Charlottesville native, Antoine Davenport, began his journey on Charlton Avenue, being raised by his grandparents. He attended Charlottesville City Schools, going from Greenbierer Elementary to Walker Upper Elementary, to Buford Middle, to Charlottesville High School. Davenport recalls having a close-knit family on his father’s side. He would often visit local community-centered facilities, as his grandfather was the Recreation supervisor for Parks and Rec and Hardy Drive, where he met a lot of his friends. When he was just 18 years old, he had his first run-ins with the law, which ultimately changed the course of his life forever.
“Charlottesville was a good place for me growing up. I still hold it dear to my heart.”
Upon returning home after twenty-one years, Davenport did not return to Charlottesville, but moved to Maryland to live with his aunt, his father’s sister. While away, he lost his father in a car accident in 1988. In Maryland, he began working in warehouse distribution for five years. When he was injured on the job, it left him out of work for a year and in serious pain from his injury and operations. He bagan seeking out holistic pain remedies, which led him to aromatherapy and its health benefits. To manage the discomfort of his injury, Davenport and his wife began using natural oils and diffusers in their home. When receiving a call from his lawyer about his employment status, he heard from the Lord.
“I was sitting in my car, around 8 o’clock, and God put this business on my heart. I ran in the house to tell my wife about the business idea- and we never looked back.”
The Davenports began working towards turning their passion into a business. They began conducting more research in aromatherapy and even became certified Aromatherapists, and made their own fragrances by blending different scents. With their first 12 scents, they released their product in the form of a car diffuser- a diffuser that plugs into a car cigarette lighter and disperses the oils. Antoine had graphic and branding help from his cousin and Charlottesville’s own, Sarad Davenport. Following the launch of the product, Antoine and his wife were told by God to begin to take the product on tour, leading them to go to ten different cities.
“God gave us three instructions- When we got to each city, we were to find a pop-up where we could sell the product. He instructed us to get in and out of Ubers and Lyfts, so we could sell the product to drivers and teach them how to become sales representatives. Lastly, we we were to find a store, so that the store could carry our product.”
Since the inception of their business, Antoine and his wife moved to Atlanta to open up a storefront in the New Black Wall Street Market. They have become the first black-owned company to manufacture wall plugins for your home, which feature hotel scents from 5-star hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, Saint Regis, and many more. They have two locations, the other being at Perimeter Mall, and they also have worldwide shipping. As they look to the future, Aromex has goals to franchise to create job opportunities and grow their brand.
“Entrepreneurship is a rough and rugged path. You have to be consistent. You have to be resilient. You have to be patient. Building relationships is the main thing as you’re building your brand.”
Abundant Life’s Vocational Trades Program allows for members in our community, beginning in 5th grade to adulthood, to experience self-exploration with hopes of translating that into a career. This work is made possible by V Trades presentations from tradesmen, career assessments, and detailed career goal plans. What is inspiring about Davenport is that he took his interest and made it into his career, what our V Trades Program aims to do. Stories like Antoine’s remind us of the importance of investing in our dreams until they become a reality. Antoine, thank you for the foundation that you have laid for those to come behind you. Abundant Life is honored to stand on your shoulders as we pour into the future generations of vocational trades career men and women, and successful entrepreneurs.
“When something is placed on your heart, you have to be obedient to the calling, because if you don’t do it, someone else is going to do it. You don’t need to be in the perfect position to get started. I would advise all entrepreneurs to conquer their fears, get started, remain consistent and disciplined, and build relationships.”
