Black Working Man Lifestyle Magazine BWM Lifestyle Magazine - Premier Issue | Page 17
EMPIRE of
KEVIN DAVIS
The
Learn How to Win!!!
by: Lorrie Irby-Jackson
It can be said that Kevin Davis, from an early age, knew what his goals were and what
his destiny would be.
“My parents weren’t business owners themselves, but when my father asked me
what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told him, “I want to be a businessman,” said
Davis in a recent phone chat with BWM. “I wanted to own a Holiday Inn one day and
spent my school years figuring out the steps to run my own business.”
Owning his own Holiday Inn was a lofty goal to have, one that he didn’t quite
accomplish as an adult. But what the Wichita Falls, TX native has achieved, however,
is a successful name-bearing State Farm insurance agency based in Dallas. Like
many entrepreneurs, Davis didn’t have a clear-cut path to follow, but he knew that
ambitions and an education would help him along the way.
“During the time I earned my degrees [at VA’s Norfolk State University and NJ’s
Fairleigh Dickinson University], I wrote papers researching the steps to run a
business and get into franchising,” Davis says. “I don’t really think I ever had a
mentor, but when I graduated from high school, I earned an ROTC scholarship and
had a four year active duty commitment to the Army. I had gone in the Army with the
same mindset that many young people have- four years is a long time to commit to
something! By doing that, I was soon a 22-year-old Army officer with 40 subordinates
in charge of a platoon. It was an enriching experience and taught me that even
younger people could have and own a business.”
Davis took more than a few other professional detours before entering the insurance
business, including positions as an IBM customer engineer and owner of a 7-Eleven
franchise. Neither were a good fit for Davis, especially when that franchise made
more of a profit for the corporation than for him. He racked up over $100,000 in
debt. But, these unfavorable experiences are important for the husband and father
to share with young people, including his 17 and 20-year-old sons.