Shannon Black
Chapter Chair · SCORE Austin
Georgetown, TX
Shannon Black on Hiring the Person, Not the ResumeFull Episode Spotify Apple Podcasts
About Shannon
Shannon Black was a math teacher in Round Rock ISD when she started looking for a Montessori school for her son. She couldn’t find one that met her standard. So she built it. Sunrise Montessori grew to two locations over nearly two decades before Shannon sold it four years ago at 51 and made room for the next chapter.
That chapter turned out to be SCORE. Shannon had discovered the free business mentorship organization through her own entrepreneurship and found something most business advice doesn’t offer: people who meet founders exactly where they are, without a sales agenda. She became a mentor, then chapter chair of SCORE Austin, overseeing free one-on-one coaching and dozens of monthly workshops for Central Texas business owners at every stage from idea to exit. She is also building a second school, because apparently the first time was just practice. She came to the Rock Solid taping three days after a rattlesnake bit her hand in her Georgetown garden and did not reschedule.
In Their Own Words
“If they don’t light up explaining their favorite color to you, that’s concerning. Their affect is wrong. They’re trying to put on a different show.”
Shannon Black, Chapter Chair, SCORE Austin
“Protecting your culture today is probably more important than it’s ever been in the history of hiring.”
Shannon Black, Chapter Chair, SCORE Austin
“Once you set culture up well, it actually self-regulates. When someone comes in who’s not the right fit, the rest of the people make them uncomfortable. They’re like: we don’t do that here.”
Shannon Black, Chapter Chair, SCORE Austin
Also on Rock Solid
Kim built her company on the same principle Shannon teaches: who you hire defines what you become.
Anita at the SBA and Shannon at SCORE are after the same thing: making sure no Round Rock entrepreneur has to figure it out alone.
Cam’s JumpStart and Shannon’s SCORE chapter share the same belief: the person who almost didn’t ask for help is exactly who they built this for.