A sense of family and friendliness is a part of what motivates Dr. Abbie Tucker in caring for the needs of the community.

Born and raised in Selma, she graduated undergrad at Auburn University, finished dental school at the University of Alabama – Birmingham, and lived in Asheville, N.C. before coming back to Selma in August 2011, where she now co-owns Tucker Family Dentistry with her husband Logan.

Tucker said she and her husband wanted to return to Alabama to be closer to family and to be in a small town, and then the opportunity to come back to Selma presented itself.

“We wanted to come back to Alabama, preferably a small town, and preferably close to family. There was an opportunity here at Dr. William’s office, and so it all just kind of worked out where he was ready to transition and sell, and we were ready to come back,” Tucker said. “It all kind of worked out at the same time.”

At Tucker Family Dentistry, Tucker said her role is not only to provide dental care for the community, but also to help the community as a small business owner.

“First of all, I’m a dentist, but in conjunction with that is being a small-business owner and all of the other duties that go along with running a small business,” Tucker said. “Obviously, we aim to take care of people’s dental needs, but we also aim to be a part of the community and be there for the people that live here in Selma and take care of their families and friends.”

Along with being close to her family in Selma, Tucker is also continuing her own family in town. She said while having family in Selma does motivate her to be active in the community, the people are so nice in the city that she’d want to help out even if Selma wasn’t her home.

“I think it’s nice seeing people that you grew up with, seeing people that helped raised you, and to be able to be there and take care of them,” Tucker said. “I think even if I wasn’t from Selma it would still be a great town to live in, because everybody is welcoming, nice and accepting of you. But it does make it a lot better knowing the people to start with.”

Tucker said she hopes she can be an example to younger people by showing them that there are opportunities to do unique things in their hometown.

“I guess to be a positive role model, to be an inspiration to people in the community and for young people in Selma that want to do something a little different,” Tucker said of her role in Selma. “Even if they go off and live somewhere else for a little while, they are able to come back to Selma and work here. I think there would be a lot of people that move off for school or something, but can’t really figure out a way to get back and work here, so maybe I can show that there are ways you can come back and work and live in Selma.”