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Empowering Women: Veteran turns passion into business in Ada

Posted at 10:47 PM, Nov 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-11 22:48:14-05

ADA, Mich. -- A U.S. Marine Corps veteran is empowering women with her growing start-up brand.

Carrie Papke was an officer in the Marines. After serving seven years, she moved to West Michigan to start a family and turn her passion into a business.

Carrie Papke

While working in Washington D.C.,  Papke also began blogging about activewear.

"I found out  there were a lot of great brands people didn’t know about and have never tried before. There’s not a lot of stores that have multiple activewear brands all under one roof," Papke explained.

The thought stuck with her, and just over a year ago she opened up a place that did just that.

Papke opened up TO & FRO Activewear with the goal of making women feel comfortable in their own skin.

"I think women in general are very critical of themselves and we want to build their confidence and that starts really with how you feel on the inside, if you take a peek around our store you find a lot of empowering messages in our store," Papke said.

"For us we want to change how a woman thinks of themselves and think positivity first," she added.