How Chamber Networking Turns Into Real Community Growth w/ Keith Lovas of Graze Craze

A lot of “networking” feels like walking around with your pitch loaded. Live from the Mount Pleasant Chamber Expo, we talk with Keith Lovas, a local entrepreneur and dad, about a different approach: build trust first, help other businesses, and let the growth follow. Keith shares why the Mount Pleasant Chamber became a key part of launching Graze Craze and how showing up consistently creates the kind of community connections you cannot buy with ads.

We get into the practical side of community-based marketing: supporting schools, donating for teachers, running give-back months, and saying yes to local events because it creates real goodwill and real visibility. Keith breaks down why a genuine post recommending another local business can be more powerful than a “salesy” promotion, especially when it’s tied to authentic stories about who you are, where you live, and why you care. If you’re focused on local SEO, word of mouth, and five-star reviews, this conversation connects the dots between relationships and discoverability.

Keith also shares the personal pivot behind the brand, leaving a lucrative corporate construction career because it lacked happiness and joy. We talk about running a two-person operation, protecting a high-end standard, and balancing long days with family boundaries. Plus, we cover what goes into premium charcuterie boards, why quality ingredients drive price, and how corporate gifting can be more memorable than another basket of crackers and mustard.

If you like conversations about small business growth, community partnerships, and doing work you’re proud of, subscribe, share this with a local owner, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.

This is a grounded guide for founders, contractors, agency owners, manufacturers, and service leaders across Charleston and beyond who want a no-nonsense path to an exit. We share red flags that can sink deals, the role of local market knowledge, and how Viking’s success-based model aligns incentives. Join us, get practical next steps, and walk away knowing exactly how to make your future sale smoother.
www.vikingmergers.com

Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce

Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions

Episode Sponsor: Viking Mergers & Acquisitions

Expo Podcast Sponsor: ‪Pollen Social‬

Production Sponsor: RMBO.co

Design Sponsor: DK Design

Interested in Sponsorship? Click here.

Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Podcast Committee | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director 
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | MPCC Marketing & Communications
Benjamin Nesvold | Co-host | MPCC President | Edward Jones

Transcript

Live From The Chamber Expo

SPEAKER_03 1:04

We're here folks with dad and entrepreneur Keith Lovis. Yeah. Keith has been in great craze. Great craze. Great craze.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

I'm very familiar with him.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Stephanie's very familiar. I'm familiar because he uh he's constantly active with the chamber, with the mouthplezen chamber. Can you can you tell me why you're active with the chamber as much as you are?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

So I'll tell you, especially, you know, two years ago when we opened our doors, um, the hardest thing is getting started, right? So the chamber gives you a wonderful opportunity to get your feet wet and to get out there and start learning the ins and outs of like what it takes to actually get your business off the ground. And then luckily enough, once you're kind of up and running, the chamber's a great place to kind of reconnect with people you know, sure, you know, bounce ideas off of other people. It's a very, it's a very important group of people that look out for each other and try to push each other in the right direction. Yeah. Um, you know, when you go to a chamber event, you're not necessarily there trying to make sales like you would at other networking events. You're there trying to figure out kind of what your next move is and if you could work together with people,

Why The Chamber Matters Early

SPEAKER_01 2:09

um, which is a much more pleasant way of doing things than like going person to person saying, like, hey, do you need a charcuterie board? Hey, do you need a charcuterie board? I always need a charcuterie board. I was gonna say yes. Yes is the answer. I mean, luckily for us as a business, the answer is yes a lot. Um, but it's it's much nicer dealing with people that are in the same world that you're in, yeah, than constantly trying to like push product around the people.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

Exactly. Similar to your sticker idea, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Yeah, looking out for people, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, it's you know, a business a business has no idea how powerful it is to help other businesses, right? Like you're always like uber focused on like what you're doing and getting in touch with the people you need to get in touch with. Yeah. But, you know, if if there's three different businesses sitting here and you have a thousand people that follow you, and you have a thousand people that follow you, and I have a thousand people that follow me, I can almost guarantee 80% of those don't follow each other. Sure. So just taking that one second to click the button and and sharing something that you do with the people that follow you is is worth all the magazine article. Like it's like people don't realize how powerful it is just to kind of do that with the thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Just organic community and search is such a big part of that.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

And just and and saying something kind and genuine about another business, you know, not not just sending it out there and not say, but like just taking a minute to say, like, not only are they a great business, yeah, right, but they're great people. Right. And they do things in the community and they coach my son's soccer team. That's it. They do all these, so like it's not it's not like hey, come buy a charcuterie board from me. Right. It's get to know who I am, what we do, why we're here, that we live in Carolina Park, that we're part of the Mount Pleasant Rec department. Yeah. And and then if you need a charcuterie board, think of us. Yes. Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

So I'm gonna brag on you for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Sure. Say more.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

So let me say more. So I know Keith because I'm really active in my child school. I'm on the school PTO board, and you brought in charcuterie for teachers.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

We do spirit, not nights, but like weeks with him.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

We do spirit months. Months, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

So where you'll come like the month of October and you buy a charcuterie board, he'll give 10% back to our schools, which supports our teachers, which is incredible. He's gonna be at our Holly Fair. Like, you're like the equivalent of like a yes man. You say yes to anything I ever ask you to do for our school.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Well, don't tell my don't tell my wife.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

But people will pay that forward.

