Deborah Meaden - Dragon With Common Sense!
Deborah Meaden is the only female "dragon" on the popular BBC TV series "Dragons' Den".
Renowned for her straight talking approach to would-be entrepreneurs, Deborah Meaden is an extremely successful businesswoman herself.
Described as a "multi-millionaire", Deborah Meaden has both run and invested in numerous successful businesses since leaving school.
In addition to her high profile TV appearances, Deborah Meaden offers advice and support to small business owners and entrepreneurs. She has recently published a book; "Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business".
As the owner of a small business myself (with another in the planning stage), I greatly admire Deborah Meaden, both for what she's achieved and for what she gives back to others. I find her approach honest and refreshing and away from her "fire-breathing" TV personna, she comes across as a warm, generous and likeable woman!
Here's a closer look at Deborah Meaden...
Deborah Meaden - Businesswoman, Entrepreneur & TV Personality
Information about Deborah Meaden
- Why I Like Deborah Meaden!
- Do You Like Deborah Meaden?
- Deborah Meaden - Tips For Business Success
- Deborah Meaden Biography
- Deborah Meaden On Dragons' Den
- Harry & Paul Do "Dragons' Den"!
- Is Deborah Meaden REALLY "The Grumpy Woman"?
- Deborah Meaden's Book - "Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business"
- Deborah Meaden - Business Mentor & Investor
- Deborah Meaden News
- Talkback About Deborah Meaden!
Deborah Meaden Quotes!
"Don't expect anything from anybody, work hard, put your head down, be good at what you do and good stuff will happen..."
Source: dailymail.co.uk
Why I Like Deborah Meaden!
Deborah Meaden is an inspiration to me...
Why do I admire Deborah Meaden? I'll make a list;
1. She's got where she is through sheer hard work and determination. My ethos has always been "life is what YOU make it, so get out there and make yourself a good one!". Deborah is a great example of someone who has done just that.
2. Deborah doesn't play the "girlie". I get irritated with women who use their gender as a tool, either to gain an advantage, or as an excuse. Deborah Meaden has never pandered to the media's desire to label her as "done well even though she's a woman" - she simply works hard and is good at what she does and her gender doesn't come into it.
3. She's also never succumbed to the temptation to be featured in a certain type of newspaper showing her "glamorous" side and I think that's great...after all, no-one would dream of asking Deborah's fellow "dragons" Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Richard Farleigh, Theo Paphitis or James Caan to pose for pictures having "slipped into something a bit more sexy". I admire her for being true to herself and not getting drawn into the silly games the media like to play.
4. Deborah Meaden says what she thinks in a constructive way. She's realistic about business and calls a spade a spade. If she doesn't think a business venture is a good idea she'll say so, but she manages to be constructive rather than destructive when doing it and that's quite a rare skill.
5. She is generous with her time and her expertise. From her mentoring role with The Prince's Trust to her latest involvement in a website set up to offer advice and support to small businesses, Deborah Meaden shares her experience and knowledge of business with others.
1. She's got where she is through sheer hard work and determination. My ethos has always been "life is what YOU make it, so get out there and make yourself a good one!". Deborah is a great example of someone who has done just that.
2. Deborah doesn't play the "girlie". I get irritated with women who use their gender as a tool, either to gain an advantage, or as an excuse. Deborah Meaden has never pandered to the media's desire to label her as "done well even though she's a woman" - she simply works hard and is good at what she does and her gender doesn't come into it.
3. She's also never succumbed to the temptation to be featured in a certain type of newspaper showing her "glamorous" side and I think that's great...after all, no-one would dream of asking Deborah's fellow "dragons" Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Richard Farleigh, Theo Paphitis or James Caan to pose for pictures having "slipped into something a bit more sexy". I admire her for being true to herself and not getting drawn into the silly games the media like to play.
4. Deborah Meaden says what she thinks in a constructive way. She's realistic about business and calls a spade a spade. If she doesn't think a business venture is a good idea she'll say so, but she manages to be constructive rather than destructive when doing it and that's quite a rare skill.
5. She is generous with her time and her expertise. From her mentoring role with The Prince's Trust to her latest involvement in a website set up to offer advice and support to small businesses, Deborah Meaden shares her experience and knowledge of business with others.
