Susu Bear launched Scoop Charlotte in 2009, after a decade of being a stay-at-home mom. She sold the company in January 2026.
- Susu is an expert relationship-builder and an efficiency extraordinaire. Eventually, she was able to run a sustainable, profitable business working no more than 30 hours a week.
Here’s what we can learn from Susu.
What were you doing pre-Scoop? How did the skillset serve you with Scoop?
Before being a SAHM, I worked 15+ years in retail consumer marketing & advertising, at first in fast food and then for a home improvement chain in DC. So all of my work experience was about “ringing the register,” and I think that helped shape how Scoop stayed nimble and evolved over the years.
What did Charlotte media feel like in 2009 and what was the gap Scoop filled?
Blogs & digital media were just getting big in Charlotte in the late 2000’s.
- Initially, my idea was to create a newsletter that would keep shoppers up-to-speed on What’s on Sale in the boutiques each week. That was what I wanted someone to send me, so I wouldn’t keep missing the good sales at Charlotte’s shops.
- Most stores called their customers on the phone or sent an email about sales. It was a lot to keep up with, and I thought I’d put it all in one place, and send it to the shoppers’ inboxes.
Did you set out to build an enduring media company? I guess I wonder how far into the future you thought while building Scoop?
Definitely not. My plan was to learn about the internet while I was still stay-at-home, so that I could have something business-oriented to talk about in job interviews when I went back to work. I figured I would do it for a year or two to be well-versed on something besides carpooling.
What’s something you got wrong initially, and what’s something you nailed?
I mean so many things wrong…where to even start. But nothing major, because I am overly cautious.
- If my goal had been to grow a sizable company or business, that would be the big flaw.
- I always kept things very small and scrappy, in my comfort zone. I was always going to make money, but I was never going to make a lot of money.
Which I guess is what I got right. I decided after Year Two that I was either going to figure out how to make money at it, or I was going to shut it down.
- Since I was a marketer, not a journalist, my view was that the articles were the product I was selling. So I decided to pivot to 100% paid ‘advertorial’ content, way before anyone else in town. And to figure out how to get businesses to pay for the kind of content my audience wanted to read.
- It wasn’t easy — plenty of things no one wants to read about could be paid, and many of the hot businesses didn’t feel the need to pay. So it was always a puzzle and a game to find decent middle ground. That worked great sometimes and fell flat sometimes over the years, but it was my key objective, and I stuck to it.
How did you balance your time between the editorial/creative versus the actual business/revenue side?
Well, I loathe sales, so I did as little as possible of that, even though I love talking to business owners about their business.
- I did pretty much everything myself first, (except coding) and then would find freelancers to pick things up, depending on who was out there wanting to work for Scoop.
- Mainly, I tried to keep my workload no more than 30ish hours a week. But I did have to work at least a little, literally every day, all vacations and holidays, for all of Scoop’s 15 years.
How did you think about hiring and growing your team? Why did keeping it lean over time matter?
I was always looking for local women who liked Scoop, wanted some extra money, and wanted a virtual workplace. There was never an office, and Scoop was a side gig for everyone. I really did not want to own a business with overhead and stress. It was basically my 3rd career, so the goal was make a little money doing something you like to do, for me and everyone else involved.
Looking back, what are you most proud of?
My favorite part of the whole endeavor was meeting and collaborating with so many local women who were looking to build their skills, or their business, or their confidence to branch out. Over the years, I worked with dozens and dozens of small businesses and freelancers, many of whom were just getting started at whatever it is they wanted to create. It wasn’t intentional, but I think Scoop work gave lots of women space to create their own small business or career, test out their possibilities.
What was it like selling your company? How do you feel now?
It took forever honestly. It’s hard to sell local media these days, and Scoop was both too small and yet also a little too pricey for a no-brainer sale. I feel 100% great about selling. I’m thrilled with where it’s already going in your hands, and I thank the gods for inventing Ted Williams every single day.
Do you have a big trip booked yet to celebrate?
We always take lots of trips, so several planned but nothing out of the ordinary. We would like to do more long-term stays in New Orleans, where I grew up, and where we just love visiting.
No. 1 piece of advice for me?
Stick with it and have so much fun. You are great at it already, barely a month in, and it’s such a great community of followers and friends. I really enjoyed that the most over the years and I know you will too.
