Double business owner Gracie Davidson brings creativity to marketing
By: Camille Gibbs
Founding two small businesses taught Gracie Davidson many important lessons. Now she’s pursuing a professional MBA with a concentration in marketing at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) with the goal of taking her businesses to the next level.
Davidson’s first business venture began when she was in high school. She bought a camera after graduation and began Gracie Davidson Photography. Then, she renamed the business Keepin’ It Creative and expanded. Now Keepin’ It Creative is a full-service creative business, dealing with design, events and photography.
“I will never see Keepin’ It Creative as work,” she said. “If I can throw anything creative in there, I will.”
Davidson’s second business came after an unexpected job loss. After she received the news, she followed her father’s advice, giving herself one day to mourn but picking herself up the next. She understood the uncertainty of opening a business, but she took a risk and founded Gracie Davidson Marketing Services, LLC., a digital marketing consulting firm. Within the first three months, she signed six clients. Now she works with small businesses, real estate agents and markets companies’ social media, digital and print advertising, marketing materials and more.
“I decided that I had to do something,” Davidson said, “so I gave it a shot. I talked to my fiancé. He was very supportive, and told me to do it. In the first month, I signed a client, and then another and I kept going. I was shaped by other jobs that allowed me to be in the position I am in today, but I have gotten more opportunities working for myself than before.”
Before starting as an undergraduate student at UAH, Davidson changed her major several times before deciding on marketing.
“Marketing appealed to me because I am very outside the box and creative. There are different types of marketing: statistical, creative, management. Marketing lets you meet so many different people. I’ve worked with pest control companies, dentists offices and jewelry departments, and I get to change it up.”
Davidson decided to pursue her masters degree because she connected with professors and the contacts she made during her internship. Another reason is because she loves UAH. “I compare UAH to Disneyland. The atmosphere here is like nothing else.”
Davidson is from Arab, Alabama, and will be the first in her family to receive a masters degree. She is the president of the Graduate Student Association.