So it's no surprise that her new business, Seasons Fine Hats and Accessories, specializes in hats of all styles for all types of people.

The store, at Fourth and Market streets, opens this week after months in which the storefront was covered in brown paper to hide the transformation from a bail-bonds business to a hat emporium. Smith said last week that she hopes to draw attention when the window coverings come down.

"When it opens, it's going to be 'Oh, it's beautiful in there,'" she said.

Smith is making it her mission to teach folks that they're never fully dressed without a stylish hat. "The hat speaks for itself; it says volumes," she said. "When you see a hat, automatically, you've already made an assumption -- then you take in the rest of them."

Smith says many people fail to realize how much the right hat can complement the rest of their look, including jewelry and hairstyle. "There are so many things hats draw out in you, even down to your fragrance," she said.

While the most formal and unique hats tend to be associated with women heading to church on Sunday morning, Seasons sells hats for any occasion, including baseball caps and men's headwear like top hats and fedoras.

"There's not an occasion you cannot wear a hat," Smith said. "Every occasion warrants a hat" -- even going to bed, one can put on a night cap, she added.

Even a single hat can be worn in countless ways to project a variety of images. Trying to get a hat just right for a newspaper photo, Smith turned the hat several ways and cocked it at couple of angles, including an over-the-eyes look she jokingly referred to as "gangsta style," before settling on the look she wanted.

"I know how to help you put your hat on," she said. Smith can also alter the hats she sells to make them more or less formal, and she stocks hat accessories such as pins and brooches.

Smith has had a passion for hats her entire life. Her mother was a milliner, so she got a feel for the trade early on. But her career took her in a different direction, and she spent decades in government-finance positions while running a barbecue business, Grandma Bunch's BBQ, on the side.

Under doctor's orders to slow down after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Smith retired to Smithfield four years ago with her husband. She uses a walker she calls her "Cadillac" to get around, but she refuses to let that stop her from having a business and keeping busy. "I'm just not a quitter," she said.

Despite a down economy, Smith said she's certain her store can draw hat lovers from miles around, and that conviction has led her to name the business Seasons.

"This is my season," she said. "It's the season to do this. It's going to do very well -- it's ordained to be successful."

Seasons is open from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A grand opening is scheduled for March 27, after this week's soft opening. The phone number is 919-938-HATS.