Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
The Building Business podcast provides compelling stories of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's journey, its steadfast commitment to the local community, and its forward-thinking approach to addressing the needs of businesses in an ever-changing landscape. It stands as an invitation to listeners to become part of a movement that values growth, connection, and the collective progress of the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina community.
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.
Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Talent Acquisition in Tech: Navigating the Evolution with Christina Lock
What does it take to build a thriving tech recruitment company while navigating the challenges of being a female entrepreneur? Christina Lock, founder of Catch Talent, pulls back the curtain on her remarkable 10-year journey in Charleston's evolving "Silicon Harbor" ecosystem.
Starting as the second employee at software company Sparc before launching her own venture, Christina shares how she took just three days between leaving her previous role and founding Catch Talent. With refreshing candor, she describes her business as her "middle child," revealing the delicate balancing act of growing a company while expanding her family and the support systems that made it possible.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Christina dismantles outdated notions about workplace culture. Forget ping pong tables and beer kegs—today's top talent seeks meaningful relationships with managers, opportunities for feedback, and a genuine sense of impact. This insight comes from someone who's seen both sides of the recruitment equation, having worked both agency-side and in-house before founding her own firm.
Mount Pleasant emerges as a key player in this story. Once dismissed as merely a "bring your own job" market, the area has transformed into a vibrant hub for entrepreneurs at various stages. Christina's leadership as past chairperson of the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, which now hosts over 100 companies on its 18-acre campus, has helped fuel this evolution. She also provides valuable insights into the complementary resources offered by organizations like the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), allowing business owners to "choose their adventure" based on their growth stage.
Whether you're building a business, seeking to attract top talent, or simply curious about how Charleston became "Silicon Harbor," this conversation offers practical wisdom from someone who's been integral to the region's transformation. Subscribe to Building Business for more conversations with the entrepreneurs and leaders shaping our business community.
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
Hi everyone, rebecca Immelt, I'm the Executive Director of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. We're here with the Building Business Podcast sponsored by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce and Charleston Media Solutions in their studio here off of Clements Ferry Road, so excited to have with us today Christina Locke. Welcome Christina, thank you and welcome Mike oh hey, I'm here too.
Speaker 2:Hey, mike, hey, how are you? Yeah, no, we are excited to have Christina on today of Catch Talents, and what else are you? You're also the chairperson of the Harbor Entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:Center Past chairperson. Yes, but I'm still active on the board and on the executive committee for the Harbor, and I'm sure you're on other boards too, aren't you?
Speaker 2:Yes, charleston tech, and then uh eo, charleston, which is entrepreneurs organization very cool, very cool.
Speaker 1:Wow, busy, lady, busy, don't mess up your intro. Rebecca, go ahead well, no, I mean great job. This is a conversation, so great job, mike. Um, I have never heard of catch talent before, so I do want to talk about. I went on your website and looked around. It's really interesting because we've had conversations with Matt Brady, with the town, and one of the areas of growth in Mount Pleasant is information technology and you have a firm that brings in folks that type of talent. So is that what?
Speaker 3:did I get that right with Catch Talent? Yes, it's sort of twofold. We work with growing technology companies, so those that are looking for great people to join the organization, and then candidates that may be whether they're local or outside the area that are looking to find a new career, find a new company. And, yeah, tech is ever-changing, so it's exciting and that's truly what we're passionate about is growing companies and being sort of an extension of their team. So the hiring process in general has changed dramatically. Especially, we're entering our 10th year at Catch 10 years, yes.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, congratulations. Thank you, yes.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 2:What was it like 10 years ago, when you were starting off?
Speaker 3:So very different landscape, of course, you know, I think that. So I came, we incubated, catch at a software company actually right down the road.
Speaker 2:Okay, Called Spark.
Speaker 3:Okay, which was acquired in 2015 by Booz Allen, and whenever there's an acquisition, it's sort of like this cascading effect that other individuals want to start their own company. You know, they saw the sort of journey and that's really what inspired me to launch Catch. I saw a gap in the market. There was a true gap in terms of recruiters. That had been on both sides. So I've been agency and internal and so understanding the business behind recruiting. So in 2015, you know, we had organizations like Dig South. We had the Harbor Entrepreneur Center was only about a year old, so I think all these things were sort of budding right and Charleston was kind of it was funny At the time we coined it Silicon Harbor, you know it was like Silicon Valley.
Speaker 2:I was wondering how we're going to.
Speaker 3:yes, because it's very West Coast Silicon Valley type of feel that we're growing here, absolutely, but on a small town with nice people, yeah, exactly. West.