Do You Like Deborah Meaden?
Are you a Deborah Meaden fan?
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Deborah Meaden - Tips For Business Success
Deborah Meaden talks about how to set up and run a successful business
powered by Youtube
Deborah Meaden Biography
Who is Deborah Meaden?
Deborah Meaden was born on 11 February 1959 in Somerset, England.
After leaving boarding school, Deborah went to college to study business. She then worked for a few months as a sales-room model in a fashion house. At the age of nineteen she moved to Italy and set up a glass and ceramics export agency. Her flair for business enabled her to persuade prestigious retailers such as Harvey Nichols to stock her goods.
Deborah's next business venture was to take out a franchise with the Italian fashion company, Stefanel, followed by several other enterprises including running a bingo concession at Butlins.
Eventually she joined her mother and stepfather's holiday park business, Weststar. Starting out on the shop floor, Deborah worked her way up through the ranks to became Managing Director of Weststar Holidays. In 1999, she became the major shareholder in the company as a result of a management buyout.
Deborah sold the company in a deal worth £33m, but kept a 23% stake and maintained an active role within the company whilst exploring new investment opportunities.
In 2006 she joined the TV programme Dragons' Den in it's third series, following the departure of Rachel Elnaugh. As a result of the programme she has invested in several featured businesses, often in collaboration with other dragons.
In 2007, Deborah sold her stake in Weststar Holidays to Parkdean Holidays for £83m.
Deborah Meaden supports several charities and lives in Somerset in a house once owned by William Pitt the Elder.
She met her husband Paul when he worked at Weststar during a break from his university studies and they own a smallholding with a variety of animals including dogs, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens and a cat!
Deborah says she's "never cooked a meal in her life" - Paul does all the cooking and if he wasn't around to cook for her she'd "eat gherkins out of a jar"!
After leaving boarding school, Deborah went to college to study business. She then worked for a few months as a sales-room model in a fashion house. At the age of nineteen she moved to Italy and set up a glass and ceramics export agency. Her flair for business enabled her to persuade prestigious retailers such as Harvey Nichols to stock her goods.
Deborah's next business venture was to take out a franchise with the Italian fashion company, Stefanel, followed by several other enterprises including running a bingo concession at Butlins.
Eventually she joined her mother and stepfather's holiday park business, Weststar. Starting out on the shop floor, Deborah worked her way up through the ranks to became Managing Director of Weststar Holidays. In 1999, she became the major shareholder in the company as a result of a management buyout.
Deborah sold the company in a deal worth £33m, but kept a 23% stake and maintained an active role within the company whilst exploring new investment opportunities.
In 2006 she joined the TV programme Dragons' Den in it's third series, following the departure of Rachel Elnaugh. As a result of the programme she has invested in several featured businesses, often in collaboration with other dragons.
In 2007, Deborah sold her stake in Weststar Holidays to Parkdean Holidays for £83m.
Deborah Meaden supports several charities and lives in Somerset in a house once owned by William Pitt the Elder.
She met her husband Paul when he worked at Weststar during a break from his university studies and they own a smallholding with a variety of animals including dogs, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens and a cat!
Deborah says she's "never cooked a meal in her life" - Paul does all the cooking and if he wasn't around to cook for her she'd "eat gherkins out of a jar"!
Deborah Meaden Quotes!
"People can call me what they like - fat, ugly, sour - but tell me I'm not fair, tell me I'm not ethical, those are the things that bother me..."
Source: guardian.co.uk
More About Dragons' Den
Deborah Meaden has appeared as a "dragon" in the BBC TV show "Dragons' Den since series 3 in 2006
'''Dragons Den''' is a British television series, hosted by Evan Davis, and was first broadcast on BBC Two on 4 January 2005. The format of the show is owned by Sony and is based on the original Japanese series, which has been sold around the world.
Harry & Paul Do "Dragons' Den"!
Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse's hilarious spoof of Dragons' Den
powered by Youtube
Is Deborah Meaden REALLY "The Grumpy Woman"?
Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse parody Deborah Meaden as "The Grumpy Woman" on their TV spoof of Dragons' Den - is she really that bad?
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Deborah Meaden Quotes!
"I can't stand bull$#%*!..."
Deborah Meaden's Book - "Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business"
"Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business" by Deborah Meaden
Common Sense Rules:
What You Really Need to Know About Business
Her guidance is drawn from her own experiences running numerous successful (and some not so successful!) business ventures and her observations of the way that other people she has encountered over the years approach success and failure in business.
Deborah Meaden is known for her candour and she tells it like it is and from the heart in a straightforward manner.
Review:
"A refreshingly sensible look at an area plagued by hype and mythology"
- Management Today
Amazon reader review;
"I've read all the books that the Dragons have produced to date. They all have something to offer but this is by far the best of them all. Very readable style with lots of good practical advice. Recommended!"
Books By Deborah Meaden
Deborah Meaden books available from Amazon USA
see link above to buy Deborah's book from Amazon UK
Common Sense Rules
Amazon Price: (as of 12/21/2009) 
Dragons' Den: Success from Pitch to Profit
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 12/21/2009)
Deborah Meaden - Business Mentor & Investor
Deborah Meaden talks about mentoring for The Prince's Trust & offers useful advice for setting up a business
powered by Youtube
More About Deborah Meaden
Deborah Meaden (born 11 February 1959) is a British business woman who ran a multi-million pound holiday business for her parents, and then bought it from them. She is best known for her appearances on the BBC Two programme Dragons' Den.''
Deborah Meaden News
The latest news about Deborah Meaden
- Boy invents speed bump that powers street lights
- He is about to present his idea to one of Britain's most famous "green" investors, Deborah Meaden, and admits he is "a bit nervous". ...
- Film promotes the Westcountry to London businesses
- Other celebrities include local entrepreneur and star of Dragon's Den, Deborah Meaden, conductor Charles Hazlewood and Gold Cup winner Kauto Star, ...
- Return of the Dragons
- ... with his unique range of aviation designs and prototypes; while Carol Savage chose to accept Deborah Meaden's offer for her new food networking website.
- Speed bump invention to power lights
- And now he's won the support of won of Britain's best known businesswomen Deborah Meaden. His invention called the Powerbump has been presented at the ...
The Real Deborah Meaden!
Deborah Meaden reveals a much "softer" side to her personality away from the TV cameras and her role on Dragons' Den...
Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden
The only businesswoman on Dragons' Den, Deborah Me more...0 points
'I don't want praise'
You know her as the hard-as-nails multimillionaire more...0 points
Why the real Deborah Meaden is not such an old dragon after all | Mail Online
DEBORAH ROSS discovers the businesswoman isn't nea more...0 points
Deborah Meaden On Twitter
Tweets about Deborah Meaden!
-
- jwhitters1
- deborah meaden needs to jog on!
-
- greatbiglizard
- @AndreaGillies *Deborah Meaden voice* i'd like to say where i am on this: and i am all over it like a rash.
-
- ukbizforums
- RT @BusinessZone Our most popular articles of 2009 5. Video: Deborah Meaden on doing business in the recession http://ow.ly/NnqZ #BZBestOf09
-
- the_pitch
- RT @BusinessZone Our most popular articles of 2009 5. Video: Deborah Meaden on doing business in the recession http://ow.ly/NnqZ #BZBestOf09
-
- Dan_Martin
- RT @BusinessZone Our most popular articles of 2009 5. Video: Deborah Meaden on doing business in the recession http://ow.ly/NnqZ #BZBestOf09
-
- sophiegoodwin
- RT @BusinessZone: Our most popular articles of 2009: 5. Video: Deborah Meaden on doing business in the recession http://ow.ly/NnqZ #drag ...
-
- BusinessZone
- Our most popular articles of 2009: 5. Video: Deborah Meaden on doing business in the recession http://ow.ly/NnqZ #dragonsden #BZBestOf09
-
- Reeb1981
- Deborah Meaden's guide to good client service http://ow.ly/Nj11
-
- AccountingWEBuk
- Deborah Meaden's guide to good client service http://ow.ly/Nj0V
-
- MilstedLangdon
- Ineresting article by Dragon Deborah Meaden http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/topic/business/deborah-meadens-guide-good-client-service
automatically generated by Twitter
Here's my favorite link:
Talkback About Deborah Meaden!
