Carmen Davenport is an internationally-recognized author, life coach and empowerment speaker, and the founder and owner of Invincible You, her platform for reaching women with the tools that they need to identify their strengths and overcome the roadblocks keeping them from embracing their full potential. A 25-year combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Ms. Davenport retired in 2015 at the rank of master sergeant after serving with major contributions as an operations chief for the West Coast Field Supply and Maintenance Analysis Office; a maintenance management officer for the First Marine Division, also serving a combat tour in Afghanistan during the retrograde of the Marine Corps equipment; a maintenance management chief/officer while serving at the I Marine Expeditionary Force, also serving a combat tour during the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq; and a maintenance analysis officer and maintenance management chief for the 1st Marine Logistics Group, also serving a combat tour during the invasion of Iraq. This was also the first time the Marine Corps equipment readiness program was deployed, and it deployed successfully.
Ms. Davenport is extensively decorated for her service, with a NATO Medal, eight Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, and two National Defense Service Medals, among dozens of other honors. She has received a Presidential Unit Citation and is a recipient of a Meritorious Service Medal and a four-time recipient of the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and Navy Unit Commendations, a six-time recipient of the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, as well as receiving eight Good Conduct Medals and more than half a dozen special citations, commendations and letters of appreciation.
Ms. Davenport holds a Master of Arts in human resources with an emphasis on organizational leadership from National University and is currently a doctoral candidate at Jacksonville University, where she is pursuing her doctorate in business administration with an emphasis on management. She is certified as a health and life coach by the International Coaching Federation, and published her first book, “The Warrior Stance: 13 Principles to Building and Living Your Ideal Family and Work Life,” in 2019. Ms. Davenport’s second book, “Your Warrior Stance: Releasing the Warrior in Your,” will be released in 2022. She has contributed to area newspapers including The Florida Star/The Georgia Star, has been featured in Her Grit Magazine, and was voted a Woman of Influence by Business Men and Women of Color magazine. Prior to launching her career as a speaker and coach, Ms. Davenport created Combat Diva LLC, a line of inspirational clothing and accessories that she describes as helping to “project women’s beauty and strength which is reflected no matter the battles or struggles faced.”
As the voice behind Invincible You, Ms. Davenport strives to help her clients reveal and address hidden traumas that act as the roots of their confusion and negative behaviors. She compares the process to finding a beautiful flower choked by weeds, describing each weed as an issue with self-esteem or perseverance. Each weed stems from a root cause or event, and even after it has been removed, a hole remains that needs to be filled with positive affirmations and healing. Ms. Davenport emphasizes that until each person can fully expose and move past their root traumas, they are unable to heal and move forward to live their best lives. As a single parent and a survivor of childhood abuse and sexual violence, Ms. Davenport identifies her own journey and her own early struggles with self-destructive behaviors as a model for her clients. She underscores that “hurt people hurt people,” and that if her own personal recovery and transformation was possible, then it is possible for anyone to address and grow past their traumas.
In addition to the daily responsibilities of networking, preparing for interviews and working directly with coaching clients, Ms. Davenport is a volunteer guardian ad litem, assisting in child custody, emancipation and visitation cases. She has received special recognition from Florida Governor Rick Scott for her dedication to her work and role as guardian ad litem. She explains that her philosophy is to “know your purpose. Our purpose isn’t necessarily for us or about us; everything we are faced with in life and the decisions we make will be used to help guide others through similar issues in which we have already conquered or are conquering.” Already a successful speaker and coach, Ms. Davenport looks forward to finishing her doctorate and starting a nonprofit organization to further spread her message and help empower others in the coming years.