Small business owners struggling with hiring in a tight labor market can find actionable advice in the latest episode of the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast. Episode 82, titled "Shannon Black | The Hiring Secrets Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know," features Shannon Black, Chair of SCORE Austin, who shares strategies developed from her experience founding and selling Sunrise Montessori. Hosted by Bryan Eisenberg, the episode was published July 14, 2026, and addresses post-COVID hiring shifts, AI-inflated resumes, and maintaining company culture during growth.
Black, a former Round Rock ISD math teacher, emphasizes that timing is critical for job postings. "The best time of the week to put an ad, to place it, is actually Sunday morning," she tells Eisenberg, explaining that it takes search engines about 24 hours to pick up the SEO, aligning with Monday lunchtime—the peak period for job seekers. She recommends using 30 or more hashtags at the bottom of listings to optimize search visibility without rewriting copy. Additionally, Black advises avoiding "masculine" language that can deter female applicants and suggests screening candidates with a 10-minute Zoom pre-interview, including unexpected questions like "What is your favorite color?"
The conversation also covers SCORE's free mentorship model, a national nonprofit offering over 1,000 workshops per month and virtual mentor matching at score.org. Black previews an upcoming women's conference, a trades conference on June 13, and a four-day workshop series on valuing and selling a business. She recounts helping a client named Justin launch a successful Austin clay studio and highlights entrepreneur Desiree Fox of V Wear Love as an example of the idea-stage founders SCORE serves.
Eisenberg shares his own hiring successes after applying Black's tweaks to his home care agency, as well as a lease near-miss resolved by Round Rock realtor Bacha Porter. The episode also includes a personal anecdote: Black recovered from a baby rattlesnake bite sustained while gardening in Georgetown, crediting St. David's in Round Rock for the antivenom treatment that allowed her to record.
This episode matters because small business owners nationwide continue to navigate hiring challenges in a post-COVID economy. Black's systematic approach, shaped by her math background and experimentation, offers a practical playbook that can be immediately implemented. By leveraging free resources like SCORE's mentorship, entrepreneurs can improve their hiring processes and protect their company culture during growth. The insights shared provide a competitive edge in Central Texas's tight labor market and beyond.
