PARRISH ELLIOTT TALKS ABOUT MOSSY OAK’S PROSTAFF
Editor’s Note: Parrish Elliott of Fairview, Tennessee, is the regional manager for the members of the Mossy Oak ProStaff for Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama. The ProStaff goes to consumer shows, participates in hunts for disabled veterans, conservation organization banquets, QDMA meetings, spring turkey seminars, deer shows and other outdoor functions where they represent Mossy Oak, meet the public and help the consumers any way they can. These people are the Mossy Oak family’s boots on the ground. Mossy Oak ProStaff members are scattered across the nation. These ProStaffers also help the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) with its events for the Jakes Program (young turkey hunters), Kids Hunting For a Cure, and other events and charities for young people.
One of my favorite events is the wounded warriors hunt – Hope for the Warriors Outdoor Adventures. I really enjoy giving back to the men and women who have left their families and gone overseas to fight to defend our country. These people are taking our places to secure our freedom and the freedom of those less fortunate than us. All of our ProStaff members are also avid hunters and, like me, they hunt religiously. I’m a hydro graphic technician and as such we try and camouflage the world. My other job is heating and air conditioning technician. Any time I have free time I want to spend it with my family or spend it hunting.
I’m often asked, “Why did you decide to become a ProStaff manager?” My answer is, I’ve always had a passion for being outdoors, and I have an unquenchable thirst to learn all I can about the outdoors. One of the first places I ever saw Mossy Oak Camo was on a Will Primos video. I was impressed with Toxey Hass, because he wasn’t all about himself. He was about the brand of Mossy Oak and people becoming a part of the Mossy Oak family. As I kept watching the videos and learning about Mossy Oak, Toxey Haas and the Mossy Oak brand, I knew that one day I’d like to work for Mossy Oak. One day I met Tim Anderson, who’s in charge of the Mossy Oak ProStaff. When he gave me the opportunity to become the Regional Manager for the Mossy Oak ProStaff, I felt like my dreams had come true. I jumped at that opportunity and really have loved being a part of Mossy Oak and working as a member of the Mossy Oak family.
I have the opportunity to coordinate all the Mossy Oak-related events that occur in the states that I supervise. I make sure that we have Mossy Oak representatives at these events and make the connection between the Pro Staffer who’ll be at the event and the event planner setting-up and overseeing the event. As the regional manager for Mossy Oak in the Southeast, I‘m more or less the head rooster of the chicken house. If there’s an event going on that has to do with anything in the outdoors, we have ProStaffers there at those events. We teach gun safety, archery skills, duck calling, predator calling and tree stand safety, and we answer questions for consumers on any subject they want to know about in the outdoors. Most of our ProStaff members have more than 20 years of experience as hunters, and for instance, I’ve been deer hunting for more than 30 years.
Oftentimes hunters don’t realize how actively involved the Mossy Oak ProStaff is in their local communities and states. We have an extremely-large reach-out program to help not only members of the Mossy Oak family, but anyone with whom we come in contact. I guess that’s what I really enjoy about being a part of the Mossy Oak family. We’re not just about camouflage and products; we try to be a service to all that’s outdoors.
