She's making Charlotte more social
Plus: Top news of the week — County puts $2.5B CMS bond on ballot — Arts & Science Council president resigns — Brooklyn Village development takes 'first step' — Mecklenburg ABC tests online ordering
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Less than 2 years after Katey Shehan started CLT Social Club, she’s grown the group to over 1,000 young Charlotteans who share the same goal: making friends
Katey Shehan (pictured far right) founded CLT Social Club in February 2022. Shehan plans informal meet-ups at Charlotte bars and breweries every four to six weeks for people looking for friends. (Photos courtesy of Katey Shehan)
by Lindsey Banks
When Charlotte native Katey Shehan moved back to her hometown after a year and a half of teaching English abroad, it didn’t feel like home anymore. Her old friends from high school no longer lived in the area, and Shehan isn’t afraid to admit that she hated living in Charlotte — until she made a solid group of friends.
Shehan, 25, went viral on TikTok for videos she made while exploring different places to eat, drink and hang out in Charlotte with new friends that she found through her job. Other young Charlotteans, most of whom were transplants and didn’t have friends in the area yet, began commenting on her videos to ask if she wanted to meet and grab coffee or drinks.
A year and a half later, Shehan now operates the CLT Social Club, a free-to-join group for young people who are interested in making friends and finding a community in Charlotte. Shehan plans informal meet-ups at bars and breweries and invites her social media followers to grab a drink and mingle.
Since hosting her first CLT Social Club meet-up in February 2022, Shehan has grown the group from about 50 people to over 1,000 who attend her events.
“So many people here are transplants and they’re living so far away from their family,” Shehan told The Ledger. “It’s very easy to quickly feel isolated. I think when you have at least one or two people on your phone that you could call in case of an emergency or when you’re feeling sad or when you want to celebrate something, it will make the city feel so much more like home.”
Building CLT Social Club: After graduating from Ardrey Kell High School in Ballantyne, Shehan moved to Haiti for a year and a half to teach English. An illness forced her to return to Charlotte.
She was back in her hometown, but she felt out of place without a solid group of friends. She didn’t know what was going on in the city, so she stayed home more than she ventured out.
Shehan got a job at a nonprofit organization in west Charlotte working in marketing and event planning. The nonprofit didn’t survive the pandemic, but the friends that Shehan made on the job helped change her outlook on living in Charlotte.
Shehan began posting about her life on TikTok. Shehan’s first viral video was a compilation of short videos highlighting things to do in Charlotte with the tagline: “There is zero reason to live anywhere but Charlotte, North Carolina.”
The video, which has over 438,600 views, sparked some controversy in the comment section (not everyone agreed with her about Charlotte’s appeal), but she received more and more comments asking her if she wanted to hang out and be friends.
“I got a lot of comments on the video saying like, ‘Oh, I just moved to Charlotte. What do you recommend? Can we hang out? Can we be friends?’” Shehan said.
Friendship matchmaking: Shehan said that the coffee and lunch meetups quickly drained her bank account, so she started helping people connect and making small groups of three or four to meet up on their own.
“It was cool to see how they were becoming friends with each other,” Shehan said. “And so I just slowly made the group sizes a little bit bigger and a little bit bigger, and then I was posting that on TikTok as well. More people were like, ‘Well, can I join? This looks so fun, like where did you meet all these people?’ And I would say, ‘I just met them on TikTok and whoever wants to come to the next one can come.’”
She began posting about it on her personal TikTok account and decided to host an open-invite event for people to meet and hang out for a few hours. The event was at Suffolk Punch in February 2022, and Shehan said about 50 women showed up.
It was just the beginning. The interest in a friend-making group was clearly there, so Shehan made a separate Instagram account called CLT Social Club and started planning more meet-ups. In just five months, the events grew from 50 people to about 400.
“There are no nametags. There are no icebreakers,” Shehan said. “It’s just a very welcoming and inviting space where everybody knows that the goal is to make friends and talk to people. If you're not there to be open and inviting and welcoming, it probably isn’t the place for you.”
Shehan took a break from CLT Social Club from December 2022 to May 2023, but she began gauging interest again in the spring and the verdict was clear: People wanted it back.
She got back to work planning events. Her biggest event to-date was a day party held last month at a club called RSVP South End that attracted over 1,100 people. She recently hit over 12,700 followers on CLT Social Club’s Instagram account, and Shehan has over 18,500 followers on her personal TikTok account (@kaaaatey), which she uses to promote CLT Social Club.