Speaker 1:Coasters.
Speaker 2:Whatever?
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, and so I think there was like this sort of rippling right. Blackbaud was always a staple here, but we were seeing more VCs and PCs. Take notice, pes, I should say. But we were seeing more VCs and PCs. Take notice, pes, I should say, of the area you know, and actually the biggest movement that we saw was COVID. We had so many folks move from Chicago or New York or Boston and they just didn't want that sort of lifestyle anymore and so moving here they, you know we've launched, you know, hq2, as we like to say. So if a company was based in Boston and they wanted to incubate a group of 30 or 40 people, they did it here in Charleston, I love that.
Speaker 1:So I think that's the biggest shift that we've seen.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. That is very cool.
Speaker 1:I did not know that. We wouldn't know that, right, unless we talked to professionals that are in this field. I mean, that's why we do these podcasts learn something new. I love it anyways, good job, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the episode's over no, I have not had my questions answered I know, I know I'm just kidding um as a female entrepreneur that makes you unique.
Speaker 1:there are challenges, I think, that women face. Yes, how? What are some of the challenges? How obviously you've successfully addressed them, but talk about your journey through that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that, absolutely. You know, females face different challenges. I mean, being an entrepreneur in general is a very hard and lonely journey a lot of times, and I'll talk about that a little bit of why the harbor's been such an amazing support system for not only myself but those that have gone through the Harbor Entrepreneur Center. I wish I'd found it earlier, actually. But yeah, I mean, I think you know, when I started Catch, I had one child. So you know, going through pregnancy and a newborn and that whole transition to four people in our family was definitely something that was probably the most life-altering time in my life and not that it's not for dads, but no offense guys.
Speaker 3:You know we go through a lot of the other parts of it too, and so you know how do you balance raising a family and also having a growing company, and that definitely pulls on you know your heartstrings too, because I love what I do. I call Catch my middle child because, as I said, I only had one.
Speaker 2:Wait, you call Catch, your middle child, your most house-land's Catch.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, it's like my company is my middle child.
Speaker 1:She's nurturing that middle child. She's nurturing and growing it. See, he's a male, so I understood that I liked it.
Speaker 2:I liked that you did brand your kid your company name.
Speaker 3:That would be a little extreme, but you know, I think too, just having a seat at the table has. You know, we've come a long way, of course, especially even since my mom was growing up in the business world, but there is still a lot to be done. You know, I was one of 10 executives at Spark and I was the. There were two females, so I'll give them some credit that we had a good percentage there. But I think that you know you still look at Fortune 500s and not seeing the female at the table, I think not to continue to go back to COVID but a lot of women, especially executives, had to take that step back when there wasn't childcare or we were going through kind of all that. So I think those unique obstacles I happen to have a really supportive husband who has been great along the way in helping me just live out the dream- I have a very supportive husband as well.
Speaker 1:I love the chamber world.
Speaker 3:I wish.
Speaker 1:I had found it a long time ago. So thank you, John. So you talked, you touched a little bit at Spark, your role there.
Speaker 2:What does that mean, Spark?
Speaker 3:It didn't stand for anything.
Speaker 1:It's a software.
Speaker 3:It was software, it was a software company and it didn't. It wasn't an acronym, but you know you spark an idea.
Speaker 1:Spark an idea. I love that. Yes, and you. It grew very quickly to 300 folks.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:In less than five years.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was right, at six years actually my gosh. Okay, it was a wild ride Okay.
Speaker 1:And that helped prepare you how with Catch the wild ride portion.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so I think it's always been in my DNA to take that risk, take that jump. And so when I was the second employee at Spark actually, so I shared a cubicle with the founder- at the time the second employee.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, Wow, and so I just sort of did everything. If it was payroll accounting, which is not my forte. The second employee, this culture. We were a government contractor, so not typically seen as having a really strong culture, although a lot of that has changed in government contracting as well. But we had dogs in the office, we had kegs, we had a beer light.
Speaker 3:You were ahead of the curve then, because now that's just almost the norm it is yes, and so having that sort of culture and employer brand, I mean one time a candidate delivered a cake and that was their application, so it was like you know. I would love to apply for a job at Spark Like was it on the icing?
Speaker 1:Was it written Really?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So kind of unique ways to stand out, so kind of unique ways to stand out. But I feel so fortunate to have seen sort of the inner workings, along with our executive team and founder, to know what goes in, because it's not all. You know cakes and roses, right, there's a lot more to a startup. And then you know we had become really attractive as an organization and Booz Allen wanted a bigger footprint here in Charleston, so they acquired us six years later, in 2015.
