DECATUR - Anthony Walker is in the transportation business for the long haul.

"There's always been a limo in my family," Walker said. "My dad started the limo service when he got married in 1979.

"So there was a part of the family who said he started the service because he needed a limo for the wedding, and there wasn't a limo service in town."

Walker was 9 years old at the time, and his family has been providing transportation for the community ever since. And when Walker became old enough to drive, he started driving the limos.

Fast forward three decades.

Walker is now owner of the family business and is always on the lookout for new opportunities to serve the community's transportation needs.

His business, AOK Travel Network Inc., recently ventured into the taxi business and opened shop at the corner of Eldorado Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive - a location once owned by his family.

Walker's business also provides airport shuttle services and transports lab work for St. Mary's Hospital.

Visiting executives for major industries in the community often rely on Walker's business to get to their destination.

But building on the family business hasn't always been easy.

"Starting off, I thought just because I'm taking over the limo service for my father, I just assumed it's going to be a walk in the park," Walker said. "There was nothing further from the truth."

"In any endeavor in the area of business, success equals hard work. There is no formula but actually going out there and working hard."

Walker credits his parents for teaching him lessons about how to run a successful business.

In addition to the limo service, his father, Pastor Thomas Walker, formerly owned a car dealership. His mother, Margaret, owned a beauty salon.

"My whole life has revolved around entrepreneurship in some form or fashion," Walker said. "I had the opportunity to go to college, but I didn't. It's all been hard work and work ethic.

"My father didn't go to college, either. He has a funeral home now. We've always just concentrated on what we wanted to do and worked toward that goal.

"And it has paid off for us."

Walker said he enjoys seeing the expression on the faces of limousine riders, especially if the ride is a surprise.

And drivers sometimes get to transport famous entertainers.

"We're the preferred transportation provider for Decatur Celebration and have been for the past seven years," Walker said. "We provide transportation for the entertainers. That's exciting. We get the opportunity to meet them firsthand."

Walker's service comes highly recommended by Fred Puglia, celebration director.

"The Walker limo company has always gone beyond the call of duty for (Decatur Celebration)," Puglia wrote. "They have worked all hours of the day and night."

Drivers also volunteer to help at the Celebration, assisting with tasks ranging from security to catering, Puglia said.

Walker said work ethic is a reflection of lessons he learned as a teenager driving limos for his father.

"We were taught customer service at an early age," Walker said. "Now I'm able to bring that to the taxi service.

"We're not operating a limo service. It's a taxi service. But we want to give it a limousine service experience. You're opening doors for them; you're carrying the groceries for them. Customer service is key."

Running a small business means working late nights and early mornings, Walker said. His wife, Sylvia, is supportive of the demands of a small business owner.

"My family is important," Walker said. "You draw strength from your family; you learn from your family."

"I had the opportunity to learn firsthand, to watch, to have a real role model in my dad in the house every day. I'd watch him get up early every morning, just like I do today. He'd go to work, go to his office and come back late."

Walker has 2-year-old twins, Jeremey and Jermon, and two teenage children, Keenan, 16, and Jacorey, 14.

So will a new generation of Walkers get involved in the family business?

Walker said he's encouraging them to forge their own identities.

"If they get involved with the business, that would be great; I'd love it," Walker said. "If not, then I've just got a lot more work to do before I retire."

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@herald-review.com or 421-7985.