Today we’d like to introduce you to Christa McCourt.
Hi Christa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2021, I founded Kingwood Business Women with the idea of creating something more intentional for women in business locally. I didn’t want it to be a room where women simply exchanged business cards and went home. I wanted to create a community where women could walk into a room and feel like they belonged there, build genuine relationships, collaborate, learn from one another, become more visible, and ultimately grow their businesses.
Over the years, we’ve continued to build an ecosystem around what women in business actually need. Today, Kingwood Business Women offers networking events, educational opportunities, business resources, marketing and visibility opportunities, a member directory, community partnerships, digital resources through our app, our podcast, The Company She Keeps, and opportunities for our members to share their expertise and businesses with a much larger audience.
One of the things I’m most proud of is that KBW has become a place where relationships turn into real opportunities. Members hire one another, refer one another, collaborate, become friends, step into leadership roles, and become more recognized within the community. That’s always been the bigger vision for me.
Building KBW has also taught me an enormous amount about leadership, community building, marketing, member experience, and what it takes to grow an organization from an idea into an established brand. I’ve learned to listen closely to our members, continually evolve what we offer, and not be afraid to build something differently simply because it hasn’t been done that way before.
And we’re still evolving.
What began in Kingwood is becoming part of a larger vision for women throughout the Lake Houston business community. My goal is to continue creating the infrastructure, opportunities, visibility, and relationships that help women build stronger businesses while strengthening the economic community around us.
I think that’s ultimately the story of Kingwood Business Women: one woman may start an idea, but it takes a community of women believing in one another to turn it into a movement.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh goodness, no! It has definitely not been a smooth road and I think that’s one of the most important parts of the story.
When I started Kingwood Business Women, I had never built a membership organization before. I had never regularly produced events, managed a board, created membership systems, built an app, or figured out how to communicate information to hundreds of women who all receive and process information differently. There was no manual sitting on my desk telling me how to do any of this. I had to learn it.
And I learned quickly that building a community is really about learning people.
I’ve had to become a better communicator, a better listener, and a much more patient leader. I’ve learned how to work with different personalities, perspectives, expectations, and communication styles. I’ve learned that sometimes leadership means speaking, and sometimes it means being quiet long enough to actually hear what people are telling you.
I’ve also learned the operational side of building an organization from the ground up in technology, event production, marketing, membership communication, organizational systems, processes, partnerships, and creating multiple ways for people to access information. If something wasn’t working, I couldn’t simply complain that it wasn’t working. I had to find a solution, create a system, or find someone who knew more than I did and learn from them.
There have also been harder lessons about leadership. When you build something visible, not everyone is going to agree with every decision you make, and not everyone will necessarily want you to succeed. I’ve had to learn how to professionally navigate criticism, conflict, misunderstandings, and occasionally ill will without allowing those things to dictate the direction of the organization. That requires boundaries, discernment, and remembering who and what you’re responsible for.
One of the biggest lessons has been understanding that culture doesn’t happen accidentally. As KBW grew, I realized that I wasn’t simply organizing events, I was helping create a culture. I had to become very intentional about what we stand for, how women feel when they enter our spaces, how we communicate, how we treat one another, and what kind of business community we want to build together. I certainly haven’t figured everything out, and I don’t think great leaders ever believe they have. What I have learned is how to find answers.
Nearly every challenge we’ve encountered has eventually led me back to the same place: my network. I bring smart women together, I ask questions, I do the research, I find people who are exceptional at what they do, and I learn from them. Ironically, that’s also the entire philosophy behind Kingwood Business Women. You don’t have to know everything yourself when you’ve built a community where someone knows what you don’t.
Every challenge has made the organization better, but it has also made me a better founder and leader. And I think I’m probably most proud of that growth because the woman who founded KBW in 2021 could not have led the organization we’re becoming today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Kingwood Business Women is a business networking and marketing organization created exclusively for women in business, but I think what really sets us apart is that we don’t view networking as something that only happens when you’re standing in a room together. We have intentionally built KBW around three things: connection, communication, and visibility.
Our work is about creating and finding opportunities for women in business and then building the platforms that help connect them to those opportunities. Sometimes that’s introducing two women who should know each other. Sometimes it’s putting a member’s business in front of our audience. Sometimes it’s inviting her to speak, collaborate, contribute her expertise, attend an educational program, be featured in our marketing, or simply putting her in the right room with the right people.
We use networking events, educational programming, our digital platforms, social media, our member directory, community partnerships, editorial content, and our podcast, *The Company She Keeps*, to continually communicate who our members are and what they do. Our goal isn’t for someone to meet a KBW member once. We want our community to see her name, recognize her expertise, understand her business, and remember her when an opportunity arises.
That’s where I believe networking and marketing become incredibly powerful when they’re used together.
We’re also very intentional about listening to what women in business actually need. Women are building companies while often managing incredibly full lives, so information and opportunity have to be accessible in more than one way. Some women thrive at an in-person networking event. Someone else may discover a member through our social media. Another may listen to her story on our podcast, find her through our directory, attend one of our workshops, or connect with her through our app. We’re continually building different touch points that lead back to the same thing: meaningful business relationships.
Our largest annual gathering is KBW Business & Brunch, our women’s business summit. On March 6, 2027, we’ll host our sixth annual Business & Brunch at Walden on Lake Houston Golf & Country Club. It’s become an important opportunity to bring women together on a larger scale for business, education, conversation, connection, and community.
What I’m most proud of, though, isn’t any single event, platform, or program we’ve created. It’s seeing what happens because the infrastructure exists.
I get to watch women become more visible. I see referrals happen, collaborations begin, friendships develop, businesses grow, women step into leadership, and members advocate for one another when the other woman isn’t even in the room. That’s what I want KBW to be known for.
We’re not interested in collecting business cards. We’re interested in building business relationships—and then using the collective reach of our community to help more women become known, trusted, connected, and successful. To me, that’s the difference between hosting networking events and building a business community.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If there’s one thing I’d love readers to understand about Kingwood Business Women, it’s that you don’t have to build your business alone. Sometimes we look at successful women and see the finished product the company, the confidence, the leadership position, the recognition but we don’t always see the network of people behind her who answered questions, made introductions, shared opportunities, gave advice, referred clients, opened doors, or simply encouraged her to keep going.
I believe very strongly that who you surround yourself with matters. That’s really what we’ve been building with Kingwood Business Women since 2021. Yes, we’re creating networking opportunities, marketing platforms, educational programs, events, and resources, but underneath all of that, we’re creating proximity. We’re putting women in closer proximity to people, information, relationships, and opportunities that can change the trajectory of their businesses.
And I want women to understand that networking isn’t about walking into a room and immediately asking, “What can I get from these people?” The most powerful networkers I’ve watched ask a completely different question: “How can I contribute to this room?”
When you consistently show up, build genuine relationships, share what you know, support other women, make introductions, and become someone people trust, something incredible happens, people begin doing the same for you.
That’s the culture I want us to continue building. I’m incredibly proud of what Kingwood Business Women has become, but I’m even more excited about where we’re going. What started with a group of women in Kingwood has shown us how much opportunity exists when women across a community become truly connected.
My hope is that years from now, we can look back and see businesses that grew, careers that changed, partnerships that formed, nonprofits that were strengthened, friendships that lasted, and women who took bigger chances because somewhere along the way another woman said, “I know someone you need to meet.” Because sometimes one introduction really can change everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kingwoodbusinesswomen.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingwoodbusinesswomen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kbwcommunity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kingwoodbusinesswomen/
- Twitter: https://x.com/kbworg
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYWjKBQDcxTmXkFyhOvhFbg
