Deb Neuman
Sound advice
Much like a chameleon changes colors, Deb Neuman can change her voice to nearly anything you want to hear — from the deep raspy tones of an older woman to the perky, upbeat “likes” of a Valley girl.
While her voice-over work feeds her love of theater and acting, it also gives Neuman, director of the University of Maine’s Target Technology Incubator, personal satisfaction when she gets to do something to help the community.
Take a recent community project that she characterizes as one of her proudest moments.
Eastern Maine Healthcare is opening a new cancer treatment and research center in Brewer, Maine, and Blueberry Broadcasting, a media company, agreed to create 60-second public service announcements about why the facility is so critical and how people can help make it happen. Other stations in the community supported the effort by airing the spots.
“We brought in cancer survivors and family members to tell their stories. I have to say, it was the most emotional and rewarding three hours I’ve had as an interviewer,” says Neuman, who helped create the announcements. “To use what you have to be able to create something way bigger than you, that can make a difference for so many, is as good as it gets.”
Neuman, who started acting in third grade, isn’t shy in front of a microphone, a camera or an audience. She has a background in journalism and broadcast, theater and performing, and hosted her first radio show while in college. On that first show, she interviewed a friend who had just moved to the West Coast to try to make it big in the music business. Turns out singer Richard Marx did just that.
In addition to radio and theater, Neuman has always had a passion for small businesses, and has owned several. In Maine, those included an inn and tour boat company in Bar Harbor. She also worked as a small business counselor and lender at the Washington Hancock Community Agency and Eastern Maine Development Corp.
It wasn’t until Neuman began working at UMaine’s Target Technology Incubator in 2001 that she had an “aha” moment: a radio show about small businesses, available resources, success stories, struggles and important issues.
“We have all these great resources in Maine for small business that people don’t know about, including many at UMaine, and all these great small business stories,” she says. “Radio reaches every remote area.”
Four years ago, Neuman started talking about small businesses in Maine on the George Hale-Ric Tyler radio show on WVOM. She’s been on the air there weekly ever since.
In 2006, Neuman also launched her own hourlong show called “Back to Business” on the same Augusta-based station. Each week she hosts guests and tackles business-related topics that range from mother-daughter-owned businesses (aired in observance of Mother’s Day) and ways to thrive during a recession to how businesses can be more family friendly (case in point: a store that prohibited baby strollers).
Her goals for each show: provide useful, relevant information, tell a story and entertain.
“It’s a show with a sense of humor,” says Neuman, who has produced more than 150 “Back to Business” shows. “You need to have one if you are in business for yourself.”
Currently, Neuman is reaching radio audiences throughout Maine and New Hampshire since expanding to 96.7 FM in Portsmouth, which also streams the show online, resulting in listeners from California to India, in addition to a podcast audience sponsored by Oxford Networks.
“It’s very exciting to reach a larger audience,” says Neuman. “But it also presents a challenge because the show has to be relevant to anyone anywhere.”
Neuman also writes and produces one-minute business tips that have aired on radio stations throughout Maine and in the Philadelphia radio market. She provides business tips locally for WABI-TV, writes a BIZ column for The Maine Edge, and has been tapped as a small-business expert on other radio and television programs from Maine to Spain.
In 2007, Neuman was named Small Business Journalist of the Year for Maine and New England by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She also received a Congressional Proclamation from U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe for the “Back to Business” program and its contribution to small businesses.
“Listeners from all over the country write to tell me how much they enjoy listening to the show and how much they learn,” says Neuman. “Surprisingly, they are not all small business owners. They represent a wide range of age and experience. It’s their positive feedback that keeps me going.”