Rossy Gil, who works from home as a freelance writer, attended her first CLT Social Club event in June after seeing a TikTok about the group. Gil, 32, moved to Charlotte from New York City in November with her husband and son, and she didn’t have any friends in the city.
Gil considers herself to be an introvert, so before walking into the event held at RSVP South End, she gave herself a pep talk and had her husband drop her off so she wouldn’t sit in her car and stall. Within the first 10 minutes of the event, Gil says she was approached by someone who liked her tattoos, and all of her fears vanished.
Since the event, she’s stayed in touch with a few people she met. Gil even wrote about her experience on her blog and shared how much she appreciated CLT Social Club for creating an environment in which everyone has the same goal of making friends.
“I definitely feel a little less alone in Charlotte,” Gil told The Ledger. “Thanks to Katey — she helps not only you build the confidence to talk to people and meet friends, but also the confidence to just go and do something by yourself. She holds [the events] at bars, so that like, at the end of the day, at least you went out for a drink, even if you don’t make any friends.”
Shehan says she doesn’t make any money from the social club. She works as a freelance social media marketing manager, primarily for bars and restaurants.
Last month, Shehan launched CLT Social Club merchandise, which includes a sweatshirt, crewneck, tote bag, T-shirt and cropped tank top. The graphic printed on each item was designed by local artist Fred Smith.
Plans for future: The typical age range of attendees is 21 to 35, although people of all ages are invited. Shehan says usually about 60% are women and 40% are men, and about 40% of attendees show up alone. The events are also free to attend.
“I always want it to be free to the attendee because I don’t think people should have to pay for friends,” Shehan said.
Shehan plans a two-week marketing campaign leading up to an event, to which she said she usually devotes 20 to 30 hours over the course of the two weeks. Marketing includes social media content about the event space and what to expect, and a list of conversation-starting questions for those who are nervous to attend alone.
Businesses typically reach out to Shehan if they’re interested in hosting a CLT Social Club event. Events are either weekend day parties or after-work happy hours and are typically held in South End at places Vinyl CLT, Trolly Barn and Protagonist Beer. The next event is planned for RSVP South End on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 2 to 5 p.m.
“I always want it to be mutually beneficial for everybody,” Shehan said. “For example, RSVP was looking to increase their daytime food traffic because they're typically a nightclub. The fact that we were hosting a day party was very beneficial for them because it let people know that they were open during the day and they had the space that could hold that many people.”
Shehan also said she hopes to one day expand and bring social clubs to other cities in North Carolina.
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger. Reach her at lindsey@cltledger.com
This week in Charlotte: JCSU receives $1M government grant; Brooklyn Village construction to start in the fall; Charlotte’s tourism industry bounces back; Elizabeth renovation uncovers Stanley Drug Store sign
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
Private school surge: (WFAE) Enrollment in North Carolina private schools rose by 10% in the last school year, part of a 24% increase in private school enrollment in the last four years, a state report shows. About two-thirds of last year’s private school students attended religious schools.
CMS bond approved for November ballot: (Observer) The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners voted 5-3 Wednesday to approve a $2.5B bond referendum for 30 school construction projects in the county, with some commissioners expressing concerns about the cost and potential tax increase. The referendum will be on the November general election ballot.
Johnson C. Smith receives $1M grant: (QCity Metro) Johnson C. Smith University was awarded a $1M grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — the largest government-funded academic grant the school has ever received. The grant will support the HBCU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Politics
Bishop to run for attorney general: (News & Observer) U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop of Charlotte says he will leave Congress to run for N.C. attorney general next year. Bishop, a Republican, was formerly a Mecklenburg commissioner and a state legislator.
More budget wrangling: (WRAL) State budget negotiations are expected to run for several more weeks, Republican leaders said, as legislators hash out issues such as casino legalization, tax cuts and raises for teachers.
Local news
Arts & Science Council president resigns: (Biz Journal) Krista Terrell, president of the Arts & Science Council, will step down by the end of this year. Terrell became president in 2021 and has served in various roles with the nonprofit for 21 years.
Online liquor sales debut: (Ledger🔒) Mecklenburg County ABC Board is testing its new online liquor ordering system, ABCtogo.com, at its Cotswold store. The Ledger’s Tony Mecia gave it a try and reviewed the service, which will be rolled out over the next year or so.