Speaker 1:And so when they acquired you, then you were ready like OK, what's my next thing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was honestly not sure at the time. It was very emotional for me, especially driving out of the parking lot the last time, you know, because I had built this company. I loved, I absolutely loved what I did. I mean the quote. You know, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.
Speaker 3:It felt like that every day walking into Spark, and so I had a lot of mentors around me that said you know, if you ever started a recruiting firm, you know you would just crush it. It would be. You know, started a recruiting firm, you know you would just crush it. It would be. You know, everyone would want to replicate what you did while we were at Spark. Essentially. So, um, yeah, it was. It was definitely one of those moments and and actually my, my father, who is an entrepreneur, was like don't you want to like take some time? And you know, just be, you know, with your son and I don't know. I just had this momentum and feeling that, like you got to strike while the iron's hot, so we took all of three days off and three days launch catch.
Speaker 3:Yes, I took a Friday off and launch catch on Monday. In retrospect I probably should have at least taken a week, but give yourself a week somewhere.
Speaker 2:Go to Hawaii.
Speaker 3:Um, yeah, you know, if, if I could talk to you know myself 10 years ago, I guess Isn't that the case? Yes, but yeah, that was really the antithesis of what we wanted to create at Catch and then taking, you know, employer branding and culture, just a culture of hiring, out to the market. That is what has been such a fun journey now with Gatch.
Speaker 1:So what are tips for acquiring top talent and then, almost more importantly, keeping them?
Speaker 3:Yes, Right, yes, retention turnover is a huge expense. I know, yes, so everyone you know you can claim that you're great at recruiting as an organization, but if you're not retaining your talent, then, that can be devastating. And also candidates talk right Like hey, have you heard of this company? What's it like to work there? And so candidates have become very savvy that they're now doing the research whether it's Glassdoor or people that they know.
Speaker 3:If I'm at a barbecue and I know someone, it's a very small market. It's like what is it like to work at Catch? Hopefully my employees say that it's a great place and fair leadership and all those sort of things. But yeah, in terms of recruiting and retaining talent, I mean it's very unique to every organization and I found that it shouldn't be coming from me. So we do a lot of active polling of our employees. You know what benefits do you want? A lot of times it's not always your traditional benefits. It may be, hey, can we do early out summer Fridays, or we love to have one-on-one time with their manager. I mean, there's been a whole study that you can spend all this money on lunch in the office or you know beer kegs, whatever it is. But it's truly the relationship with your manager and having the ability to give feedback and feel like you have a voice and an impact. Every day I've heard that.
Speaker 1:That's really great advice, because people in a group tend to shut down.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:But if you can get them aside, Mentorship is what they're looking for. But they'll open up more Exactly. They will. I love that idea.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's, you know. Of course they're also, I'm sure, love the snacks in the office and having a great, you know environment. But you know, I think that's been outplayed a lot and it's longer ping pong tables it is, and that's gone away.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, it really has. I think it's just been so overdone.
Speaker 2:It's kind of cliche.
Speaker 3:Like we have a ping pong table. Now we have culture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:And I think truly, you know, if it can come from the top down and you have the ability of open communication and sort of 360 feedback. That goes a lot further, especially if you're a remote company you know, and you don't get to see the people every day and communication is even more crucial.
Speaker 2:Huge yes.
Speaker 1:Is remote work sort of an expectation now, when somebody's Depends on the job?
Speaker 3:Yes, I would say definitely depends on the job and, interestingly enough, there's been a huge push for return to office.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big time.
Speaker 3:And I'm sure you've seen it in the news. So, locally, I think it's a mix. We have some clients that have an incredible culture, they find great people and they're five days a week in the office, and then we have others that are hybrid. So at Catch we're hybrid. We have a hybrid schedule, which means three days in office, two days remote, and that, I think, is the growing trend. Like, you can get together with your team, but you also have some days where you're working from home. So I don't think remote is the expectation and sometimes, honestly, I speak with candidates that are like I do not want to be here with my dog in my pajamas anymore.
Speaker 3:They're ready to get out and be in an office again and be around people.
Speaker 2:Which is why the Harbor is such a special place. I knew you were going to.
Speaker 1:Sorry, Rebecca. Go right ahead, Mike. Let's talk about the Harbor Entrepreneur Center. Well, I mean, it's so great to have this in the Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2:District right, I mean as a chamber, we have to really partner with these type of groups and we do partner with. We just had a single day mile party. Yeah, apparently you guys shared the same room, didn't even?
