Valentine’s Day traditions place a lot of emphasis on romantic love and new love. But local couples who have been married for a long time agree after the honeymoon phase, it takes a lot of hard work to keep a relationship going. And then some couples add extra work by actually working together to make their career goals come as true as their romantic goals.
Locals Carol and John Davis were each small business owners with a previous marriage behind them each when they met. Carol Davis owned and still runs the Interior HomeStore in Sherman, and John Davis was in the restaurant business.
Carol Davis grew up in Louisiana, and because of her father’s job, the family moved often from Louisiana to Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and then Texas.
She said that could have been hard on some young people, “but I looked at it as an opportunity to travel with my family for free, since it was difficult for our family to travel very far together with 5 kids in tow. When I did leave home, there was no doubt that I wanted to stay in Texas to explore my passion for design and to open my own business someday.”
John Davis grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended school there. While still in school, John Davis joined the workforce at Mazzio’s Corporation part-time at a Ken’s Pizza restaurant.
“The owner, Ken Selby, was an incredible owner and boss and opened up the doors for John many years later when one of Ken’s franchisees wanted to sell his restaurant,” Carol Davis said. “John ‘s dream became a reality when he purchased it to become an entrepreneur and own his own business.”
The restaurant was located in Denison, resulting in his move to this area. A few years later, he opened the Mazzio’s Pizza in Sherman.
“John and I met in Sherman in 1987 while he was operating his restaurants in Sherman and Denison, and I was growing my design business and retail store in downtown Sherman,” Carol Davis said. “It was an instant attraction and connection but since we both had been married previously, we decided that dating and getting to know each other slowly was important before we were really serious about a future together. So, five years later, we made the decision to get married and John asked if he could choose our wedding date so on July 4, 1992, we were married by Pastor Don Smith at the Tanglewood Tower with friends and family all decked out in red, white and blue attire and our friend, Ron Uselton, was dressed as Uncle Sam and beautifully shared a few stories about how we met! A firework display followed our ceremony, compliments of Tanglewood and their yearly ritual on this national holiday.”
By that time, the two were already working together at John’s restaurant called The South Austin Grill on everything from the recipes to the operations.
“I continued to work full time and grow Interior HomeStore in Sherman but in order to spend time with my new husband, I worked evenings and weekends at South Austin Grill during its 10-year tenure,” she said. “This was our real test of “working together” before and after marriage and the commitment to doing whatever it takes to make it fun, even though the hours at our new restaurant were long and the challenges were present everyday with keeping our staff in tune with our goals for great service and quality food and service with every meal served.”
The two weren’t all work and now play. Their shared love for the outdoors, hiking and fine food took them to Estes Park, Colorado for their honeymoon. They then spent the next 33 plus years traveling to more beautiful places.
“And we both agree that it has only gotten better each passing year,” Carol Davis said. “After we closed the restaurants, John joined the Interior HomeStore daily operations approximately 24 years ago and it was again a match made in heaven with him now in charge of the service/install department and me as retail buyer/operations and design coordinator. As a team and an incredible staff, we have worked hard to diversify and grow the design business and also have the luxury of much shorter hours than the restaurant business, enjoying significant growth in our retail store that we are both very passionate about to this day.”
She added that John Davis still enjoys cooking for friends and family, but mostly for the two of them.
“In fact, it is rare that he doesn’t leave work early to prepare and have a meal waiting for me when I come home each evening,” Carol Davis said. “Not only is he a great cook, since I leave the house earlier in the morning than he does, he will make sure the bed is made up most days before I get home and that the house is picked up and ready for me to enjoy or for any friends who stop by unexpectedly. His ‘Honey-Do List’ is always full but he seems to enjoy having a few chores of his own to take care of as well as tackling a few on my wish list. His Mr. Fix It Cap is close and ready for another repair project, which was a trait learned from his granddad and father, who were the greatest mentors in that department for sure.”
Carol Davis said after all of these years of Valentines’ together, their current perfect Valentines’ Date is usually pretty simple and doesn’t have to be fancy as long as they are together to celebrate sometime that week.
“Some years is does include dressing up and a reservation to a new restaurant, other years it includes opening up our home to our closest friends for a few ‘favorite recipes’ from our restaurant, or it may include just the two of us at home, experiencing with a new recipe and watching a movie,” she said. “Whatever the occasion, we are blessed to be together day by day and appreciate the years we have spent together thus far, hoping for many more years to come.”
As for advice for others to keep their love light burning, Carol Davis said, “You have heard, ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff’ and this is what we try to do as much as we can. If we disagree, we talk it out and get it worked out as quickly as possible until he agrees with my side!”
All joking aside, she said. she always tries to make him laugh as often as she can because they both find that it is hard to be upset when you are laughing out loud every day.
“We will continue to work together as long as the Lord has planned and be grateful for it!”
