From her small-town upbringing to her marriage to astronaut Edgar Mitchell to her successful career which brought her into political circles in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., Anita Mitchell's life has been anything but boring. Born in Alliance, Ohio, Anita studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1964, she moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, home to the Kennedy Space Center. While working for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Anita met and married aviator and astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon. The Mitchells moved to Atherton, California in 1972, then returned to Palm Beach in 1974.
In 1978, Anita ran for State Representative District 82 in the Florida House, losing in a very close race. Deciding to lend her political acumen to the private sector instead, Anita opened Anita Mitchell Associates, a public relations, advertising, and government relations firm in 1979. AMA grew into The Mitchell Group, specializing in government and corporate relations, strategy and positioning, branding, and media management. Through her work at AMA, Anita has represented some of the top corporations in Florida, advocating for them in counties throughout the state, in Tallahassee and in Washington, DC.