Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
The Heartbeat of Mount Pleasant's Commerce Community
Apr 01, 2024Season 1
Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Prepare to be whisked away on a journey through Mount Pleasant's entrepreneurial landscape as Kathy Herrmann, Michael Cochran, team up with business sage John Carroll in an enlightening chat that promises to shed light on the thriving business community of 2024. Revel in tales of triumph and perseverance as we navigate the successes and stumbles of local business luminaries who'll share why Mount Pleasant is not just a place for work, but a beloved home.
With the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's heartbeat pulsing through our conversation, this episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone with a spark of entrepreneurial spirit. From the personal anecdotes that bind us to the value of camaraderie and community events, we illustrate how the chamber's vibrant support network has lifted businesses and transformed lives. Be prepared to be inspired, informed, and motivated, as we provide a rich tapestry of stories that celebrate the dynamic interplay of business and personal growth right here, in our own backyard.
Prepare to be whisked away on a journey through Mount Pleasant's entrepreneurial landscape as Kathy Herrmann, Michael Cochran, team up with business sage John Carroll in an enlightening chat that promises to shed light on the thriving business community of 2024. Revel in tales of triumph and perseverance as we navigate the successes and stumbles of local business luminaries who'll share why Mount Pleasant is not just a place for work, but a beloved home.
With the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's heartbeat pulsing through our conversation, this episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone with a spark of entrepreneurial spirit. From the personal anecdotes that bind us to the value of camaraderie and community events, we illustrate how the chamber's vibrant support network has lifted businesses and transformed lives. Be prepared to be inspired, informed, and motivated, as we provide a rich tapestry of stories that celebrate the dynamic interplay of business and personal growth right here, in our own backyard.
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business Podcast powered by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. We are so excited and we are recording in the Charleston Radio Group studios while Cause Films is behind the camera both supporters of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce and, of course, thanks to all of our supporters. My name is Kathy Herman and I am your current president of the chamber, and I'm so excited for everything that 2024 is going to bring to all of our members. In my real world, I am the marketing director of Mount Pleasant Town Center. Some of you may have heard of it. It's a little shopping center on 17. I hope you do come spend all of your money there at Town Center, like I know that John and Michael do. So thank you so much for joining us today. We are so excited. I'm joined here by my unbelievable co-host. I've got Michael Cochran. Michael, tell them a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:
Thank you, kathy. I'm Michael Cochran, I'm a volunteer with the Chamber and past president of the Chamber, and my day job is I'm an insurance agent with Farm Bureau Insurance Company. But when I'm not doing that, I'm hanging out with fun folks like y'all, and it's my pleasure to introduce an old friend of mine. We just talked about this a few minutes ago. We've known each other for 20 years, mr John Carroll, and John is a past president of the chamber and just a great business coach in the area, and I'm going to pass it over to you, john.
Speaker 3:
Thanks, michael, so blessed to be here with you guys as well. As Michael said, I am past president of the chamber in the early days and currently hold the membership at large position for the chamber. For my day job, I'm a strategist and growth consultant and help clients be more productive, more profitable and have more fun, and what I'm most excited about is introducing our show to the listeners. Kathy, what's this new podcast all about?
Speaker 1:
Well, you know, we're all looking forward to exploring the dynamic world of entrepreneurship in Mount Pleasant and innovation and community growth with insights from the local business leaders and experts that are right here in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's exactly right. You know, whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or you're just starting your business journey, you know this podcast can be a blueprint for your success. And we just have a vibrant community that we're in and we have a wonderful place for business that's accommodating. It's just a great place to do business in general.
Speaker 3:
Indeed. Thanks, Michael, and get ready to be inspired, informed and motivated to take your business to new heights. Kathy, what type of businesses should our listeners expect to hear from?
Speaker 1:
You know, john, I think that's a really great question and I think we're going to have some amazing guests for you, and we're going to definitely have the pleasure of speaking with the town of Mount Pleasant, representatives like Economic Development Manager Matthew Brady, and I heard that Mayor Haney will bless us with his presence as well.
Speaker 2:
Oh, he's such a great guy so down to earth and he's a Citadel Bulldog like myself. So you know, we've got Mount Pleasant just filled with entrepreneurial spirit. You can't walk around without seeing a small business. You know we'll talk to successful business owners and get their feedback and their success stories, as well as some of their failures. And if we're lucky and you know, call Mount. We ask them. Ask them why they call Mount Pleasant their home for business and their personal life, Because I mean, a lot of times just blends the two.
Speaker 1:
Well, you know, it's funny that you mentioned personal life, because I moved to Mount Pleasant in 2016 and I have had so much experience with chambers and organizations just like ours up in Long Island, where I was from, and I've never, ever experienced the camaraderie, the events, the support that I've received from the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. I remember Vicki Boyd, our friend Vicki Boyd. Everybody knows Vicki. She was the first one to invite me to a chamber meeting when I moved here. I'd been here a couple months and I never felt so welcome at that event and I joined immediately and obviously I still like it because I am your president.