Community Giving As Smart Marketing

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yeah. You're the first person we think of when we have like a big event. We call you.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

So, I mean, honestly, like I I spent the first 30 years of my career in corporate America. I did cor I did commercial construction. Um, it was a very lucrative opportunity. Um, I would never complain about what I was making. It was a wonderful world. Um, it just wasn't a world full of happiness, and it certainly wasn't a world full of joy.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

So when we decided to open up Grace Craze, although it is a business and although it does support our family, uh we we see opportunities everywhere that don't hurt us to put ourselves out there and help other people, especially in the world of teachers and all these different organizations, because again, us donating the food to the teachers is great. They get to eat lunch, they get to enjoy themselves, they get a thank you for doing everything they do. But it's also our clientele.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I mean, at the end of the day, they're seeing our product, which is worth so much more than just hearing a pad on the radio or you know, so it when when situations in life are a win-win, that's wonderful. Yeah, because they're not all the time, right? I know. Um, so you know, we do say yes a lot, um, mainly because we hope that the person picking up the board today picks up another board.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah, people like me ordered one for Super Bowl because I know you get back to my kids' school.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

So and again, it's and if that if that helps kind of complete the circle and and the teachers get something out of it and you get something out of it, and we get something out of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

It all works out.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Why would you not? Why would you not want to do it? Are you gonna say yes to the expo next year? So the ex we love the expo. We were here two years ago before we opened. Um trust me, we feel very blessed to say it's hard for us to commit to it. Yeah, um, because every single board that leaves our shop is built by me or my wife.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Um, we're a two-man show. What? Um the reason. The reason why we do it like that, and and trust me, it would be easier if we hired people. Um, we're we're so committed to such a high-end product that we have not yet found the person that we trust to do it.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah. Um, so I feel the same way.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

So we do you are you looking? We're we're always looking for the right person. All right, let's throw it out there in the universe. So we we made a decision early on that we would rather get up at 6 a.m. and go into the shop than worry about having to hire somebody to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

So they're parents of three children, P.S.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Yeah. Um we juggle, we juggle what needs to be juggled. Um you got kids cutting,

Leaving Corporate For Joy

SPEAKER_01 7:03

don't you? I can't say that for sure. Um my daughter's very good at chopping carrots, I'll tell you. I bet, I bet. Um, but you know, with with the days that we have to get up early and with the days that we're there late, owning the business also offers a flexibility that we wouldn't have otherwise to be able to close our doors to go to a sporting event or go to a concert. You know, we we we do we do say no certain times of the day because there's family things that need to be done. Oh yeah. Um, but you know, we again the commitment to to make Graze Craze what we want it to be in the community um takes a certain level of the case.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

And you have a great location.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

It's it's a great convenient location. Um people are still shocked that you can get aboard the same day. Well, where is it? Um we're right by Crush Yard. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

And that's shopping center.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

That's shopping center right at the entrance of Charleston National. Okay, so we have a retail location, so you can stop by and say hi, and obviously we make things up there. We have a commercial kitchen, full health department sign-off, so we do everything the right way.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Um and it's and and it's a very convenient location because a lot of things in Mount Pleasant, you pull in the parking lot and you get like white knuckled because like you know there's like a million people trying to fight the right three spots.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Everybody's been to the Trader Joe's parking lot, the public's parking lot in Park West. It's like um it's like the Hunger Games, right? Yeah. Um but you know, our parking lot is is low stress. Um, there's always a spot in front of our store for you to pull into. When it's raining, we bring the board out to you so you don't have to get wet. Perfect. Um, you know, we we really try to do things the right way because that's how we would want to be treated, and that's how we like to treat other people.

unknown 8:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Well, I love you and I love what you're doing for the community.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Two-man shop.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

That blows my mind.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

I know.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

I know we pulled a lot of meat. He is. You're at all the we we juggle. And I don't know if I met your wife yet, so she must be the one who's gonna be a few.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

She's the one who, when I when I talk to my wife about coming to something like this, she would rather die.

Two-Person Shop And Family Boundaries

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Most for marriage, like, and so like I'll I'll do a little shout-out. So like I'm about to celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and I have not bought a present yet. Okay, that's all right. So I got some time, but we're about to celebrate 20 years. Don't get her a charcuterie board.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Krogans down to the box.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

And don't don't make don't make her make her own charcuterie board to bring home. Yeah, that would be good.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Now, do you do Halloween ones?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

We do all seasonal boards. So we do a Christmas tree, we do all we do Valentine's boards, we do Halloween boards. Oh, this is fun. Um, and we do the amount of phone calls that we get that start with, can you? We love those phone calls. We can't always figure out how to do it. Like somebody came in yesterday and asked for a Girl Scout themed board. Okay. We haven't figured out that one yet.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

I bet you bet you can just do the logo.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

We probably we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Um a lot of people come in with some crazy things, and we love that because it's fun. That is fun.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

