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Name: Samantha Toscano

Business: LGBD Talent Development Center , talent agency

Industry: Arts & Entertainment 

Location: Staten Island, New York, U.S.

Reason for starting: I started LGBD Talent with my best friend and business partner because I wanted to create a job where I could do what I love everyday. I have combined my passion for helping others and my passion for entertainment, and put together what has become LGBD Talent. We wanted to create a place where we could mold and develop talent and basically create a “one stop shop” for those looking to break into the entertainment business.

Related: Read about another female entrepreneur working in the Arts and Entertainment industry here.

How do you define success? Success is when you have done something to impact someone else’s life for the better. I think it can be as small as achieving a goal you hadn’t the day before. To me ultimate success would be to eventually grow and make LGBD Talent a franchise and to have each and every one of my clients have a pleasant experience and, of course, achieve their goals.

Biggest Success: My biggest success has been opening the business at 19 years old in a short time frame; we got the call on January 7th that we needed to pay rent for March 1st, and by February 20th we were moved in and officially up and running. That and making profit within four months was huge.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Financial! It was so hard funding this place. My business partner and I had drained our savings accounts and started from the ground up. It was pretty difficult. We promoted our butts off on social media, in on-site recruitment, stores and with mailing lists. We literally stood in shopping malls looking for cute kids.

Related: Secrets of Growth: How to Make Cash Grow Supreme

Who is your most important role model? My role model is probably my Grandma, who passed away the October before we opened. She was resilient and strong and always encouraged me to never believe in ‘no.’ I was blessed with her will power, and I hope to grow it to be a place she would have wanted.

[box_light]Website   lgbdtalent.com 
Facebook   www.facebook.com/lgbdtalentdevelopmentcenter 
Instagram   @samfromlgbdtalent [/box_light]

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