State your views about Deborah - or just simply pop in to say hello!
submit
-
Reply
- theraggededge theraggededge Aug 29, 2009 @ 2:08 pm
- Thanks for lensrolling "Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce! Have returned the compliment - this is a great lens and I learned lots of things about Deborah Meaden that I didn't know.
-
Reply
- Stazjia Stazjia Jul 10, 2009 @ 7:36 am
- I agree with everything you say about Deborah Meaden. She's a good businesswoman and when I see the follow-ups to show how companies that got an investment from the Dragons, I've thought she came over as a nice person who wanted to do everything to help a business to succeed.
-
Reply
- flighty02 flighty02 Jul 10, 2009 @ 2:14 am
- You have to admire Deborah, she is one shrewd business woman!
-
Reply
- ArtSiren ArtSiren Jul 9, 2009 @ 4:27 am
- Nice lens. I love that Harry and Paul sketch - brilliant! On a serious note though, Deborah is a smart cookie and I enjoyed the clip with her top tips where she talks about business plans. It's so easy to just jump into things hoping to make money, without doing the market research first! I'll be featuring this on 'Reggae Reggae Sauce'.
-
Reply
- BigGirlBlue BigGirlBlue Jul 9, 2009 @ 1:23 am
- I was passing through via our summer school -- interesting lens. I've never heard of Deborah. I thought it was funny how she joked about not cooking... with that much money she could employ someone to make her meals! LOL
- Load More
Dragons' Den Books
Dragons' Den books available from Amazon UK
click the links for further details from Amazon UK
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byDragons' Den On Squidoo!
More Squidoo lenses about Dragons' Den UK
-
Reggae Reggae Sauce
-
Levi Roots and his West Indian jerk sauce, Reggae Reggae Sauce, catapulted to fame - and ended up on the shelves in supermarkets - after featuring on the business TV programme Dragons' Den. Levi produced the sauce using a family recipe and used to s...
-
Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce
-
Levi Roots took the UK by storm when he appeared on the popular TV program, Dragon's Den, in January 2007. Despite making a slight hash of his pitch, he secured a deal of £50,000 in return for 40% of his business. The rest, you could say, i...
Deborah Meaden - Index
Quick links to items featured on this page
- Deborah Meaden Quotes!
- Why I Like Deborah Meaden!
- Do You Like Deborah Meaden?
- Deborah Meaden - Tips For Business Success
- Deborah Meaden Biography
- Deborah Meaden Quotes!
- Deborah Meaden On Dragons' Den
- More About Dragons' Den
- Harry & Paul Do "Dragons' Den"!
- Is Deborah Meaden REALLY "The Grumpy Woman"?
- Deborah Meaden Quotes!
- Deborah Meaden's Book - "Common Sense Rules: What You Really Need to Know About Business"
- Books By Deborah Meaden
- Deborah Meaden - Business Mentor & Investor
- More About Deborah Meaden
- Deborah Meaden News
- The Real Deborah Meaden!
- Deborah Meaden On Twitter
- Deborah Meaden's website
- Talkback About Deborah Meaden!
- Dragons' Den Books
- Dragons' Den On Squidoo!
by CDT
Hi! I'm CDT :) I'm female, British and a Giant Squid :D
I'm honoured to have been awarded 6 Purple Stars for the following lenses;
Gothic Clot...
Explore related pages
Neverwhere By Neil Gaiman- Under the streets of London there's a secret world which is Neverwhere...a d...
First Love, Last Rites By Ian McEwan- First Love, Last Rites is Ian McEwan's first collection of short stories and was...
Saturday By Ian McEwan- "Saturday" is a novel by multi-award winning author, Ian McEwan, first published...
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - a novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman- Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is a novel...
William McGonagall- William McGonagall (1825 - 1902) was an ordinary working class Scottish man empl...
Clearway Driver Training - Driving School- Clearway Driver Training is an independent family-run driving school offering qu...
