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
Purpose Over Profit: When Business Becomes A Neighbor
What does it look like when a local business treats community impact as the real bottom line? We sit down with Ken French of Crews Subaru at the Mount Pleasant Business and Community Expo to unpack a hands-on approach to giving that runs deeper than sponsorship logos and ad copy. Ken shares nine years of presenting sponsorship with the Chamber Expo, the roots of a family-driven dealership, and the decision to measure success by the smiles that come from service days, not sales charts.
You’ll hear vivid moments from Surfers Healing at Folly Beach—kids with autism inching toward the ocean, trusting pro surfers, and riding back in with joy that fills the shore. Ken walks through partnerships with the Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish, and a network of animal shelters across the Lowcountry, showing why Crews Subaru doesn’t pick one cause for optics but commits to many where presence matters. He also explains how team members get involved, from river cleanups to in-showroom wish reveals, turning everyday work into meaningful memories and a durable culture.
We also get into Subaru’s Love Promise and its five pillars—love to care, help, pets, earth, and learning—and how October’s Subaru Loves Pets month and National Make A Dog’s Day spotlight “less adoptable” animals who deserve a home. Ken is candid about stepping back from day-to-day operations while leaning into the role that gives him energy: community work. In a relationship-driven city like Charleston, the payoff comes later, and that’s the point—do the right thing first, let trust do the rest.
If you care about purpose-led business, corporate social responsibility that feels real, and the power of local partnerships, this conversation will stick with you. Follow, share with a friend who loves Charleston or rescue pets, and leave a review to tell us which nonprofit we should feature next.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Expo Podcast Sponsor: @PollenSocial
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
Here we are with Ken French of Cru Subaru. We're at the uh Mount Pleasant Business and Community Expo. Yes. My name is Mike. This is Stephanie.
SPEAKER_01:Hi guys.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm Ken. We should go on the road.
SPEAKER_01:Odds are you've heard Ken on the radio.
SPEAKER_02:Ken French and Chris Subar do a lot for the community. You guys are here for sponsoring the sponsor every year, don't you?
SPEAKER_00:Oh well, this is our ninth year being the presenting sponsoring Mount Pleasant Expo. And this year they've added a job fair to it, which I think is amazing, yes.
SPEAKER_02:They added this podcast.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, because a lot of people have asked, you know, why we support the chamber like we do. And the answer for you something the chamber is all about small business, globally owned small business. People don't really think about a car dealership being a small business. But we are family-driven business.
SPEAKER_01:It is a family-driven business, and you give so much to the community.
SPEAKER_00:We have 225 team members that live and worship and play all over the whole country. And so Robert Cruz, our owner, uh, has in his heart that uh we've been very blessed in Charleston uh to be in the car business and be successful. And so it's our privilege, obligation, um it's our sincere wish to give back to the community. And so um so we do that a lot. And uh Trista Kulessa, who works with me, uh is taking over day-to-day operations for me. Um but that's what that yeah, that that's what we do. We you know, we go out and we get we get to see the smiles, we get to see the the happy tears. I mean like like surfers healing down at Folly Beach, uh, where they've got 400 kids with autism that are invited to come in and surf with these 18 or 20 pro surfers, uh most from the west coast in Hawaii, um and they come in and do a camp, a one-day camp. And so you know you you see these kids that have are scared of water in in some cases. Don't want to put the life jacket on, but you you see these kids that once they get with the surfer, they sit down on the sand with them, and you you can see them just inching towards the water, and and then next thing you know, they're on the board, and next thing you know, they're coming in, smiling and waving, and it just couldn't be happier because it's you know the ocean has we all know it's got a calm environment.
SPEAKER_01:Therapeutic properties.
SPEAKER_00:A therapeutic property to everybody, and so yeah, that that's one of our favorite events that happens in August. And yeah, we're very passionate about the Ronald McDonald House. Uh we're huge proponents of that. That is our number one charity, and um yeah, the Charleston Animal Society and organization called Jean's Angels that helps. I know Jean's Angels, yes. You know, well we're we're huge supporters uh of her uh and and the mission that she does.
SPEAKER_01:There's so many incredible nonprofits in the Charleston area, and what I love about your business is that you don't take on one, you take on all of them.
SPEAKER_00:You're putting in Well not all, but we take on a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01:You took on a lot, you take on a lot. It's year-round, it's wonderful what you're doing for Charleston. I know.
SPEAKER_00:And make a wish and make a wish, and we were just talking about that. Uh and and how you were there at a make-a-wish grant. And so um lots of generation, lots of uh generosity. We enjoy making a big deal in our showroom of a make-a-wish kid. I mean, it's they're going to get their stuff one way or the other, but we want our team to be involved. We want our team to know what we do and why we're very recognized across the country with Subaru about what we do and how we do it.
SPEAKER_01:What a wonderful place to work. I bet people are excited to be there every day.
