April 1, 2024 • 10 mins
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.
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.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We are so excited and we arerecording in the Charleston
Radio Group studios while CauseFilms is behind the camera both
supporters of the Mount PleasantChamber of Commerce and, of
course, thanks to all of oursupporters.
My name is Kathy Herman and Iam your current president of the
(00:25):
chamber, and I'm so excited foreverything that 2024 is going
to bring to all of our members.
In my real world, I am themarketing director of Mount
Pleasant Town Center.
Some of you may have heard ofit.
It's a little shopping centeron 17.
I hope you do come spend all ofyour money there at Town Center
, like I know that John andMichael do.
So thank you so much forjoining us today.
(00:47):
We are so excited.
I'm joined here by myunbelievable co-host.
I've got Michael Cochran.
Michael, tell them a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you, kathy.
I'm Michael Cochran, I'm avolunteer with the Chamber and
past president of the Chamber,and my day job is I'm an
insurance agent with Farm BureauInsurance Company.
But when I'm not doing that,I'm hanging out with fun folks
like y'all, and it's my pleasureto introduce an old friend of
mine.
We just talked about this a fewminutes ago.
We've known each other for 20years, mr John Carroll, and John
is a past president of thechamber and just a great
(01:17):
business coach in the area, andI'm going to pass it over to you
, john.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Thanks, michael, so blessed to be here with you guys
as well.
As Michael said, I am pastpresident of the chamber in the
early days and currently holdthe membership at large position
for the chamber.
For my day job, I'm astrategist and growth consultant
and help clients be moreproductive, more profitable and
have more fun, and what I'm mostexcited about is introducing
(01:42):
our show to the listeners.
Kathy, what's this new podcastall about?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, you know, we're all looking forward to
exploring the dynamic world ofentrepreneurship in Mount
Pleasant and innovation andcommunity growth with insights
from the local business leadersand experts that are right here
in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
You know, whether you're aseasoned entrepreneur or you're
just starting your businessjourney, you know this podcast
can be a blueprint for yoursuccess.
And we just have a vibrantcommunity that we're in and we
have a wonderful place forbusiness that's accommodating.
It's just a great place to dobusiness in general.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Indeed.
Thanks, Michael, and get readyto be inspired, informed and
motivated to take your businessto new heights.
Kathy, what type of businessesshould our listeners expect to
hear from?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know, john, I think that's a really great
question and I think we're goingto have some amazing guests for
you, and we're going todefinitely have the pleasure of
speaking with the town of MountPleasant, representatives like
Economic Development ManagerMatthew Brady, and I heard that
Mayor Haney will bless us withhis presence as well.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
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 MountPleasant just filled with
entrepreneurial spirit.
You can't walk around withoutseeing a small business.
You know we'll talk tosuccessful business owners and
get their feedback and theirsuccess 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 MountPleasant their home for business
(03:06):
and their personal life,Because I mean, a lot of times
just blends the two.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, you know, it's funny that you mentioned
personal life, because I movedto Mount Pleasant in 2016 and I
have had so much experience withchambers and organizations just
like ours up in Long Island,where I was from, and I've never
, ever experienced thecamaraderie, the events, the
support that I've received fromthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
(03:33):
Commerce.
I remember Vicki Boyd, ourfriend Vicki Boyd.
Everybody knows Vicki.
She was the first one to inviteme to a chamber meeting when I
moved here.
I'd been here a couple monthsand I never felt so welcome at
that event and I joinedimmediately and obviously I
still like it because I am yourpresident.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
You know, kathy, and I think one of the other great
outgrowths of this is that theentrepreneurs should come away
from here feeling like they'renot alone, because we've all
experienced pieces and parts ofwhat we'll be talking about as
we go through Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know, john, like I mentioned earlier, we've known
each other over 20 years and wewere involved in some you know
some business, small groupthings and we've seen businesses
come and go.
But we've seen a lot ofbusinesses prosper and do
extremely well.
That got started right here andwe've watched their families,
their kids, grow up in thecommunity and there's so much
engagement, so much involvement.
It's just a great place to beand have a business but also
(04:27):
enjoy life.
I mean we have the beach.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Right.
Do you remember?
I can't get the exact numberMaybe one of you guys know the
amount of businesses that areopening up in Mount Pleasant on
a daily basis.
It's a lot.
We go to a lot of ribboncuttings.
We do a lot, lot of ribboncuttings, but you know what?
They're amazing because they'reeverything from.
