BusinessReport.com

From the impressive heights of Deborah Sternberg’s world, family and team are synonymous when it comes to business.

As senior vice president and part owner of Starmount Life Insurance Co. in Baton Rouge, Sternberg says helping to grow a company with her parents and brother was an opportunity just too good to pass up.

“I am in a position to impact and build a business while learning something new every day, which is very exciting,” she says of Starmount, which is also the parent company of AlwaysCare Benefits. “I am a very competitive and driven person to begin with, and knowing that the decisions we make as a team impact the bottom line pushes me even harder. Our customers are the foundation of the business. Without them and their loyalty, nothing else matters.”

Starmount has been listed among Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

Sternberg’s first job as a child was at Goudchaux’s department store on Main Street. After studying at Columbia University in New York, her career continued outside of Louisiana as an associate producer for CBS News and 48 Hours for more than six years (two of them as Dan Rather’s producer for breaking news). Later, she became vice president of Goodman Media International, a New York-based public relations firm.

Fifteen years after leaving Baton Rouge, she returned to join the family business. For the second consecutive year, Sternberg has been invited to participate in the Baton Rouge Canvas Workshop to learn about other cities’ successes toward improving the local community. She also is a member of the Baton Rouge Rotary Club and serves on the boards of Camp Kol Bo, a local summer day camp, and the Alfred G. Rayner Learning Center.

“I have been fortunate to work with terrific mentors who have influenced me over the years,” Sternberg says. “Learning from people like Dan Rather, Joe Torre, Sen. [Mary] Landrieu and one of the best businessmen I know, my father, Hans Sternberg, has allowed me to grow individually and as a business leader.”

Who do you most admire in the business community and why?

“My father Hans Sternberg. He personifies hard work, ethical behavior and fairness. He expects a lot from himself and everyone who works with him. I am learning how to run a company from the best.”