From the Ground Up: The First Steps to Building a Business with Deb Lansdowne

Mastering Midlife Podcast

Deborah Lansdowne is the Co-Founder and Principal of A Pinch of Time, LLC, a concierge and lifestyle management services company dedicated to helping busy executives. With over 39 years of experience in executive management, sales, and marketing, Deb positions A Pinch of Time as an innovative, full-service lifestyle management company by providing her leadership, marketing, and business development skills. Deborah was also the Founder, President, and CEO of an IT company that received Verizon’s Supplier Excellence Award Before co-founding A Pinch of Time in 2015. A highly-regarded business leader and entrepreneur, Deb received the Siemens International Recognition Award twice and was featured on the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine.

Deb joins me today to discuss the process of building a business from the ground up. She shares her professional journey working as an African-American woman in an industry dominated by white men. She discusses how having a mentor helped her succeed in her career and business and explains why she decided to help her daughter found A Pinch of Time. She also highlights the importance of market research and branding and shares her advice for people who want to venture into entrepreneurship.

“Put your infrastructures in place, understand your financials, and understand what your pain tolerance is because it’s going to take some level of your own personal resources to do this.” - Deb Lansdowne

Today on Mastering Midlife:

• How Deb co-founded A Pinch of Time with her daughter after retiring from the IT industry
• Why Deb decided to retire and why it was an easy decision to make
• What gave her the confidence to work in an industry dominated by white males
• Taking the responsibility of changing workplace dynamics
• The value of mentorship and how Deb coached her daughter into being an entrepreneur and business owner
• The challenges Deb and her daughter faced when they started A Pinch of Time
• The importance of market research and how to execute it
• Creating a personal brand and assessing your competition
• Why trust is an essential foundation of A Pinch of Time
• Deb’s advice for people who want to start their own business
• How she sets up boundaries and ensures that her time for her family and herself is protected
• The personal and financial investments required in starting a business
• The value of outsourcing tasks, staying in your zone of genius, and why Deb doesn’t work on Fridays

Connect with Deb Lansdowne:

• A Pinch of Time
• A Pinch of Time on LinkedIn
• A Pinch of Time on Facebook
• A Pinch of Time on Twitter
• Deb Lansdowne on LinkedIn

Mastering Midlife...Together!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of the Mastering Midlife Podcast: How to Thrive When the World Asks the Most of You with Mark Silverman. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review.

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