LAKELAND, Fla. — Fresh out of college, if you would have told Caroline Davis what her life would look like at 30 years old she would have said no way.
“My 24-year-old self would not believe this,” Davis said.
The Lakeland native went to college to pursue a career in broadcasting, starting out at as a news reporter at a radio station in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I was hired by my radio station in September 2016,” she said.
So, how did a budding reporter become a millennial entrepreneur of a successful boutique in Lakeland? Well, it started, in part, with a passion for fashion.
“I’ve always loved clothes,” Davis said. “My parents used to say that I was quite the fashionista growing up and that it’s still true to this day.”
She left her job in radio in 2017 and started working at a men’s wholesale clothing company, but that only lasted a couple months because of her entrepreneurial spirit.
“I was like, ‘you know what? I can do this on my own,’” Davis said.
So, in 2018, she started her online store, 8.28 Boutique, named after a bible verse, Romans 8:28, that Davis says is her family’s motto.
“We know that all things work together for good for those who have been called according to his purpose,” she said.
While things were going well, she wanted to free some space in her home while getting the chance to interact with folks in her hometown, so she found a spot off Florida Avenue and opened her brick and mortar shop this past fall.
“I’m really, really happy that I believed in myself,” Davis said.
According to a recent study by Flippa, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Data, she couldn’t have picked a better location in Central Florida. In one of the company’s recent studies, the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro area turned out to be one of the top spots in the country for millennial business owners to thrive. About 7% of business owners in the area are millennials but, on average, they make about 27% more than millennial employees, according to the report.
For 8.28, Caroline says millennials’ knowledge of social media makes a big difference in marketing her business.
“It definitely is a different generation of workers,” Davis said. “You really, with social media, you really have to work almost 24/7.”
Being able to utilize internet resources like Google Ads, mixed with her youthful drive and determination, has led her to find success.
According to Davis, that’s been the secret sauce for so many young businesses owners here.
“There are so many of them,” she said. “And I feel like, each day, I’m learning about another business that’s opening, and it is great for Lakeland when Lakelanders open businesses here.”
The clothes on these racks, to Davis, are to emphasize a woman’s beauty. To showcase their bravery in who they are.
With each sale, she is reminded of her own bravery when she trusted in herself and her hometown to help her get to where she is now.
Nick Popham
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