SPEAKER_00:Um well most are. Yes, uh yes. Some of the jobs are kind of yeah, not that exciting. But when we get them involved, when we invite them uh to go out and do a beach cleanup or river cleanup, and they they see how much trash they get to pick up, or uh we invite them somewhere and we give families something and we see the wide-eyed wonder of the kid. And you see the mom or the grandmother or the aunt, you know, just you're sitting there crying because the the kid is so happy. Yeah. You know, and um some days are really long for for what Trista and I do. But I gotta tell you, no matter how tired we are, uh when uh when I get home and I put my head on the pillow, I feel good about it. I got this I got this sneaky smile that comes across my face because I know I know that I was part of something good today. And I know that my mother and my father in heaven are smiling. I was gonna say, what an incredible legacy you have. Saying, good on you, something.
SPEAKER_02:How much better can you do? Hey, you know what that's called? Success. Success. You're a successful human when you can put your head down like that and smile at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_01:And you're a good man, so that's it.
SPEAKER_00:Well, well, thank you for all of that. But you know, I'm uh I'm at an age when a lot of people are retiring. Okay, and so I am backing off from some day-to-day stuff. But as long as I'm able and as long as Robert wants me to be involved, I'll be involved in the community stuff because I realized a few years ago that's my why. Yeah. That's it. I mean, it's not writing commercials and producing commercials and doing all that kind of stuff and placing ads. It's it's what I get to do on behalf of Robert Cruz and our entire team, uh, each and every day.
SPEAKER_02:It's more than just selling cars.
SPEAKER_00:Uh yeah, it's it's much better than selling cars. Um but you have a good product. And we have a good product at Chevrolet and it's Subaru. It's um and we don't do it because it's good for business. Right. Yeah. Right. Robert does it and has us do it because it's simply the right thing to do. Yes. And do we know that at some level it could be good for business? Sure. But that's that's not why we do it. We have people come in, yeah, we have people come in all the time and say, I saw you at this or I saw you at that, and yeah, two years ago I saw you, and I looked at the car and I said, Yeah, when it comes time, I'm gonna come look. Yeah, and that's gratifying, but not the reason.
SPEAKER_02:And that's Charleston, though, isn't it? That is Charles. Charleston's got a lot of generosity, Charleston is a lot of big relationship business, right? Exactly. It could take a couple years for that transaction to happen. Yeah, but it'll happen. It will happen. You're doing the right thing.
SPEAKER_00:Subaru is all about love. You ask a Subaru owner about their car, they love it. Uh, and so years ago, love became the primary thing, the love promise, and to give back to your community, to take care of your customers. So you can click on that love promise and it'll open a tab that has story after story about stuff that we did uh with with our partners. And um, yeah, the the love promise is pretty special. There are five pillars to that. Uh we love to care, we love to help, we love pets, we love the earth, and we love learning. Right. And so we celebrate those at the right times each year. Next month, October, is Subaru Loves Pets Month. Yay! And November 22nd is national Make a Dog's Day. Okay, and the focus of that is that all at every shelter you have some less adoptable animals. Ones that have been there a long time. They may be they may be older, they may you know be blind, or they may make you know what we affectionately call a tripod, you know, just missing the bed or something. Those are less adoptable, and so we focus on that day about getting them a new home. I love that. And uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Which day is this again? I'm gonna follow you on social media. I'm gonna be very invested in this campaign. It's in October.
SPEAKER_00:October. Okay, great. Yeah, is uh loves pets, and so we partner with the Charleston Animal Society and Halle Hill Animal Sanctuary, which does absolutely incredible work down in Ravenel and pet helpers, and yeah, we're involved with the Berkeley uh animal shelter in Dorchester as well. That's amazing. Yeah, you may have heard somewhere along the line that Subu loves pets. So we're all about pets.
SPEAKER_01:I love it. How many pets do you have at home now?
SPEAKER_00:Um I actually have none. And I hate to say that, but but I'm I'm a bachelor and I'm a workaholic, yeah, and so it's not fair living in a condo to have a pet where I'm gone some days 18, 19 hours, and so um I don't so I support, I volunteer at the shelters, you know, I go and sit with pets and play with them and take a handful, so you're welcome to come over to my house anytime and hang out with my cat and dog herbicrabs and fish. Yeah, that's that's true. Thank you for what you've done. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thanks for coming on. Thanks for coming on.
SPEAKER_01:Lovely to meet you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. We're the building business podcast here live.
SPEAKER_01:This is gonna be an exciting day.
SPEAKER_02:Live and it's all about local business. Yes, it's a hundred percent about local business. I'd like to thank our sponsors, Cruz Subaru, is the sponsor of the expo. Sponsoring the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, we also have comics films.
SPEAKER_02:Cons films literally monetized.
SPEAKER_01:Lettering on the TV from the cameras in the back.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, and appreciate the time.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00:There we go. I'm gonna I'm gonna go fill them on the mic.
