Q&A 4Her – Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc.

Meet woman entrepreneur Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc. At MyCorporation Business Services, Inc, Deborah works with an all-female executive team. Their leadership has made the company hugely successful for over 10 years.

MyCity4Her got a chance to talk to Deborah about her business and more in her Q&A 4Her interview. Read on for more!

Did you ever imagine yourself achieving what you have?

Yes. I imagined it every day, and I think that is why I am where I am. I believe in focusing on your goals and setting your sights for everything that you want. I work at that every day. It’s not that I just presumed I would be successful, but rather I knew what I wanted and worked very hard and maintained intense focus on my ultimate goals.

What in hindsight would you say you underestimated about your industry or business and why?

I underestimated that it would quickly become a commodity such that we would have to really find innovative and unique ways to differentiate our service from those of our competitors. We focus intensely on excellent customer service, and I believe that has served us well.

What is the best business related advice you have ever been given?

Work hard and believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself no one else will. If people, including customers and employees, see you slacking and underachieving, they are not going to believe in your business. You have to give it your all every day. Put your best foot forward. Great things don’t come easy, but if you focus and believe in what you can do, you can make good things happen.

What do you love most about what you do and why?

I love helping small business owners achieve their dreams by providing excellent services that they otherwise would not be able to tackle on their own. I also love to work with the great team at MyCorporation. It gets said a lot, but we are truly a family here. Many people who work on our team were here prior to when we were acquired by Intuit, during the Intuit ownership, and now remain with the business under my leadership. They are the greatest and they make all the difference when it comes to providing top notch customer service to our customers.

What if you knew then what you know now – would you do differently and why?

It sounds cliché, but I believe you learn from the biggest errors. So, I’m not sure I would do anything differently. BUT, I have really learned over time to take my time on big decisions. Do not act too quickly. Think things through. I think I have made silly decisions in my career, most of which I have learned a lot from. So while it may be good that I cannot take back those decisions, I have learned a lot about the importance of thoughtful consideration and time in the decision making process.

When you’re not working how do you like to spend your time?

I love to spend my free time with my boys. I have two sons (Christopher (6) & Benjamin (8)) and I truly love to be with them and my husband. They have boundless energy and excitement for life. We spend lots of time playing sports: soccer, baseball, basketball. I love, love, love to be with them and to share my work experiences with them, as well. That is the best part of owning a business. It’s hard work and I spend a lot of time thinking about the office, but I also have the flexibility to be with them.

How do you define success?

I think success and happiness are synonymous. I don’t think it’s about money or degrees in college. It’s about whether you enjoy your time. I have had a couple different careers and I would say that I’m the most successful in my current career because it is what makes me the happiest. I have the opportunity to work with an amazing team, to have flexibility to spend time with my family and to be creative at work. That, so me, is success.

If you had to share one final thought with our audience of thousands of women in business – what would it be?

Be open to change. I think that sometimes people get into a routine in their daily lives and it’s comfortable. They are reticent to change. Being open to change can lead to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. When faced with the MyCorporation divestiture, it was very scary to think of buying a business from a publicly traded company. I believed in the business, which helped. But more importantly, I was open to change. It was a big hurdle to leave the comfort of a reliable paycheck, but I realized that the reward and opportunity were great! When great opportunities present themselves, take them!

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