas Times special Women Entrepreneurs’ issue!