Life Lessons from Mentoring a Woman in Business during the Pandemic

I was very excited to begin this phase in my mentoring endeavour. Up until this point, I had been mentoring people in corporate careers through various platforms dedicated to empowering corporate executives, including the well-established Mentoring Programme for Women Leaders by The Women’s Foundation and virtual platforms such as Everwise. 

What struck me about the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s mentoring programme is its focus on supporting women in business. The programme is designed to enhance the success of women-led businesses by building a virtual mentoring community for women entrepreneurs. I believe that entrepreneurs encounter a plethora of business issues that are not normally faced by corporate professionals on a daily basis. I could see the potential for my collective mentoring experience and existing corporate women-cum-entrepreneurship initiatives to interact and cross-fertilise to create even more impact.

Little did I imagine how the partnership, which began 12 months ago and lasted through the onset of the pandemic, would in turn, teach me these valuable life lessons.

On-boarding the Partnership

I was excited and nervous, in equal measure, to meet my mentee. The programme matches people from around the world and across industries, so I had no idea where my mentee would be based.

My first online meeting with Aankita turned out like a dream. Aankita is based in Delhi and runs a business selling specific products online. Before starting her own business, she had been a corporate executive with expertise in web advertising and social media marketing.

I felt that we had an easy chemistry and we set to work quickly, following the programme’s guidance on (1) establishing trust, (2) discussing goals, (3) setting ground rules, and (4) ending the first meeting on a high note.

Within the framework was our discussion on clarifying purpose: why are you doing what you’re doing. As I listened to Aankita energetically share her purpose, one of the things she said hit me like a thunderbolt. And this is the first lesson I learnt from her. 

Lesson 1: “Do something different, something you have never done before.”

Running her own business, she said, means that she faces a new challenge everyday, and it makes her fearless.

This is a philosophy I have been subscribing to all my life; switching from banking to insurance career, working in three financial centres, learning new skills such as M&A insurance. At the time, I was working with new clients in the virtual banks and digital assets sector, which demanded that I am constantly devouring new knowledge in order to offer value.

It was a great way to kick off our partnership, because we would continually challenge and support each other through the coming months.

Building the Partnership

Our fortnightly calls over the next few months focused on Aankita’s business. Although I was not expected to get into the nuts and bolts of how her business is being run, I was genuinely curious about learning more about the social media and sales aspects, and how to effectively combine online with offline strategies.

Aankita was generous with her knowledge about social media marketing and I was motivated to share my observations – as a consumer of products and social media. I became more alert to social media campaigns, for example, and how these could be tested or adopted by Aankita’s business.

Lesson 2: “You may not have the experience, but you will always have a perspective.”

My initial self-doubt about my inexperience with social media marketing melted away as I found myself engaging with social media content and hearing Aankita’s feedback about what might work and why.

Holidays

It was coming to the half-way mark in our year-long partnership.

During each call, one of the highlights for me was when we brainstormed new marketing ideas; how could Aankita’s brand be reflected in her story, how could she build a community which would form the foundation for her customer base. Importantly, how these ideas could be executed and measured.

Aankita was working tirelessly to ensure that her marketing plans would coincide with the slew of festivals and holidays towards the end of the year.

But first, she took a little break in a beautiful coffee plantation in the state of Karnataka.

Lesson 3: “Do not apologise for taking a pause. It keeps you grounded.”

It is important to get away (even metaphorically speaking) to rejuvenate, whether it is someone running a business or someone in a corporate career.

Pandemic

When we rolled into 2020, Aankita and I shared our personal goals. It is a reflection of how far our partnership had come, where we could effortlessly weave our personal challenges into our discussions.

As for her business, Aankita got into the habit of expressing her priorities and I responded by checking in on her progress and being her sounding board. We maintained the rhythm of our virtual calls, even as I relocated from Hong Kong.

This occurred in March, just before border restrictions were coming down like giant iron curtains, followed rapidly by lockdowns. Our fortnightly calls became one of the fixtures in my calendar that I looked forward to even more. It offered some cure for the growing isolation, and more importantly, it showed me the power of empathy.

Lesson 4: “We are really all the same – at our core.”

Despite our dis-similarities, we were dealing with fundamentally the same issues everyday; about health, safety, security, family, uncertainty about the future. Never has there been a more important time for us to lean in to each other and just listen.

Closing the Partnership

It was May.

We had been in lockdown for nearly two months and weariness was beginning to set in, as a result of repeated extensions of the lockdown in our respective cities.

This did not deter Aankita; she was even more laser-focused on her business. The restriction of movement of goods and people meant that she had to tactically re-examine the priorities for her business. She kept up with her social media campaigns; the Mother’s Day campaign was extremely well-received, generating insights for her business.

Lesson 5: “Even as the going gets tough, stay the course and stay true to your intentions.” 

Circumstances may change, but the most important thing for us – in life and in business – is to remain true to our intentions, values, principles and stay the course. We will be far more adaptable this way, without compromising on what we set out to accomplish.

Appreciation

It is a thoughtful gesture from the Foundation to send this certificate to its Mentor Alumni. I want to remember this experience for more than this certificate represents. I am honouring it for the life lessons it has taught me.

Author: Sue Yen LEOW

I continue to be involved with initiatives and programs which empower corporate women to exploit our corporate experience for mutual benefit and to help start-ups grow and scale. Currently, I am supporting the first-of-its-kind angel investing program where corporate executives pool together to fund and empower the next generation of startups.

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