FORGING YOUR PATH

 Becca Ingle is a lifestyle and family travel blogger. She creates family travel guides for trips around the world! She created the swimline since they all lived in swimsuits on vacation and wanted something flattering but cute to wear and match the kids! "LainSnow is named after my daughter "Lainey Snow". The line was inspired by all our travels around the world and our love for living life in bathing suits. We hope you feel your best in these suits and make lifetime memories. 

 Mindy Ballou Fitzpatrick is a Carteret County native and the daughter of the late Ward in Betty Ballou. She is the co-owner of The Friendly Market, a family owned, community grown business in Morehead City. Her roles at the market are many and include recipe development, maintaining social media, hiring and supervision of a staff of over 65 people. It is no surprise that Mindy’s leadership strategies are strongly rooted in her love and passion for sports. She grew up surfing and playing basketball from a young age. Throughout high school and college she received numerous accolades and awards. She was a three time all American at South Carolina for basketball and won multiple district and regional surfing championships including the 1994 Women’s Amateur National Championship in Florida.

Ever mindful of her community and grateful for all of the support she received, Mindy began a nonprofit girls’ basketball camp in 1998. Mindy’s Hoop Clinic helped to instill leadership skills to an average of 100 girls each summer for 13 years. This program provided more than $50,000 in college scholarships to participants.

Mindy continued her commitment to community service as a volunteer for the North Carolina Seafood Festival board member for four years and was elected chair in 2015.

She was recognized with the inaugural class of the Carteret County Sports Hall of Fame in 2015 and inducted into the prestigious George Whitfield Hall of Fame in 2016. Most notably, she was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

In 2008, Mindy and her husband, Matt, pursued another passion and launched The Friendly Market. There, they showcase fresh, local, seasonal products and support an extensive co-op of area farmers and growers with a core mission of embracing community and enriching lives. The 2008 iteration of the market was essentially a stand set up on the corner of Bridges Street and Friendly Road where Mindy sold her famous baked goods. Today The Friendly Market occupies over four acres and houses a 6,000 square foot building and full service nursery. When she is not working in the market, she enjoys all things outdoors with Matt and their children Matt, jr and Annie.