Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.
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Invest in Your Passion At Ballantyne Corporate Park one recent day, Karen Garcia enthusiastically welcomed a visitor to her company's new headquarters. The space is too big for now, but it's a strategic investment in RCS Corp.'s future, Garcia says. Founded 20 years ago, RCS is a stafng and recruiting organization serving the nuclear and energy industries. It employs 20 employees in Charlotte and Aiken, S.C., and 375 workers nationwide. Revenues average $35 million, and plans call for them to triple by 2024. For Garcia, 59, success comes from doing something you are passionate about, treating people fairly and maintaining the highest ethical standards. A former stay-at-home mom, she became involved with the company after her husband attempted to market himself as a compliance regulatory engineer. He received more requests from people looking for help fnding workers than he did projects for himself. Enter Garcia, whose background and passion lie in coaching and human resources. Soon, she was pulling in $1 million worth of stafng contracts. "We realized we were a stafng company," she says, speaking about the need to be fexible and pursue what one enjoys and is naturally good at. "Entrepreneurs don't start companies because they want to make money," she says. "They do it because they have a vision and ideas. They want to do it better, and the money comes." Entrepreneurial Voice Tamera Green, 48, began her sports marketing career with a small agency in Charlotte, Muhleman Marketing, and thrived in the frm's lively atmosphere. The business was sold, and Green moved successfully into management positions at larger agencies, including IMG and GMR Marketing, but missed the feeling of working more closely with campaigns. In 2013, she founded Viridian Marketing, which develops partnership marketing programs. An example of Green's work: She connected Sysco Corp. with the Food Network and celebrity chef Robert Irvine, "That's a big part of what an entrepreneur is: you've got a voice." — Tamera Green, Viridian Marketing continued on page 43 BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE 41 SPRING 2015