Speaker 3:
You know, kathy, and I think one of the other great outgrowths of this is that the entrepreneurs should come away from here feeling like they're not alone, because we've all experienced pieces and parts of what we'll be talking about as we go through Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
You know, john, like I mentioned earlier, we've known each other over 20 years and we were involved in some you know some business, small group things and we've seen businesses come and go. But we've seen a lot of businesses prosper and do extremely well. That got started right here and we've watched their families, their kids, grow up in the community and there's so much engagement, so much involvement. It's just a great place to be and have a business but also enjoy life. I mean we have the beach.
Speaker 1:
Right. Do you remember? I can't get the exact number Maybe one of you guys know the amount of businesses that are opening up in Mount Pleasant on a daily basis. It's a lot.
Speaker 1:
We go to a lot of ribbon cuttings. We do a lot, lot of ribbon cuttings, but you know what? They're amazing because they're everything from. You know the new charcuterie great craze that just opened everything to them, to dental offices, to yoga studios. I mean, it's really running the gambit of all these new businesses that chose Mount Pleasant to be their home and we're so excited that they're here.
Speaker 2:
I mean we were talking earlier. I'm sorry, john.
Speaker 3:
That's all right. I've said for years Mount Pleasant is a great place to live, work, play and worship, and it's all here and it continues to grow in a way that enhances the quality of our lives, I agree.
Speaker 2:
I mean, I'm from the local area, but when I moved to Mount Pleasant there were only like 40, 42,000 people in the community. Now it's over 92,000. That's a lot of people, that's a lot of growth in 20 years, 30 years.
Speaker 1:
Well, it sure is. We're happy about that at Town Center, though I bet you are. We'd like to continue to grow at Town Center.
Speaker 2:
And it's good for the insurance business too.
Speaker 1:
It sure is, and one thing we forgot to talk about, michael, is that you are actually the chair of the Chamber Foundation for this year, and so that's exciting, because the foundation really wants to do a lot.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely. That's going to be a new venture for me. I've never been on that type of a committee before, but that's where my heart is conservation and giving back to the community and being able to tap some resources that we have to talk to people, see what pulls their heartstrings and see how they can leverage the successes that they've had monetarily and help us grow and get that into the community that needs it.
Speaker 3:
And you know, the thing I love about that is that that goes back to our very roots, that we've always been very big-hearted in terms of giving back to the community, and so, whether it's the scholarship program or making sure our nonprofits are engaged and involved and benefiting from the businesses here in Mount Pleasant, all of that plays into what the chamber is in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I agree, I had the pleasure of working with the young lady who received the scholarship last year and I was, like I said, very lucky. I scooped her up and she was interned for us at Town Center over the summer and I wish she would just finish college already so she can come back and work for me full time. But it was just an amazing. I love that. Not that not only, of course, do we support our local businesses and entrepreneurships, but we support things going on in the community and we continue to do it, and I know, as a board, that we have been talking out, throwing out some ideas to enhance. We had to come up with other events to increase the donations to the foundation. So I know that's going to be a priority in my presidency and I'm very much looking forward to working with you on that, michael.
Speaker 3:
The other beautiful thing is that there is so much going on at the chamber. We have plenty to talk about. We will never run out of content or ideas or guests, because there's just a lot going on in Mount Pleasant these days.
Speaker 2:
Right, john, we've got the full spectrum. We've got people members of our chamber we're a little over 400 members now and we've got people just starting out in their business careers as young professionals, and we've got folks that are retired and we've got the whole gamut. We've got everybody in between and a lot of small business guys. We have some big businesses. I mean, we've been really working hard to attract some of the bigger businesses to come in, but the heart and soul has always been that entrepreneur, that small business guy or gal that's just putting themselves on the line every day and we help equip them. We help give them tools that they may not have access to or not be able to afford, and our membership is priced to a point where we can give things to them that is of great value to help them grow their business. Like you and I have seen we've all seen over the last 20, 30 years businesses just rocket.
Speaker 1:
Some have gone away, but for the most part it's thriving and I love how we also the Chamber offers so many different networking opportunities. So you know again, michael loved when Michael was president. He loved the morning. Our before nines are once a month. It's typically the last Tuesday of the month and those are from 7 to 9. And Michael was a big fan of those. I happen to like the after hours, which is the second Wednesday of the month, between 4 and 7. But then of course we also have our young professionals group and we have our new women's group called Rise, and so there's so many exciting, exciting things going on and there's an event for everyone at every time.
Speaker 3:
I really do believe that new members and even prospects to membership for the chamber. They come to the chamber looking for insights, looking for help and assistance and maybe a little bit of guidance, even if it's informal.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I completely agree. So we are again so excited to be launching our podcast. Before we leave, we need to also thank our sponsors Charleston Radio Group. Of course, I love coming to visit our friends here Coz Films and, of course, the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. Here, cosfilms and, of course, the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. If you're interested in sponsorship or would like to be our guest on our show, just reach out to us and we'll get back to you. Be sure to like and subscribe to all of our social media channels, please. We'll be on Spotify, itunes, youtube, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn. I think we got them all. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for being with us today and until next time, mount Pleasant, and until. I think we got them all. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for being with us today, and until next time, mount Pleasant, and until next time, listeners.