Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional

Expert Interview with Deb Prior of Liberty Tax
Hartford, Connecticut
Links mentioned in the show:

DOMA: Defense of Marriage Act
CABO – Connecticut’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Liberty Tax Facebook
Inspired Gardens and Landscapes Facebook page

Books Mentioned:

The Age Wave: How The Most Important Trend Of Our Time Can Change Your Future
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
Bringing Nature Home

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below.
AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Deb Prior
Jenn T Grace:
Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders.
Intro:
You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day, each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T Grace.
Jenn T Grace:
Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning into this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.

I am excited to be talking today with Deb Prior. Deb has more than thirty years’ experience in both the insurance and financial industries. In 2005 she left the corporate environment and set out on her own path as a business owner, who currently owns a Liberty Tax franchise and Prior Enterprises, which has two divisions; a bookkeeping service division and a landscape design division. Deb, I have given the listeners a really high level overview of your past, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today?
Deb Prior:
Well, I started out as a child; so I won't go that far back because that was a long time ago and I've been alive for a long time.
Jenn T Grace:
That will be our secret.
Deb Prior:
Yes, okay. Well you know as you mentioned I went through the corporate world and I had a great career at New York Life primarily, where I was a financial advisor representative. And I'd gotten the entrepreneurial bug back then because as you know a number of financial advisors, that they are- it's like running your own business. And so I really, really enjoyed that. Different things in life caused my career to take several turns. But I'd never had a position or a job that I didn't like, and that I didn't find valuable, and that added- you know helped me become who I am. And the only job that I really hated was the last one. And that's when it was time for me to strike out on my own. So I actually started in the landscaping business because I really love plants. I got into the master gardener program, became a certified master gardener, and started out doing landscape designs and installations, and I bought a little red truck, and that was very fun. And then I was looking for something to do in the winter. And so I decided that I would do taxes, and was looking around for tax classes and I stumbled upon Liberty Tax. And the owner of that- Liberty Tax is a franchise, and I worked for a franchise owner and he said, "Well you're an entrepreneur, you should probably own one yourself." And I thought, "Yes, I probably should but let me see if I like this.

Direct download: GBM_062313_DebPrior.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

1