(04:50):
You know the new charcuteriegreat craze that just opened
everything to them, to dentaloffices, to yoga studios.
I mean, it's really running thegambit of all these new
businesses that chose MountPleasant to be their home and
we're so excited that they'rehere.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I mean we were talking earlier.
I'm sorry, john.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
That's all right.
I've said for years MountPleasant is a great place to
live, work, play and worship,and it's all here and it
continues to grow in a way thatenhances the quality of our
lives, I agree.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I mean, I'm from the local area, but when I moved to
Mount Pleasant there were onlylike 40, 42,000 people in the
community.
Now it's over 92,000.
That's a lot of people, that'sa lot of growth in 20 years, 30
years.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Well, it sure is.
We're happy about that at TownCenter, though I bet you are.
We'd like to continue to growat Town Center.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And it's good for the insurance business too.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
It sure is, and one thing we forgot to talk about,
michael, is that you areactually the chair of the
Chamber Foundation for this year, and so that's exciting,
because the foundation reallywants to do a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Absolutely.
That's going to be a newventure for me.
I've never been on that type ofa committee before, but that's
where my heart is conservationand giving back to the community
and being able to tap someresources that we have to talk
to people, see what pulls theirheartstrings and see how they
can leverage the successes thatthey've had monetarily and help
us grow and get that into thecommunity that needs it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
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 givingback to the community, and so,
whether it's the scholarshipprogram or making sure our
nonprofits are engaged andinvolved and benefiting from the
businesses here in MountPleasant, all of that plays into
(06:29):
what the chamber is in MountPleasant.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh, I agree, I had the pleasure of working with the
young lady who received thescholarship last year and I was,
like I said, very lucky.
I scooped her up and she wasinterned for us at Town Center
over the summer and I wish shewould just finish college
already so she can come back andwork for me full time.
But it was just an amazing.
I love that.
Not that not only, of course,do we support our local
(06:53):
businesses and entrepreneurships, but we support things going on
in the community and wecontinue to do it, and I know,
as a board, that we have beentalking out, throwing out some
ideas to enhance.
We had to come up with otherevents to increase the donations
to the foundation.
So I know that's going to be apriority in my presidency and
(07:14):
I'm very much looking forward toworking with you on that,
michael.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
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 ofcontent or ideas or guests,
because there's just a lot goingon in Mount Pleasant these days
.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right, john, we've got the full spectrum.
We've got people members of ourchamber we're a little over 400
members now and we've gotpeople just starting out in
their business careers as youngprofessionals, and we've got
folks that are retired and we'vegot the whole gamut.
We've got everybody in betweenand a lot of small business guys
.
We have some big businesses.
I mean, we've been reallyworking hard to attract some of
the bigger businesses to come in, but the heart and soul has
(07:52):
always been that entrepreneur,that small business guy or gal
that's just putting themselveson the line every day and we
help equip them.
We help give them tools thatthey may not have access to or
not be able to afford, and ourmembership is priced to a point
where we can give things to themthat is of great value to help
them grow their business.
Like you and I have seen we'veall seen over the last 20, 30
(08:13):
years businesses just rocket.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Some have gone away, but for the most part it's
thriving and I love how we alsothe Chamber offers so many
different networkingopportunities.
So you know again, michaelloved when Michael was president
.
He loved the morning.
Our before nines are once amonth.
It's typically the last Tuesdayof the month and those are from
7 to 9.
And Michael was a big fan ofthose.
I happen to like the afterhours, which is the second
(08:42):
Wednesday of the month, between4 and 7.
But then of course we also haveour young professionals group
and we have our new women'sgroup called Rise, and so
there's so many exciting,exciting things going on and
there's an event for everyone atevery time.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I really do believe that new members and even
prospects to membership for thechamber.
They come to the chamberlooking for insights, looking
for help and assistance andmaybe a little bit of guidance,
even if it's informal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Oh, I completely agree.
So we are again so excited tobe launching our podcast.
Before we leave, we need toalso thank our sponsors
Charleston Radio Group.
Of course, I love coming tovisit our friends here Coz Films
and, of course, the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
Here, cosfilms and, of course,the Mount Pleasant Chamber of
(09:34):
Commerce.
If you're interested insponsorship or would like to be
our guest on our show, justreach out to us and we'll get
back to you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto 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 beingwith us today and until next
time, mount Pleasant, and until.
I think we got them all.
That's fantastic.
Thank you so much for beingwith us today, and until next
time, mount Pleasant, and untilnext time, listeners.
