A compassionate hand is placed on the back of an ailing patient. Flour-covered hands grip a rolling pin on a table. A comforting hand gently holds a boy’s head.
Dr. Danielle King’s work has made a lasting imprint on Mt. Sterling.
While both her practice, the Mt. Sterling Clinic, and her bakery, Spoonful of Sugar, keep her busy, Danielle, 46, feels that her most important job is being a single mom to her son, Elliott, 16.
“Being a mother is the hardest job I’ve ever done,” Danielle says. “Being a doctor is way easier than being a mom because you’re shaping who they will become.”
Elliott King is a junior at Montgomery County High School whose interests include football, orchestra and mock trial. As Elliott nears the end of high school, Danielle understands that time is fleeting. She believes Elliott’s increasing independence is a sign that she is parenting right. However, sometimes the realization hits hard.
“There is always that little twinge that says, ‘Oh my gosh they’re growing up,”Danielle says. “They’re not going to need me all the time. It makes you think and just try to use the time you have wisely.”
Originally from Huntington, West Virginia, Danielle decided to take a leap in 2002 and move to Mt. Sterling for better job prospects and a better child-rearing environment. She became the first female primary-care doctor servicing the area. She sees patients at her practice and also volunteers at The Post Clinic, a clinic for underserved patients.
“I just love what I do,” she says. “When you find something you love, it’s easy.”
Danielle’s passion for healing in Mt. Sterling has extended beyond her practice at Mt. Sterling Clinic.
“The town was dying,” she says. “There might have been two storefronts in this whole downtown. There was no foot traffic, so I kept thinking, What in the world could benefit Mt. Sterling?”
In 2010, Danielle purchased the store that had been Little’s Jewelry on Main Street. After receiving culinary education at the French Culinary Institute in New York, she opened Spoonful of Sugar.
Spoonful of Sugar brought home for Danielle the need for real sustainable change in downtown Mt. Sterling. She now chairs the Downtown Revitalization Committee.
“It’s pretty cool to get to be involved in a small town,” she says. “Everybody knows everybody. There’s always a link. You can always get help. They’ve embraced me and I’ve embraced them.”