Can I ask uh where are you getting your boards? The boards themselves.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Yeah. So we have a company that builds the boards that like builds the boards for us. All the boards are kept by so when you pick up a board from us, we don't ask for the boards back, they stay with you. Right, right. Um, so they come from a company, I think they're in Wisconsin, that they build the boards and they ship them to us. Okay. Um, so it's been super easy to work with them. Yeah. Um, it's it people are probably amazed at what the cost of the board is compared to like everything we send out the door. Right. Because the biggest thing we hear from people obviously is like your boards are great, but they're expensive. And what we try to tell people is the products that go on those boards, I promise you, are expensive. Yeah. Um, you know, there's there's lots of ways we could do it to make it cheaper. Yeah. I we don't think that's what the market is, and that's not that's not what we want to make. So um we do every like our our meats come from meat purveyors um from the Bronx. Like we do we do things the expensive way so that when you guys pick up a product, you know that it's uh the highest it can be.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

I got one reference. Yeah. Brooks Custom Woodworks.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

They're out of Sullivan's Island. Okay, they're right below Tex Mex or Mex One, I mean. Okay. Right in there,

Location Convenience And White-Glove Service

SPEAKER_03 11:03

local uh wood shop. Okay, like like on the like not on the beach, but you know what I'm talking about. Right on the drag. It's really cool. They do boards, yeah. And I know this because they did a uh uh Camp Happy Days uh fundraiser, they were selling their boards. They made the boards for free. Okay. You buy the boards, they're so nice.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

No, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

The wooden making is amazing, I think of Brooks Custom Woods.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Well, I'll tell you, we're always people are always coming in asking for like a little higher-end gift. So we do tend to we do tend to, if we if time allows, we try to set up where like somebody can supply the board and then we can put the charcuterie on the board and wrap it all up nice. Yeah. Um, so we're more than happy to get in touch with them.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

Yeah, let me connect the dots for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

I mean, it goes back to business is helping businesses, right? It's like we're all out here like tunnel vision sometimes. Like you have to like open up and be like, you know, what can we really do for each other? You come to the expo. That's right. I mean, it's funny, just at the expo, I was talking to a friend and we've known each other for years, but we've never like put it together that we're we have the same exact clientele in two completely different businesses, right? Okay. So it's like the people that she's talking to on a daily basis are the people that I want to talk to and vice versa. Uh-huh. Even though we're in two completely different businesses.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

So now we're trying to figure out a way to bring each other into those conversations where like obviously it's hard to meet every single person, but if we can tag team it. Yeah. Um, so it's like things like that. Don't make me say it.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

Don't make me say it. No. It's a who not how. We're gonna do it. You know, find the who. It's in your you know, now you're part of her ecosystem, and she's a part of your ecosystem, you're gonna go. Yeah, exactly. Anyhow.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

And we're all and we're all in the same, we're all in the same world, right? Exactly. We're not competing against each other. No, we're all trying to make do. Collision, they say. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Well, thank you for being here. Is there anything else you guys give away to the like uh I will I will just say holiday season's coming up.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Um we love the holiday season, obviously. Um

Premium Ingredients And Pricing Reality

SPEAKER_01 12:58

we do a whole lot of stuff with with corporate gifting. Um if you have anything with corporate gifting or you're looking for something different to give to your clients this year, um, trust me, we've all had baskets full of jelly and mustard and crackers dropped off to our offices. You can only have so much jelly and mustard and crackers in a given season. So um, if you're looking for something new, give us a call, stop by. We work out all sorts of different budgets for all sorts of different businesses. And again, business is helping businesses, right? So, me helping you with your client gifting, if it helps you for us to get in front of your clients and vice versa, that's what we're all here for. So, you know, shoot, hit us up, and if you think there's something we won't say yes to, talk to this girl. You haven't met us because we usually do it. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

And I I think our when is our month? I think our month's coming up, maybe October. I don't know. We'll find out.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

I think I think it's in October.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I think it's October, whole month of 10% back to Charles Pickney Elementary.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

How can we uh how can we find you? Oh, you can find us anywhere. So luckily, if you Google the word charcuterie, I guarantee you will come up first because of our wonderful customers. I think we're up to like 165 five-star reviews. It's amazing. Um, it's been such a blessing that people not only love our product, but they love it enough to tell other people about it. Um so we've been so lucky that you know we're we're out there, very easy to find. But look us up, we have a full website, full ordering page. Um, and if you can't figure all that ass out, um give us a call because um we love talking to people.

Partnerships Plus Holiday Corporate Gifting

SPEAKER_01 14:23

My wife won't pick up the phone, but I'll pick up the phone, I promise. Grazecraze.com. GrazeCraze.com.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Nice. All right. Thanks for your time, Keith. Thank you, Frank. Thank you for having me. Well, they hug it out. I'm gonna thank our sponsors. Thank you to Pollen Social for sponsoring the podcast today. Live here at the Mount Pleasant Chamber Expo. Thank you to Larry for the production. Jake, Gottes Films, thank you to uh you, Keith. Well, thank everybody. Thank you for supporting the chamber. We'll see you next time.