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We are so excited and we arerecording in the Charleston
Radio Group studios while CauseFilms is behind the camera both
supporters of the Mount PleasantChamber of Commerce and, of
course, thanks to all of oursupporters.
My name is Kathy Herman and Iam your current president of the
(00:25):
chamber, and I'm so excited foreverything that 2024 is going
to bring to all of our members.
In my real world, I am themarketing director of Mount
Pleasant Town Center.
Some of you may have heard ofit.
It's a little shopping centeron 17.
I hope you do come spend all ofyour money there at Town Center
, like I know that John andMichael do.
So thank you so much forjoining us today.
(00:47):
We are so excited.
I'm joined here by myunbelievable co-host.
I've got Michael Cochran.
Michael, tell them a little bitabout yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you, kathy.
I'm Michael Cochran, I'm avolunteer with the Chamber and
past president of the Chamber,and my day job is I'm an
insurance agent with Farm BureauInsurance Company.
But when I'm not doing that,I'm hanging out with fun folks
like y'all, and it's my pleasureto introduce an old friend of
mine.
We just talked about this a fewminutes ago.
We've known each other for 20years, mr John Carroll, and John
is a past president of thechamber and just a great
(01:17):
business coach in the area, andI'm going to pass it over to you
, john.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Thanks, michael, so blessed to be here with you guys
as well.
As Michael said, I am pastpresident of the chamber in the
early days and currently holdthe membership at large position
for the chamber.
For my day job, I'm astrategist and growth consultant
and help clients be moreproductive, more profitable and
have more fun, and what I'm mostexcited about is introducing
(01:42):
our show to the listeners.
Kathy, what's this new podcastall about?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Well, you know, we're all looking forward to
exploring the dynamic world ofentrepreneurship in Mount
Pleasant and innovation andcommunity growth with insights
from the local business leadersand experts that are right here
in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
You know, whether you're aseasoned entrepreneur or you're
just starting your businessjourney, you know this podcast
can be a blueprint for yoursuccess.
And we just have a vibrantcommunity that we're in and we
have a wonderful place forbusiness that's accommodating.
It's just a great place to dobusiness in general.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Indeed.
Thanks, Michael, and get readyto be inspired, informed and
motivated to take your businessto new heights.
Kathy, what type of businessesshould our listeners expect to
hear from?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
You know, john, I think that's a really great
question and I think we're goingto have some amazing guests for
you, and we're going todefinitely have the pleasure of
speaking with the town of MountPleasant, representatives like
Economic Development ManagerMatthew Brady, and I heard that
Mayor Haney will bless us withhis presence as well.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
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 MountPleasant just filled with
entrepreneurial spirit.
You can't walk around withoutseeing a small business.
You know we'll talk tosuccessful business owners and
get their feedback and theirsuccess 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 MountPleasant their home for business
(03:06):
and their personal life,Because I mean, a lot of times
just blends the two.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, you know, it's funny that you mentioned
personal life, because I movedto Mount Pleasant in 2016 and I
have had so much experience withchambers and organizations just
like ours up in Long Island,where I was from, and I've never
, ever experienced thecamaraderie, the events, the
support that I've received fromthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
(03:33):
Commerce.
I remember Vicki Boyd, ourfriend Vicki Boyd.
Everybody knows Vicki.
She was the first one to inviteme to a chamber meeting when I
moved here.
I'd been here a couple monthsand I never felt so welcome at
that event and I joinedimmediately and obviously I
still like it because I am yourpresident.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
You know, kathy, and I think one of the other great
outgrowths of this is that theentrepreneurs should come away
from here feeling like they'renot alone, because we've all
experienced pieces and parts ofwhat we'll be talking about as
we go through Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You know, john, like I mentioned earlier, we've known
each other over 20 years and wewere involved in some you know
some business, small groupthings and we've seen businesses
come and go.
But we've seen a lot ofbusinesses prosper and do
extremely well.
That got started right here andwe've watched their families,
their kids, grow up in thecommunity and there's so much
engagement, so much involvement.
It's just a great place to beand have a business but also
(04:27):
enjoy life.
I mean we have the beach.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Right.
Do you remember?
I can't get the exact numberMaybe one of you guys know the
amount of businesses that areopening up in Mount Pleasant on
a daily basis.
It's a lot.
We go to a lot of ribboncuttings.
We do a lot, lot of ribboncuttings, but you know what?
They're amazing because they'reeverything from.
