Today we’d like to introduce you to Grant Wallace.
Grant, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The Southern Shmooze started because I was tired of seeing my neighbors get bad recommendations.
Back when I was running my landscaping company, Grantlanta Lawn, I kept seeing people ask the same questions online: “Who’s a good plumber?” “Who do you use for gutters?” The replies were messy—spam, fake reviews, out-of-town companies, and the occasional horror story.
So I created a simple Facebook group for Atlanta neighbors—a well-moderated, friendly place where people could recommend businesses they actually used and trusted. I called it The Shmooze for short.
It grew fast. Neighbors invited neighbors. Business owners started telling me they were landing real clients from one post. It quietly became a powerful word-of-mouth engine.
From day one, I made sure free businesses could still thrive—getting recommended, tagged, and hired without paying anything. Paid memberships came later last year to fund moderation, verification, and the time it takes to make sure the group gets ran effectively and efficiently. Paid members get more visibility and features, but free members are never demoted or anything like that.
Today, The Southern Shmooze helps neighbors hire with confidence and keeps money circulating locally—by neighbors, for neighbors, built on trust.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest challenge has been scale. What started as a small neighborhood Facebook group quickly turned into something much bigger, much faster than I expected. Moderation became a full-time job. I was dealing with scammers, fake reviews, spam, and disputes between neighbors and businesses. For a long time, it was just me handling all of it (and still is to some degree!)
Another challenge was monetization without breaking trust. I was very intentional about not turning The Southern Shmooze into a pay-to-play ad platform. Introducing paid memberships was scary because I didn’t want people to feel like the community was being sold out. Balancing sustainability with fairness took a lot of trial and error.
There were also moments of burnout. Running multiple businesses while personally moderating a fast-growing community isn’t glamorous. But every time a small business told me the group kept them afloat, or a neighbor avoided getting scammed because of a warning post, it reminded me why it was worth it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the core, everything I build is about community, trust, and keeping things local.
The Southern Shmooze is a hyper-local recommendation network that helps neighbors hire trustworthy businesses and helps small businesses grow through real word-of-mouth. It’s known for strong moderation, low spam, and high trust. Free businesses can still thrive there, and paid memberships exist only to fund moderation, verification, and tools—not to turn it into a pay-to-play ad platform.
Grantlanta Lawn was my first business and the foundation for everything else. It’s a neighborhood-focused landscaping company built on reliability, transparency, and relationships. It taught me firsthand how hard it is for good local businesses to get noticed—and directly inspired The Southern Shmooze.
Peace of Mind Recycling is my sustainability arm. It provides door-to-door recycling for hard-to-recycle materials and focuses on making eco-friendly choices convenient, not preachy. It’s about helping neighbors do the right thing without friction.
On the creative side, I’m a drummer in two bands: Challenger Deep (instrumental prog-metal) and Better Bloom (emo/alt-rock). Music keeps me grounded and reminds me why community and creativity matter as much as commerce.
What sets all of this apart is that it’s all built locally, by a real person, for real people. I’m most proud that every brand I run is neighbor-powered, trust-first, and designed to make people’s lives just a little better.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
🧠 Your Main Hub
thegrantwallace.com
→My personal HQ that ties everything together
🍑 Community / Media
shmoozeatl.com
→ The Southern Shmooze (local recommendations + business directory)
🌿 Home Services
grantlantalawn.com
→ Grantlanta Lawn (landscaping + property services)
♻️ Sustainability
pomatl.com
→ Peace of Mind Recycling (door-to-door hard-to-recycle pickup)
🎸 Music Projects
challengerdeepdude.com
→ Challenger Deep (instrumental prog-metal)
https://www.instagram.com/betterbloomband
→ Better Bloom (emo / alt-rock)
Pricing:
- free estimates on everything
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesouthernshmooze.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shmoozeatl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheSouthernShmooze
Image Credits
Pictures by myself, R. Land and Heather Marie