Speaker 1:know, I know. Well, I was co-hosting it. I was busy of course, and my husband was at the table helping to check people in good, then I must have run into both of you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a really well attended event.
Speaker 1:It was, um, it was a great exciting yeah, and it was exciting for people who the chamber does a lot of network and we do many other things, but it was nice for them to meet other people.
Speaker 2:It's okay to say network, it's okay to network, it's good, it is okay. We're a networking group.
Speaker 1:We are a networking group but now that we have office space I've been bringing some programs in. We have a veterans program also recently that quarterly veterans program for veteran and businesses but anyway okay, harbor entrepreneur center. Love the it's beautiful, 18 acres, gorgeous campus. Love all the energy and the ideas that are flowing back and forth. How did now? How did you get involved in your past? Chair of the board.
Speaker 3:Yes, okay, yes, so um, actually right around the time of you had another kid.
Speaker 2:You decided to chair another thing and build another business. Yeah, I just can't sit still.
Speaker 3:You know the ADD growing up it comes out in different ways as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I was introduced to the Harbor actually right around the time that Spark was going through the acquisition. So I feel like I've had this like life cycle and a lot of the folks there helped me to bridge that gap.
Speaker 3:You know, like your brand is no longer this company that you worked for. You're an entrepreneur, and so I was involved. You know whether it was hosting a hiring group or just getting to know the members, and there was an event that one of the founding members of the Harbor was like hey, if you are in this world of being an entrepreneur, let me tell you about forum group, and forum group is a peer-to-peer. We meet monthly, talk about topics, talk about issues, and you experience share, because no one's really gonna understand what you're going through unless you're in that seat as an entrepreneur and founder. And and that was life-altering, for I mean, I made friends that I will keep forever. And it was also pretty unique that I had another female business owner, christine Osborne.
Speaker 1:I know her yes.
Speaker 3:Who is? If you know Christine, you know her energy and passion and love, and she also has two boys.
Speaker 3:So seeing her 20 years, let's say or 25 years ahead of me was certainly an eye opening and great opportunity to just maybe figure out what my path should be as a mom running a business. Yeah, so long answer to your question. That's how I originally got involved and then into. When we launched the building Grady, our executive director reached out along with one of our founding members and said hey, we have an idea. Would you like to be chairperson of the harbor? And you know, I took maybe like 12 hours and I jumped at the opportunity.
Speaker 2:Of course. Yeah, don't give you more than a day to do something.
Speaker 3:Yeah exactly and it was an incredible year I mean leading up to the year that I was chairperson. It was getting our tenants in the building. It was maturing our accelerator program, which are for, basically, companies that have not yet hit a certain revenue threshold but they're learning how to do sales and marketing and rev ops, so it kind of catapults them. But it's a 14-week program along with mentors that they get to work with. So that's another one of the programs at the Harbor that we're really proud of. And yeah, during that time it was just incredible to see this you know sort of pillar within the Mount Pleasant community grow. We had incredible support from many organizations and I think Matt Brady mentioned we have over 100 companies as residents now.
Speaker 1:And we have many pillars in the Mount Pleasant community that support economic growth. I love that pillars, I love that terminology and the town definitely, you know, help HEC, which it should, because we want to be a place where people look and say it looks like a great place to live. But can I actually have a way to sustain my life in Mount Pleasant?
Speaker 1:if they're not ready to retire, and some folks are retired, but they're looking at the next best phase of their lives, right, they come here and they're like okay, now I'm ready to follow my passion that I was always interested in. So the Harbor Entrepreneur Center is a great way for them to get started.
Speaker 3:Yes, I would agree.
Speaker 2:It really is, and I've heard um not pleasant be described. Actually, stanfield gray said this um to me, uh, in his podcast episode. It was uh, mount pleasant is more of a um byoj market, bring your own job. Yes, you heard him say that too no, I was just like jay.
Speaker 3:What would that stand?
Speaker 2:for.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking journey, but you're right, bring your own job?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, so what?
Speaker 2:we're trying to do here at the chamber is spread that. That's not necessarily the case. There's a lot of economy, there's a lot of growth. It's not just a sleepy town.
Speaker 3:No, not at all. I mean, um, so catch is headquartered in Mount Pleasant as well. Um, I should say, and we love being in Bell Hall and kind of at the center of if I need to go to the airport, it's 10 minutes away If. I need to go downtown. It's 15 minutes away and we have a lot of young professionals that work for us, so it was honestly the most perfect place that we could find.
