Fran Pastore is a devoted catalyst of women’s economic equity and the Founder and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council, a leading organization for championing female entrepreneurship and women’s economic equity. Fran served a three year term as an appointed member to the President’s National Women’s Business Council (aka NWBC), an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). She serves on the Board of Women Impacting Public Policy (aka WIPP). In conjunction with the U.S. State Department and University of Connecticut’s Office of Global Affairs, Fran has also taught women entrepreneurs in rural Costa Rica financial management and business strategies. In Turkey she served as a US Delegate at the 2015 Istanbul Women’s Summit. Most recently she worked with The Center for Creative Leadership in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia teaching young women networking skills, financial management and business development. She serves on the Advisory Council for The Akilah Institute for Women, a college in in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa. Over the past two decades, Fran has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions and was instrumental in the passage of legislation benefiting women entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“Making a decision to leave a very difficult marriage without any job prospects and really without any idea about what I was going to do except preserving my sanity and myself…also I had zero self-confidence” …[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It Book by Michael E. GerberFavourite Quote:
- “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women” Madeleine Albright
- “empowered women empower women”
Recommended Online Resources:
- Small Business Administration – support America’s small businesses. The SBA connects entrepreneurs with lenders and funding to help them plan, start and grow their business
- Springboard International – help their clients build high-performing organizations. Simply put, we serve as success navigators.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“recognise that your passion is not always enough to launch or sustain a business…. Recognise your shortcomings, recognise your greatest assets and then seek to find the equilibrium, the place, the happy place where you can operate from a position of strength by empowering those around you to get their work done for you, and allowing them to empower you to do what you are most passionate about ”…[Listen for More]
More About Fran Pastore:
Women’s Business Development Council
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” Ray Goforth
Other Quotes From the Chat with Fran Pastore:
- “when you are an entrepreneur you are so focused on that thing that you do…even if you have a team around you still want to be engaged and involved in the decisions that you are making”
- “I was up around-the-clock. You are working 24 seven, you are not thinking about anything else but how you are going to make this happen. What sustained me through that period is I worked out constantly”
- “you add expertise and you build your board of directors… as needed”
- “one of the challenges for an entrepreneur is to be able to step out of their passion and step back and say what are my gaps and where do I need the help… I know that’s the biggest challenge for most entrepreneurs because you want to feel like you’re in total control and you know everything”
- “listening to other people as the most valuable skill set that one can develop”
- “we are here to support educate and mentor women entrepreneurs so that they can empower other women”
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