Building a Legacy: How Breonna Bishop is Reimagining Housing, Business and Belonging in Pine Bluff

By David Hehemann, Arkansas Delta Informer Contributor

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – March 8, 2026 – For Breonna Bishop of Pine Bluff, at first, 8:22 was just a date. It marked the anniversary of when she and her husband, Reggie, began dating. Then it became something more.

When Bishop became pregnant after a long and difficult journey to conceive, her due date was August 22 – 8/22. Her pregnancy was mostly normal, until it wasn’t. What followed was a traumatic delivery that ended in an emergency C-section, six weeks early.

Both mother and daughter survived.

Bishop’s daughter, Remmi, was born on July 8, 2022. But when Bishop’s mother asked a nurse what time the baby had been delivered, the answer stopped everyone cold – 8:22 p.m. Later that night, Remmi was flown to Children’s Hospital, where she was placed in Pod 8, Bed 22.

“That’s when it really stuck,” Bishop said. “It was like this number just kept showing up.”

Today, 8:22 is more than a coincidence. It’s the foundation of “8.22 Legacy,” the Pine Bluff-based construction and remodeling company Bishop founded with the explicit goal of building something that would outlast her – a legacy for her family and her community.

In addition to being a first-generation entrepreneur, Bishop is also a lifelong learner, holding degrees in business, management and leadership, and currently pursuing a Ph.D. in transformational social change. However, none of those titles capture the full weight of what she is trying to accomplish in Pine Bluff, she said.

“Besides marriage and being a mother, being a business owner is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Bishop said.

8.22 Legacy specializes in home remodeling and revitalization projects across Arkansas, with a particular focus on Pine Bluff. Bishop is licensed statewide, but her heart – and much of her work – is rooted in her hometown. Over the past year, her company has taken on projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs, worked with Pine Bluff’s Economic Development Department and partnered with investors to rehabilitate housing near the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Some of her favorite projects, however, are not the most glamorous.

“These homeowners qualify for grants because they’re elderly or low-income,” she said. “They own their homes. They’re proud of them. We’re really just coming in to make the house more habitable – safer, healthier, livable.”

For Bishop, construction is not just about walls and wiring. It’s about dignity.

Housing as Stability

Pine Bluff’s housing challenges are no secret, Bishop said. Decades of population loss, disinvestment and economic transition have left many properties blighted or in disrepair. She sees that reality up close every day.

“The place where you lay your head should be your place of peace,” she said. “Most people are working just to survive. When you come home to a house that’s falling apart, that affects everything.”

She believes stable housing is foundational – not just for families, but for neighborhoods.

“When people own their homes and feel proud of them, they take better care of them,” she said. “That pride spreads. You see fewer abandoned properties. People start caring about what’s next door, not just what’s inside.”

That philosophy drives her long-term goal – becoming a housing developer who can provide fair, equitable housing options for Pine Bluff residents, many of whom fall into low- to moderate-income brackets.

Respect in a Male-Dominated Field

Construction is still overwhelmingly male, and Bishop has learned that respect does not always come automatically.

“People will pull up to a job site and start talking to my husband,” she said. “They assume he’s the contractor.”

Reggie, who supports the business and works in sales, is quick to redirect those conversations. But the pattern is familiar. Bishop has responded by doing what she’s always done – learning more.

“I don’t just want to know the design side,” she said. “I want to understand framing, moisture control, structural support – why these things matter.”

She describes herself as a lifelong learner, constantly soaking up knowledge from mentors, subcontractors and on-site experience. That commitment, she says, is not optional.

“If I want to be taken seriously, I have to be excellent,” she said.

That devotion to learning also led Bishop to the Women’s Economic Mobility Hub, a program of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas supported in part by the Walton Family Foundation, which brings together women entrepreneurs for education, mentorship and peer support. Despite holding multiple business degrees, she said the program provided insight that formal education could not.

“You cannot put entrepreneurship into a book,” Bishop said. “There is something new every day.”

Motherhood and Legacy

Every decision Bishop makes is filtered through one lens – her daughter.

“Remmi is at the forefront of every decision,” she said. “Where we live, what projects I take, how I lead – it’s all with her in mind.”

At three years old, Remmi already tells her mother that she is her best friend. Bishop wants her daughter to grow up knowing that no field, no title and no ambition is off-limits.

“If she wants to go into a male-dominated field, I want her to be able to say, ‘My mom did it. So I can do it too,’” she said.

That, ultimately, is what 822 Legacy represents – not just a company, but a promise.

“I’m building something for her,” Bishop said. “I want her to be proud of the legacy I leave behind.”