His parents, Robert and Lou Jane Adams Wills are retired, long-time school teachers.
As a child, Wills and his family lived at Pickles Gap Creek Crafts Village, a local tourist attraction two miles North of Conway founded by his grandparents, Jean "Momma Jean" Alley Adams and "Poppa" Wilburn C. Adams.
After his freshman year, in the summer of 1987, Wills briefly relocated to Los Angeles, California with his band, the late 1980s hair-metal group "Crimson Tear," to pursue opportunities in the music business.
(Arkansas Zeta Chapter) and later worked as a regional director for the national office of Sig Ep, based in Richmond, Virginia.
In 2004, he ran again for State Representative against Dr John Smith, the former interim president of the University of Central Arkansas.
In spite of his visible position as Speaker of the House, Wills ran second in the initial balloting and faced a runoff with State Senator Joyce Elliott of Little Rock.
Many liberal voters rejected Wills as too conservative due to his resistance to the early drafts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").
This was in spite of his distinguished record in health care policy as a legislator, including his prominent leadership role in passing a 56-cent increase in the state tobacco tax to create the Arkansas Trauma System.
Sen. Elliott won the runoff with a total vote of 36,983 (54%) to Wills' 31,822 (46%), in spite of only carrying 1 out of the 8 counties (Pulaski) in the 2nd District.
Wills conceded the race and immediately endorsed Elliott, earning a modicum of goodwill from party regulars.
Although initially criticized for utilizing the "revolving door" between the legislature and the lobbying profession, Wills has since been consistently recognized by legislators and other insiders as one of the most respected bi-partisan lobbyists at the state capitol.