Lindsay Mastro
Speaking / Founders, hiring & first teams
Leadership & workforce expert · Keynote speaker · Podcast guest

Speaker for founders and small business owners on hiring and building a first team

The first few hires set how work gets done for years. Lindsay Mastro gives founders a working plan for their stage: who to bring on first, how to bring them in, and how to keep small issues small as the team grows.

Lindsay Mastro speaking with a microphone in front of a DisruptHR Syracuse screen

Talks on this topic

Each can run as a keynote, workshop, panel, or podcast conversation, tailored to the room.

Workshop

Building Your First Team

Hiring, onboarding, and growing without losing your footing

Founders leave with a working plan for their stage: who to bring on first, how to bring them in, and how to keep small issues small as the team grows.

  • Hiring for the work the business needs next
  • Using a new hire's first 60 days to set how work gets done
  • Simple check-ins that catch issues before good people leave
Delivered at: INSPYRE Innovation Hub by CenterState CEO (2025, 2026); CNY Women's Network (2024); WISE Women's Business Center (2025)
Talk + conversation

Founders Without Founders

Building a business without a family safety net

For founders who built without family support, financially, emotionally, or both. Lindsay names what that carries into a business and opens a conversation where founders find belonging, not just advice.

  • The realities of building without a safety net
  • How those patterns show up in hiring, risk, and delegation
  • Support and a community to come back to
Delivered at: Intentional Feminine (2026). Lindsay is a Certified Grief Coach.
Workshop

The Ghosts in Your Business

It's never the first time. It's the next time.

The three patterns Lindsay sees most: the good intention that sets a precedent, the org chart nobody can see, and the hire that keeps costing you.

  • Why consistency matters more than any single rule
  • How unclear roles show up as "attitude" and conflict
  • What to know before you write the job post
Delivered at: Liverpool Chamber of Commerce (2026)

What audiences leave with

  • Hiring for the work the business needs next
  • Using a new hire's first 60 days to set how work gets done
  • Simple check-ins that catch issues before good people leave
  • How building without a safety net shows up in hiring, risk, and delegation
  • Consultant to thousands of small employers
  • Workshops at INSPYRE Innovation Hub by CenterState CEO (2025, 2026), WISE Women's Business Center, and CNY Women's Network
  • CenterState CEO 2025 Small Business of the Year finalist (ConsciousHR)

Podcast conversation starters

  • Who should a founder hire first, and why is it often not who they expect?
  • What should a new hire's first 60 days look like?
  • How do you build a business when you had no safety net growing up?
  • What does a founder carry into their business that nobody talks about?

More speaking topics

Bring Lindsay to your stage or show

Share your event or podcast, your audience, and your date. Lindsay will shape the conversation to fit the room.