Larchmont Spotlight On New Business: FinMark Partners, Inc.

LARCHMONT, NY — Our New Business Spotlight shines a light on local businesses you may not be aware of yet.

• Business: FinMark Partners, Inc.
• Owners: Faith Deutsch
• Website: www.finmarkpartners.com
• Address: Home office, Larchmont, NY

1. When did your business open? Feb 2017

2. How did you come up with the name? FinMark is a combination of the words Finance and Marketing — similar to the way in which the word FinTech is constructed. We thought it would resonate with the financial industry.

3. Why start a business in this town? I started FinMark out of my home in order to keep expenses down.

4. What business are you in? We are a full-service marketing firm providing content and design for the financial services industry.

5. What's the most difficult challenge you've faced starting a new business? The most difficult challenge was taking the first step. In 2016, I was laid off from my position as Head of Brand at a global asset management firm. For 25 years, I worked in financial services running design and branding teams. It was a tough time to be looking for a job — the job market was very thin.

A good friend of mine sent me a book: "Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor Frankl. I hate to say it, but I took one look at the title and put it aside — I was looking for a job not "meaning." A few months went by — I knew I would be seeing this friend so I started to read the book. It is a captivating and horrifying description of Frankl's time in Auschwitz between 1942-1945. Frankl was a psychiatrist. When he was interned in the camp, the Nazi's took all of his possessions including his manuscript. He stated that his desire to get his book published helped him maintain his will to live where others gave up. He described his belief that humans need to work; challenges make us happy. He then drew parallels between internment in a concentration camp and being laid off: identity is taken, friends and "uniform" are stripped away, and you don't know when it will end — a week... a year... maybe never.

I realized, after reading this book, that all I really needed to do was get up and work. I didn't need to be hired in order to be productive. This is the reason I started my own business.

It was very difficult getting our first clients. Now that we have a few clients I can see that this is the right direction at this point in my career; it is already giving me tremendous happiness.

6. What's one highlight you've had since opening? My first big presentation was a huge highlight. I was pretty nervous. I was showing the client design concepts for an advertisement that would be placed one-time-only in a trade publication. I knew that a good reaction meant a lot more work from this client. Their reaction was very enthusiastic — they liked the work so much that they decided to build a whole media campaign around the ad.

7. How does your business give back to the community? Next year I look forward to creating a summer internship for a Mamaroneck High School student. I have had some terrific mentors in my life, and it would be great to teach and mentor a high school student who is interested in design. I can provide help and insight navigating the industry.

If you are a new business owner and would like to see your business in the spotlight, go to this link, answer the questions and send it to Patch. And if you know of a new business you like, tell them about this.

Photo credit: Submitted.