Small business owners struggling to hire in today's tight labor market can now access a practical recruiting playbook developed by Shannon Black, Chair of SCORE Austin, in the latest episode of the Rock Solid: Round Rock Business Leaders Podcast. Hosted by Bryan Eisenberg, Episode 82, titled "Shannon Black | The Hiring Secrets Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know," was published July 14, 2026, and offers actionable strategies for navigating post-COVID hiring shifts, AI-inflated resumes, and culture preservation during growth.
Black, a former Round Rock ISD math teacher who founded and sold Sunrise Montessori, shared insights gained from her own experience and experimentation. A key tactic she recommends is posting job ads on Sunday morning rather than Thursday. According to Black, "The best time of the week to put an ad, to place it, is actually Sunday morning... it takes Google and other search engines about 24 hours to go through and pick up the SEO in your ad. The number one time of the week that people look for jobs are Mondays during lunchtime." This timing aligns with when candidates are actively searching, maximizing visibility.
To further optimize listings, Black advises using 30 or more hashtags at the bottom of job descriptions to capture search engine optimization without rewriting the copy. She also recommends avoiding "masculine" language that can deter female applicants. For screening, she suggests a 10-minute Zoom pre-interview with unexpected questions like "What is your favorite color?" to assess cultural fit and personality.
The episode also highlights the free mentorship resources available through SCORE, a national nonprofit offering more than 1,000 workshops per month and virtual mentor matching at score.org. Black previewed an upcoming women's conference, a trades conference on June 13, and a four-day workshop series on valuing and selling a business. She shared success stories, including helping a client named Justin launch a successful Austin clay studio, and pointed to entrepreneur Desiree Fox of V Wear Love as an example of the idea-stage founders SCORE serves.
Host Bryan Eisenberg also shared his own hiring wins after applying Black's tactics, plus a lease near-miss rescued by Round Rock realtor Bacha Porter. The conversation underscores the importance of strategic hiring and community support for small business resilience.
For small business owners in Long Beach and beyond, Black's systematic approach—rooted in her math background and habit of experimentation—offers a replicable framework to improve hiring outcomes. As the labor market continues to evolve, these insights can help businesses attract and retain talent while maintaining company culture.