Speaker 1:But the Chamber has a young professionals group.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's great, and they Catch needs to be a sponsor of that, I think, and they have been working with Dr Troy Hall.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I love Dr Hall. Good drop there, Rebecca Nice.
Speaker 1:And so I love the fact that we have a young professionals group. We have a women's group. We have a group for veterans, so I'm really excited about that as a chamber and being part of a community and part of uh HEC, and meeting women like you who are successful entrepreneurs, and um your journey to this point with catch. Thank you, it's been a great conversation, mike yeah, eo would be up next, eo that's.
Speaker 2:I've dug into EO a little bit. I don't know that much about it honestly. Can you tell her back a little bit, because they were?
Speaker 1:there. Yeah, the other, um, when we did that uh networking event and I'm like I'm co-hosting it with a, yeah, but I don't know much about it.
Speaker 2:Yes, like uh. Ben jamin's a part of. Yes, jessica monday's a part of.
Speaker 3:There's a few jason um tompkins was our past president oh sorry your cause.
Speaker 3:Yes, all right, so so we um, especially um that I should have mentioned. While I was chairperson, you know, jessica, and I sat down I said how do we create this partnership so that entrepreneurs have a place in either organization? So I'm part of both. I'm part of the Harbor and I'm part of EO. So, depending on where you are in your journey, you can kind of choose your adventure, you know, and what EO offers is more of a global perspective. So they are um in in india, they're in venezuela, like you'll find an eo chapter all over what does it stand for?
Speaker 3:yeah, it stands for entrepreneurs organization I knew that?
Speaker 1:yeah, so it could be. I didn't realize it had chapters all over.
Speaker 3:Yes, okay, and so I think that's the power with eo is we had um, our east coast summit, and it was in Atlanta, and so I met people from all over the East Coast, but you can go to their global and it was in Hawaii. So I think you know like a lot of different opportunities to meet entrepreneurs in different aspects. They're hosting it's a virtual event, but Martha Stewart is speaking to all of EO so you can join and hear her story, and so that's just. The difference is that.
Speaker 3:EO just has a broader and more global but not everybody can join EO.
Speaker 2:There is a revenue threshold yes, that's pretty cool, though, talk about that. I like how that is. Yes, because you know you're working with entrepreneurs that are successful. Because of this, they're established.
Speaker 1:Is everyone at?
Speaker 3:EO more of an established entrepreneur Because of this threshold. It is more of an established Now. Eo does have an accelerator as well, which is a lower threshold in terms of revenue, but in order to be a part of EO, I believe it's $2 million in revenue. Don't quote me on that.
Speaker 2:I thought it was one, but it could be two now. Maybe it is one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had joined about 18 months ago, so it's kind of crossing over at this point, but I can fact check, Sure no problem. And yeah, so it's entrepreneurs that have revenue, they have an established business and they're coming in and growing and learning and similarly, we have forum and different opportunities to partner, and so the forums that you offer is that for that budding entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1:So it's sort of a mentorship too, or they can just Sounds like that's an accelerator yeah, so forums are more of the peer-to-peer of the experienced entrepreneurs.
Speaker 3:An accelerator is more of that 13, 14-week program where mentors are guiding them through, kind of a curriculum.
Speaker 1:So where do we find all of this? Yes, Because you've given us a lot of great information so much.
Speaker 3:Christina. So, Harbor is harborecorg, and then you can just look up eocharlestonorg, harborecorg and eocharlestonorg.
Speaker 1:eocharlestonorg.
Speaker 2:Thankorecorg and eocharlestonorg. Thank you, I love that. I thought I did a lot. I thought I was a joiner, but now I've got goals now.
Speaker 3:Christina thank you, careful, what you wish for totally get that too well.
Speaker 2:I wished for this to happen and it did look at that. We met with Christina Locke of Catch Talent. Thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 3:Thank you. It's an honor to be here and I'm really excited about the growth in Mount Pleasant and supporting that growth in any way that we can through the Harbor or bringing great people to town.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I enjoyed the conversation very much.
Speaker 2:I think we learned a lot.
Speaker 1:I learned a lot.
Speaker 2:I think we did. I. I think we learned a lot. I learned a lot, I think we did. I took a bunch of notes. That's very good. Well, thanks, listeners. Again, thank you, christina Locke.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Rebecca, you did a great job, of course.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Mike Radio voice. And all this is Mike Compton. We've been listening to the Building Business powered by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce, sponsored by the Charleston Marketing no, no, Charleston Media Solutions Big sponsors. Also, thank you to DK Design for our branding.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Darius, Thank you yeah buddy.
Speaker 2:Thanks, listeners, we'll talk to you next time.
