NORFOLK — A Christian-based business networking and mentoring group is helping local CEOs in Hampton Roads grow their companies while strengthening their faith.
C12, which meets monthly at the Town Point Club in downtown Norfolk, brings together business leaders who want to learn how to expand their enterprises through biblical principles. The C is the group's name references the Christian values and focus and the number 12 references the number of Jesus' disciples and the lessons from that.
"The 12 were a diverse bunch in personalities and professions. Some were fishermen, some were tradesmen. Jesus was a carpenter, so we have that diversity around our table too," said Doug Hagedorn, chair of the southside chapter of C12.
The organization focuses on connecting CEOs with peers outside their usual business circles to provide fresh perspectives and accountability.
"We encourage each other, we challenge each other, we hold each other accountable. We pray for each other," Hagedorn said. "And most importantly from a CEO standpoint, we help them with their biggest challenges, their biggest problems."
Hagedorn says there's a big emphasis on looking at being a CEO differently, "What we, we try and do every month is we have a ministry segment to try and shift the mindset to thinking of, I don't just own my business, I’m not just running it, I’m not just leading it, but I'm a steward and God has entrusted me with this. So I want to do my best, but I also want to help my employees. They're not pastors necessarily, but in some sense each CEO is a shepherd, and so arming them with tools and skills to maybe shift that mindset a little bit to look at business as a ministry."
Members include Megan Riggs, CEO of Crunchy Hydration, a sparkling wellness water company packaged at a 70,000-square-foot facility in Chesapeake called Nidra Packaging.
"It started as a personal journey to heal my anxiety and depression, quarter life crisis," Riggs said. "So it's sparkling wellness water to improve mental and physical health through mindful hydration."
Her business has grown significantly since its humble beginnings.
"We started with me pretty much doing everything, delivering out of the back of my truck to now having, you know, two national distributors, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Kroger, Food Lion," Riggs said.
Despite her success, Riggs joined C12 for the accountability and wisdom it provides.
"Because everything might be going great, but how is it going to be next month? You just have to, you know, be surrounded by people that are pouring into you, helping build your business and have more wisdom and knowledge," she said.
"It's so easy as an entrepreneur or CEO to get tunnel vision. And so for me it was the accountability, the accountability of like-minded individuals that are purpose driven," Riggs said.
She says there's a particular mental exercise she and other CEO find so beneficial, "So we kick off every meeting doing this balance wheel, so it's going through your rest and retreat, marriage, family, personal finance. Like you're going deep...and that's been really incredible to watch the trends on that. And I've noticed an improvement in my personal life and my professional life from marriage, improving to family life, to nutrition to, you know, revenue."
David Clark, CEO of Clark Professional Cleaning, recently attended his first meeting as an official C12 member. He says he values the group's accountability structure.
"There's an accountability factor of it, right? There's a mirror they're holding up to you. I'm really big on being introspective and looking within myself and seeing what it is I'm doing right, what it is I'm doing wrong. I'm big on accountability," Clark said.
Clark believes in the power of surrounding himself with ambitious peers.
"People say your network is your net worth. You are the five closest people to you: you are the summation of them. You're the average, right? And so I wanna be around people who are striving for the same things that I'm striving for," Clark said.
Hagedorn said the group's mission extends beyond individual business success to making a broader impact in the Hampton Roads region.
"All we're challenging each other to do is be faithful in the little things, and God will give us more, more to do in the 757. We want to have an impact in the 757," Hagedorn said.
There is a monthly member ship fee that hinges on a number of factors that ranges anywhere from $500 to $1,000, but Hagedorn says it's important to ask, "Do you have another place you're getting this type of value, and I will argue and almost guarantee, I will guarantee—- that if you don't get that value back—-we don't have a contract..... leave, or I'll help you out with finding something else, because I believe that strongly in it."
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