Jack Mitchell is an American businessperson, author, and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

. He is the chairman of the Mitchells Family of Stores.Robert Reiss
Mitchells ... Built and Growing on Hugs
''Forbes'', January 3, 2011 In 2005, he was included on '' Inc.'' magazine's list of 26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs.

Early life and education

Mitchell earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

in 1961, and later obtained a

master of arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Chinese history from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1963, planning to become a diplomat in China-United States relations.

Career

The Mitchells Family of Stores was founded in 1958 as "Ed Mitchell's" by Mitchell's parents, Ed and Norma Mitchell.Luxury clothier merges with bankrupt San Francisco retailer to boost profits

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

, October 8, 2010 The original

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, shop had only 800 ft² of space and five

men's suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

styles. Jack joined the company in 1969.About Us
mitchellstores.com The company acquired Richards of

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

in 1995, Marsh's of

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, in 2005 (now called Mitchells),

Wilkes Bashford Wilkes Bashford is a clothing retailer headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. In November 2009, Wilkes Bashford was acquired by Mitchells Stores. The flagship store was opened in 1966 by its namesake Wilkes Bashford. It is favo ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

in 2009, and Marios in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in October 2015.

Published works

* ''Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results'' (2003) * ''Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results'' (2008) * ''Selling the 'Hug Your Customers Way': The Proven Process for Becoming a Passionate and Successful Salesperson for Life'' (2018)

References

Living people American male writers American motivational speakers American fashion businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-business-bio-stub