ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Frankie Bailey is from Michigan, but in the last decade, she has immersed herself in the community and is shaping it for growth and success.

“I moved down back in 2006, and life brought me here,” Bailey said. “I fell in love with the community. And within a day of me moving here, came into the Coffee Company and met with John Bunn, the old owner, and got a job.”

Several years and a couple of children later, Frankie Bailey bought The Coffee Company from her old boss. Like her shop, she wants to honor Elizabethton’s past while looking forward. Along with running her business, Bailey is committed to the area. She holds seats on, and energizes, many boards including the Main St. Organization, Chamber Board, Boss Lady Group and the NE Tennessee Community Foundation. Her goal is to help grow Elizabethton in a smart way, all while maintaining its charm.

“We’ve already seen elevation in our numbers, our sales, new business is coming in, people spending money on these buildings to make them bigger and better and last longer for our community,” she said. “So hanging onto what we have, supporting it, loving it, appreciating it, and yet still moving forward.”

Bailey said she works with other amazing women who make things happen.

“There’s amazing women leaders in this community that are just, like, finding these opportunities and making really great things happen, like the ice skating rink and everything that happened for our holiday season now is just really special in downtown,” Bailey said. “So it’s really fun, and that just as an idea, some money and here we go.”

It’s a responsibility and an opportunity she embraces as she encourages people to have a voice in shaping their town.

“Not only is Elizabethton in this beautiful small community, but our region’s connected,” Bailey told News Channel 11. “It’s amazing to see Johnson City and Elizabethton and us working together and doing fun things to really build the region as a whole. So I think we have that mindset and we embed that in our kiddos and people coming into town.”

In the midst of owning a business, sitting on several boards and making big things happen in Elizabethton and the surrounding area, Bailey is most proud of her role as a mom raising strong girls. She says the work she does will eventually help her children.

“I want my girls to see that women can do whatever they can dream and want,” she said. “But it takes courage. And my girls need to see that so that all girls, all young women need to see that, but they can do it”

They can do it, and Bailey is proving it.

“It’s a special place. I feel incredibly blessed to be here. I mean, I would have never imagined, you know, 2006 when I was working here, serving tables. I would have never imagined,” she said. “But it’s pretty amazing how God just ties everything back together. Then here we are. So yeah, yeah. This is, this is where I want to be.”