(04:50):
You know the new charcuteriegreat craze that just opened
everything to them, to dentaloffices, to yoga studios.
I mean, it's really running thegambit of all these new
businesses that chose MountPleasant to be their home and
we're so excited that they'rehere.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I mean we were talking earlier.
I'm sorry, john.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
That's all right.
I've said for years MountPleasant is a great place to
live, work, play and worship,and it's all here and it
continues to grow in a way thatenhances the quality of our
lives, I agree.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I mean, I'm from the local area, but when I moved to
Mount Pleasant there were onlylike 40, 42,000 people in the
community.
Now it's over 92,000.
That's a lot of people, that'sa lot of growth in 20 years, 30
years.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Well, it sure is.
We're happy about that at TownCenter, though I bet you are.
We'd like to continue to growat Town Center.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And it's good for the insurance business too.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
It sure is, and one thing we forgot to talk about,
michael, is that you areactually the chair of the
Chamber Foundation for this year, and so that's exciting,
because the foundation reallywants to do a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Absolutely.
That's going to be a newventure for me.
I've never been on that type ofa committee before, but that's
where my heart is conservationand giving back to the community
and being able to tap someresources that we have to talk
to people, see what pulls theirheartstrings and see how they
can leverage the successes thatthey've had monetarily and help
us grow and get that into thecommunity that needs it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
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 givingback to the community, and so,
whether it's the scholarshipprogram or making sure our
nonprofits are engaged andinvolved and benefiting from the
businesses here in MountPleasant, all of that plays into
(06:29):
what the chamber is in MountPleasant.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh, I agree, I had the pleasure of working with the
young lady who received thescholarship last year and I was,
like I said, very lucky.
I scooped her up and she wasinterned for us at Town Center
over the summer and I wish shewould just finish college
already so she can come back andwork for me full time.
But it was just an amazing.
I love that.
Not that not only, of course,do we support our local
(06:53):
businesses and entrepreneurships, but we support things going on
in the community and wecontinue to do it, and I know,
as a board, that we have beentalking out, throwing out some
ideas to enhance.
We had to come up with otherevents to increase the donations
to the foundation.
So I know that's going to be apriority in my presidency and
(07:14):
I'm very much looking forward toworking with you on that,
michael.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
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 ofcontent or ideas or guests,
because there's just a lot goingon in Mount Pleasant these days
.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right, john, we've got the full spectrum.
We've got people members of ourchamber we're a little over 400
members now and we've gotpeople just starting out in
their business careers as youngprofessionals, and we've got
folks that are retired and we'vegot the whole gamut.
We've got everybody in betweenand a lot of small business guys
.
We have some big businesses.
I mean, we've been reallyworking hard to attract some of
the bigger businesses to come in, but the heart and soul has
(07:52):
always been that entrepreneur,that small business guy or gal
that's just putting themselveson the line every day and we
help equip them.
We help give them tools thatthey may not have access to or
not be able to afford, and ourmembership is priced to a point
where we can give things to themthat is of great value to help
them grow their business.
Like you and I have seen we'veall seen over the last 20, 30
(08:13):
years businesses just rocket.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Some have gone away, but for the most part it's
thriving and I love how we alsothe Chamber offers so many
different networkingopportunities.
So you know again, michaelloved when Michael was president
.
He loved the morning.
Our before nines are once amonth.
It's typically the last Tuesdayof the month and those are from
7 to 9.
And Michael was a big fan ofthose.
I happen to like the afterhours, which is the second
(08:42):
Wednesday of the month, between4 and 7.
But then of course we also haveour young professionals group
and we have our new women'sgroup called Rise, and so
there's so many exciting,exciting things going on and
there's an event for everyone atevery time.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I really do believe that new members and even
prospects to membership for thechamber.
They come to the chamberlooking for insights, looking
for help and assistance andmaybe a little bit of guidance,
even if it's informal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Oh, I completely agree.
So we are again so excited tobe launching our podcast.
Before we leave, we need toalso thank our sponsors
Charleston Radio Group.
Of course, I love coming tovisit our friends here Coz Films
and, of course, the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
Here, cosfilms and, of course,the Mount Pleasant Chamber of
(09:34):
Commerce.
If you're interested insponsorship or would like to be
our guest on our show, justreach out to us and we'll get
back to you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto 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 beingwith us today and until next
time, mount Pleasant, and until.
I think we got them all.
That's fantastic.
Thank you so much for beingwith us today, and until next
time, mount Pleasant, and untilnext time, listeners.
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