Young and dynamic Graeme Keith could have easily joined the ranks in his successful family business. Instead, he preferred to start from the bottom, working steadily and diligently, to learn the business from the ground up and let his performance speak for itself.
Growing up in Charlotte, NC, Graeme attended high school at The McCallie School, a boarding school in Chattanooga, TN. He then went to Wake Forest University, followed by Charleston School of Law. After passing the bar exam in South Carolina and selling the artificial turf
landscaping and distribution business he started and ran while in law school, he finally began working for the family business – The Keith Corporation, in 2011.
The Keith Corporation (TKC) is a privately held, fullservice commercial real estate firm in the US. Graeme immediately took to the entrepreneurial nature of the organization and found areas for improvement and optimization. He was energized by finding creative solutions to complex problems.
This unique quality found him another niche as an innovator in the technology world. “I always try to iterate in ways that would make current processes obsolete. I constantly ask myself – What would put [this company] out of business, and then try to create that exact thing in my operating businesses” he explains.
Graeme has always been interested in big, worldchanging, moonshot ideas and is not afraid to take risks. He believes Money follows Mission when the Mission is Material to Mankind. While definitely not something he would recommend, when he met his MedChat business partner, Matt Yagey, he took out a second mortgage on his home to fund the business. Most recently, MedChat was featured as #515 in the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in the United States.
Somewhat of a serial problem-solver with an entrepreneurial passion, Graeme is always working on different ventures and ideas that often result in companies that provide jobs and start-ups that have major societal benefits, such as:
- MedChat – democratizing access to healthcare and health-related information.
- Flux Capital – decentralization of the internet, making it more open and controlled more by the people, as well as allowing supporting international job creation
- Stealth Start-up – liberal data access to the financial sector, allowing consumers to be more well-informed.
- ICONIC Bespoke – a vehicle customization company focused on race-inspired carbon fiber for Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche.
He is also very involved from a civic standpoint, having served on countless Boards, including: The Board of Trustees for The McCallie School and Board of Directors for The Good Fellows Club, The Charlotte Rescue Mission and Youth Commission International.
He truly believes that – ‘To whom much is given, much is expected’. “I am motivated by a fear of getting to Heaven and God asking me why I didn’t get more out of the talents and blessings that He gave me. While it may be impossible to fully reach one’s potential, one should strive to fulfill it on a daily basis,” he says.
Graeme does that by working hard every single day. He willingly admits that he’s not always the smartest person in the room (by design), but he’s almost always the hardest worker and most creative thinker in the room. He also believes that there’s no amount of intelligence and hard work that can make up for a bad business bet at the beginning. “You can have the smartest, most talented team in the world, but if you bet on the wrong business idea, it doesn’t matter,” he states.
As an emerging leader, Graeme has learned that you can’t consistently perform at a high level without recharging. His happy place is anywhere with his pride and joy – his son. Preferably down at his family farm on the lake where he spends time relaxing on the water.
The ability to balance and excel in all roles has seen Graeme honored and selected as Entrepreneur & Innovator of the Year by The Top 100 Magazine, as well as the Cover Story for his entrepreneurial accomplishments in The Silicon Review, CIO Today and Exeleon Magazine.
In addition, he has competed in several Half and FullIRONMAN triathlons across the country as well as the XTERRA World Championships of off-road triathlons in Maui Hawaii. His teams have won numerous mud runs, adventure races and other athletic competitions across the country. As a college athlete, he played on the #1-ranked nationally NCAA Basketball team at Wake Forest University.