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Carmela Davis has no trouble admitting she's stubborn.

Davis just celebrated 40 years in business as owner of Carmela Davis CPA in Longview.

Is she getting ready to retire?

"Heck no. not even close," she said, and remembered the example her own mother set.

"My mother worked until she was 90,", she said. Her parents, Alene and Paul Davis, both died in their 90s.

Davis was born in Nebraska and moved to Colorado with her family three years later. Ten years after that, she moved to Dallas, where she lived until she graduated high school and then from what was North Texas State University.

She became a certified public accountant in 1982 and began working at a firm in Dallas before taking a job in Kilgore

"It was for the same amount of money (as she was making in Dallas), but I didn't have to drive or pay for parking," she said.

In 1985, though, she opened her own practice in Longview. Her business now has two locations in Longview ÐÔÊӽ紫ý” one on Gilmer Road and one on High Street ÐÔÊӽ紫ý” with almost 40 employees

"I was a young kid, for sure," Davis said, admitting that starting her business was scary, with a "definite learning curve."

"But if you put your mind to it and you work hard at it, I think anything can be accomplished," she said

While she was building her business, she would take her children to work with her until they were about 4 to 6 months old. She said she allows her employees that same opportunity. 

"When you have your own business, that's partly what you have to do," she said.

She and her husband, Mark Adkisson, have a blended family of six sons, one daughter, and now five granddaughters and one grandson.

Her determination must have been the driving force behind her recovery from a horrifying accident in 2020 while she was preparing to open her famous Christmas lights display for that season.

Davis began her elaborate holiday display at her home about 25 years ago. Over the years, it attracted so many cars during the holiday season that neighbors began to complain. That's when, about nine years ago, she moved it to 30 acres on U.S. 259 just north of Longview. There, Carmela's Magical Santa Land continues to grow, with more lights and more attractions added every year.

It continued to grow even after the accident happened before her Santaland opened to the public in 2020. She was opening the rear rolling door on a food truck that had just been added to the park when something went horribly wrong. Davis ended up with the middle section of her body crushed under the weight of the 600-to 800-pound door.

She had internal bleeding ÐÔÊӽ紫ý” her gut has been crushed, she said. Her crushed pelvis had to be wired together with screws on both sides. 

"I was thinking 'I'm going to be paralyzed,' " she said. 

But she prevailed, with multiple surgeries and a long recovery period.

"They were hopeful, but it wasn't guaranteed, that I would be able to walk again. But that was our hope," Davis said. "We had to live on hope and determination."

Four years later, she was still having problems walking and had a hip reconstruction surgery.

"The minute I woke up, I got to stand up. I stood up on two feet solid for the first time in two years," Davis said. 

She approached her recovery with the same dedication to hard work that she applies to her business. That hard work has provided her the opportunity to give back to the community. 

"If you work hard you can bring joy to other people," Davis said.

She's a committed member of Ambucs, a nonprofit organization that has a mission to "inspire mobility and independence" for people with disabilities. A former national president, she was known to travel around the country in an RV, with her husband driving, visiting other chapters, even as she was recovering from her accident.

Davis said she always looks for the purpose in things that happen in life.

She looks for "what is God telling me," she said.

"I think God saved my life in many ways," when her accident occurred. She said it helped her understand the struggle of people Ambucs tries to help.

Davis' business has grown, she said, because of her philosophy that she doesn't just take "big clients."

"I'll take every small client I can get," Davis said. She doesn't rank them.

Her accounting firm handles about 6,500 tax returns a year, 500 payrolls and 200 bookkeeping accounts. 

Oil and gas business is a big part of the work her firm does.

"All clients are good clients," she said. "I truly love what I do."