Pineville eyes social district: (Ledger🔒) The town of Pineville is drafting an ordinance to propose a social district — an area where people would be able to buy alcoholic beverages and walk outside with open containers.
Business
‘First step’ on Brooklyn Village to start with apartments: (Ledger🔒, Ledger🔒) The county closed on the sale of 5.7 acres by the corner of McDowell Street and Brooklyn Village Avenue for the long-planned Brooklyn Village development. Construction is expected to start in the fall, and a county spokesperson told The Ledger that apartments will likely come first, with the rest built depending on market conditions.
Surge in filings for new businesses: (WUNC) N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall says her department needs more funding to keep pace with a 70% increase in new-business filings.
Sports
From Charlotte FC to Azerbaijan: (Observer) Charlotte FC forward Andre Shinyashiki’s contract has been terminated in a mutual agreement with Charlotte FC, the club announced Tuesday, and he’s headed to play for a club in Azerbaijan. The termination comes a few months after Shinyashiki was linked to a sexual assault case, though he has not been charged.
Michael Jordan hands over his Hornets ownership: (NBA) Michael Jordan says “thank you, but not goodbye” in an open letter to Charlotte after selling his majority ownership of the Charlotte Hornets to Gabe Plotkin, Rick Schnall and their ownership group.
Good reads
Uptown courthouse renovations: (Observer) Charles R. Jonas Federal Building and Courthouse, the federal courthouse on Mint Street in uptown Charlotte built in 1934, received a $130M renovation. The Charlotte Observer toured the building to get a closer look at the renovations.
A watery alternative to being buried: (Ledger🔒) Aquamation — a chemical process that liquefies deceased bodies until just the bones and teeth are left — is one of the newest trends in the funeral industry and has been offered for only a few months by a Charlotte funeral home.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
High on hemp: WFAE’s Steve Harrison visits a SouthPark hemp retailer who recommends a lemon drop “pre-roll,” or joint. Cannabis growers and retailers in North Carolina have found a legal alternative to marijuana that puts users in a “nice spot.”
Concerts draw big crowds: Big-time concerts last month like Luke Combs at Bank of America Stadium and Blink-182 at the Spectrum Center helped draw the most people to uptown in nearly four years, according to stats from Charlotte Center City Partners.
Elizabeth renovation uncovers historic storefront: Construction crews pulled the facade off the former Dollar General store on East 7th Street in Elizabeth last week and found the front of Stanley Drug Store, which occupied the building from 1934 to 1997.
In memory: Eleanor Brawley was the creative force behind “Families Of Abraham,” an exhibit and book of words and black-and-white photos chronicling the lives and faith of 11 Christian, Jewish and Muslim families. Brawley died on July 3 at age 89.
Wednesday (🔒)
Utilities urged to prepare better for winter: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff members said that utilities need to prepare better and follow previous recommendations on protecting power generation when it’s cold, following December’s blackouts that left 500,000 customers without power across the Carolinas.
Charlotte’s tourism industry: The number of visitors coming to the Charlotte region has bounced back since the pandemic, but business travel is still lagging, said Tom Murray, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
🎧 New podcast: Mike Boykin, CEO of Bespoke Sports & Entertainment, talks about the importance of collaboration in the marketing field, mistakes he’s made and how he learned from them, his Charlotte Sports and Business networking group and his thoughts on Charlotte.
Friday (🔒)
Charter school enrollment: As enrollment across North Carolina charter schools increases, Corvian Community K-12 public charter school in Mallard Creek broke ground this week on a new elementary school building to accommodate its more than 400 elementary school students.
Stanley Drug Store lives on: Longtime Charlotteans shared stories last week about Stanley Drug Store – a drug store on East 7th Street in Elizabeth from 1934 to 1997 – after construction crews unearthed the original sign underneath the former Dollar General store. But many may not know that the store lives on, as Stanley Specialty Pharmacy on Latrobe Drive in east Charlotte.
Charlotte FC fan happy game moved to Dallas: Texan Alasdair Green is a huge fan of Scott Arfield, a Charlotte FC player who formerly played for the Glasgow Rangers. Green was happy to have Charlotte FC’s Leagues Cup game on Thursday moved from Bank of American Stadium to a neutral site in Frisco, Texas, so that he could see his favorite player on the field again. (Charlotte FC advanced on penalty kicks and will play again Monday, in Houston.)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks
Correction: the amount is $2.5 billion!