Carrie Carden

Carrie Carden, a member of the Hampton community, has recently opened a boutique in the town known as Carried Away.

Hampton’s Carrie Carden wears many different hats within the community

Story & Photos by Nic Miller

The communities within the areas of Carter County and Elizabethton are filled with friendly people and smiling faces, making most days great for so many citizens.

One of these friendly people with a smiling face is Carrie Carden of Hampton, who juggles many hats within her community.

First, Carden is the proud owner of a local boutique, one by the name of Carried Away, where members of the community can find great clothing items at an affordable price on either Facebook or in store.

When asked about why she started the boutique, Carden explained, “I have had a custom T-shirt business for almost seven years, and after some unfortunate circumstances I needed to switch it up so I took the last 500 dollars in my bank account and started this boutique.”

“Everything was originally online up until July of this year, so I

“I get to be a prayed really hard about finding a storefront and this part of a kid’s life who may not have building lined up perfectly. This is really a way for me to reach out to the community, plus I love clothes so things worked out the best that they could.” things as good at Owning a business helps you connect with those in the home as my kids do, which is just anarea, and that message is amplified in such a tight knit place such as Hampton. Carden expanded on this, saying, “I absolutely love having a business here. I grew up in other great aspect Hampton, went to Hampton High School, so I am familiar of my job working at the high school.” with the people here.” “And I knew that I could have opened this shop in Elizabethton, but I have so many friends here as well as —Carrie Carden the fact that clothing stores are not that common here in Hampton. I knew that I wanted my business in Hampton because I wanted to be able to interact with my friends and the community that I love.” Carden says that the in store numbers are very well, but a large amount of her customer base comes from the online portion of her business.

Along with her local business, Carden is also involved in other aspects of the Hampton community such as the high school, where she works as an aid and is an assistant girls basketball coach for the Bulldogs.

Carden loves what she does at the school saying, “I have coached on and off for a while, but I recently came into an assistant coach role at the high school last year. There is nothing that I love more than being a coach, that is where my heart is.”

And it is not only about the hoops for Carden, as she explained it is really about the kids. “The kids at school cheer me up every day, and being with my girls on the basketball team is so special because we are just one huge family. I love that I get to spend my days watching them grow up and mature, and I treat those kids like they are my own.”

“I get to be a part of a kid’s life who may not have things as good at home as my kids do, which is just another great aspect of my job working at the high school.”

A true supporter of the community, Carden enjoys what she does within the school system as well as at her business. For anyone interested in Carried Away Boutique, the business is located at 503 First Avenue in Hampton, and is open from 2 to 6 pm on Thursday and Friday, as well as 11 am until 3 pm on Saturday.

Carden says that her favorite aspect of owning a local business in Hampton is the sense of community and knowing your customers.

Carried Away Boutique is open from 2 pm until 6 pm on Thursday and Friday, with hours from 11 am to 3 pm on Saturday.