While my husband (and Pink Stork’s COO) Thomas was in the Marines, he and I traveled across the country. That’s also when I started to build my business, Pink Stork, from our many tiny apartments on various military bases. After he finished his tours of duty, we could have chosen to settle down anywhere, including the many cities where consumer product goods (CPG) companies like ours thrive. We spent time in Austin, TX, for a few months, but something about it just didn’t feel right. And while we also loved Washington, D.C., at the end of the day, my gut just didn’t tell me: “This is it.”

I’m a firm believer in intuition. I think my gut instinct is one of the greatest gifts that God ever gave me -- or any other woman. As women, I think our gut is always speaking to us, at first softly and then louder and louder if we don’t listen. And the more you listen to your gut and act on it, the better you are at hearing it.

Back then, my gut was telling me that I needed to go back home to St. Augustine, FL, the town where Thomas and I grew up. 

Many people, including the many men I’ve encountered in the business world, advised me against it. They told me that moving to St. Augustine would be the kiss of death for Pink Stork. They said that St. Augustine didn’t have the infrastructure to promote our growth or entice talented candidates. 

But I knew it had to be St. Augustine. 

St. Augustine is the city of hope. I know so many people who have come to St. Augustine to grieve and heal. My company’s mission is to bring hope to women, and just like I felt called to start Pink Stork, I also felt called to bring it here.

St. Augustine has been the perfect place to grow my business, to create jobs, and to support the local economy. We’ve had so many talented candidates join us from Flagler College -- and elsewhere as St. Augustine has continued to grow and attract people from across the country. With Pink Stork, I not only want to support our customers, I also want to grow other women’s careers, create professional opportunities for them, and help them achieve their dreams. And we’ve been able to employ over 60 people, 80% of whom are women.

We have so many big plans for Pink Stork and St. Augustine, and we haven’t even begun to do the things we’re going to do. We’re just getting started here -- and in the world. I want to help St. Augustine grow to become a place that can support many more businesses like ours. I’ve never put a cap on our company’s potential, and I’m not going to put a cap on the potential of our community either.