Adriane Barnes learned about nature as a child growing up on a farm in Perryville, and as the new director of communications for the Arkansas Agriculture Department, the values instilled in her to be honest, hardworking, respectful and kind still guide her.
Barnes, who lives with her family on Lake Ouachita just outside Hot Springs, said she wasn’t always as caring and thoughtful as she is today. In her youth, she said, she could be downright mean to her brother, and she might have thought a little too much of herself. Talking to her now, no one could guess that. Barnes has laser focus and a warm smile, and it’s hard to imagine her saying an unkind word to anyone.
“I was very mean to my brother when we were young,” Barnes said. “I locked him in an outdoor shed once for several hours in August, convinced him he was adopted, tricked him into jumping from the top bunk only to move as he crashed headfirst into the dresser, was horribly bossy and manipulative all around, … and then, he became this person that I had more in common with than anyone else in the world. As we grew up together, we came to value the same things, love the same place, believe in the same people, hope for the same outcomes.”
Barnes, 29, said she had an air about her when she was young, and she didn’t think she could be rattled. Barnes and her brother ran roughshod on their family’s 350 acres in the Arkansas River bottoms. Barnes said that near the banks of the river, down the hill from the farm, vines would grow “as long as the trees were tall.”
“My brother and I would swing out as far as we could on [the] vines,” Barnes said. “I thought I knew everything, I thought I was invincible, and I thought I couldn’t be outdone — at 8 years old. A vine snapped in midair, and I fell 20 feet and landed on my back. It was all very clear that I could be beaten. I was not as smart as I thought I was, and falling hurt really bad. My brother stood at the top of the hill for a little while, dumbfounded. I don’t think we asked for help to peel me off the ground, dust the blood and dirt away, and climb the hill composed.”
Barnes and her brother never mentioned the fall to their parents, but she said her dad would have just asked, “What did you learn from that one, love?” There would have been no sympathy or drama to reward her and reinforce her actions. She said that as an adult, she realizes she’s not invincible, and her perception benefits from the calm she inherited from her father.
She also inherited a love of the land from her father, who was a forester. Her mother is a schoolteacher.
Barnes said she was a typical country kid. She was, by her own admission, a “tomboy.”
“I didn’t really start acting like a girl until around sixth grade,” Barnes said. “I had a boy haircut, absolutely no interest in things like brushing my teeth, being stylish or brushing my hair. I loved being a country kid with dirty feet, a sprinkler in the yard, tackle football with the boys — who I was taller than in the sixth grade — fishing, hunting and generally anything that could get me outside. The women in my life were somewhat bewildered at first, I think. They got used to it. Then one day, I decided to be a girl, to everyone’s relief.”
As a member of the basketball team at Perryville High School, Barnes said, she wasn’t the best player, but she enjoyed being on a team with girls she loved.
“I loved the fight and the competition and, at the same time, loved the camaraderie and sisterhood,” Barnes said. “Coach Campbell and Coach Watts — both principals now at Perryville — treated us like their own daughters. If one got into trouble, we all did.”
Taking those lessons from growing up in Perryville, Barnes parlayed her work ethic, communication skills and team-first attitude into a career as a communications expert. She attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication.
“Dr. Nelle Bedner is still there, and she was by far one of the biggest inspirations for me,” Barnes said. “She is a very dedicated lady, with a sharp sense of humor, extreme wit and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude. … There was no one else I wanted to be more like than her, for most of college.”
Bedner, who was Barnes’ adviser, said it was flattering to hear that Barnes remembered her in that way.
“She’s memorable for a lot of reasons — she’s dedicated, smart, hardworking, and certainly, everything she’s gotten she deserves. I can’t be any more proud in terms of this promotion she’s received because I know her caliber in terms of that. She’s fantastic,” Bedner said of Barnes.
Through the guidance of the UCA communication faculty, Barnes said ,she learned how to apply her skills to any industry. She learned that the most important part of her job is to understand the industry she works in first before sending out information to the public. Her first communication position was as Firewise information specialist for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, where she put to good use her outdoor background and the influence of her father.
She moved on to marketing director and special-events coordinator at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa. She was asked back to the Arkansas Forestry Commission and accepted the job of public information coordinator, which led to her promotion to director of communications for the Arkansas Agriculture Department.
Barnes is married to Chris Barnes, the food-and-beverage director at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa. The two met at the annual Fire Boat School, and she is stepmother to his children. Her role can be challenging, but she said she loves the kids as if they were her own.
“His children, I had the great pleasure of meeting, falling in love with and
becoming stepmom to,” Barnes said. “Stepkids are unique because you don’t have the joy and honor of caring for them in your womb. You do, however, grow a deep love and connection with them in your heart.”
Barnes said she values connections with people above all else and strives to support and motivate everyone around her. She just applies all the lessons she’s learned in her life, starting with her days on the farm.
Staff writer Morgan Acuff can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or macuff@arkansasonline.com.