Mentors in Chief...Judith Curr & Gati Curtis' Life@ GWN

As Chair and Vice Chair of the Girls Write Now Board of Directors, these remarkable women guide, coach, inspire, encourage, and lift our team, and more broadly, our community. In celebration of? National Mentoring Month, We invited Mentors-in-Chief, HarperOne Group President and Publisher Judith Curr, and Elite Media President Gati Curtis, to share their stories. We are immensely grateful for the talent, compassion, and access they bring to the work they do, but enough from us…

Tell us about your Life@GWN.??

GATI: My Life@GWN is most accurately described as humbled mama bear moments: humbled to listen to the words and achievements of the mentees and writers, humbled and awed by the talent, humbled by the opportunity to participate and help in my small way.

JUDITH: My Life@GWN is getting to connect as many people as possible to the work.?

A Prompt from Sophia Torres, from Girls Write Now On The Art of The Craft

Write about a moment you overcame a fear or anxiety that wouldn’t go away. How did you feel? What did you do to overcome it???

GATI: I like to live in the shadows not in a creepy way, but in cheering from the sidelines, making sure the platform is strong for others to stand on, kind of way.? And then, I was thrust onto my own platform. The anxiety of being the center of attention, the fear of failure—the imposter syndrome was real and deep. But I surrounded myself with people and stories that gave me confidence, and courage. My own cheerleaders, whether on page or in person, gave me the tools, the push, the permission to shine.

JUDITH: Whenever I have a fear or anxiety I allow myself to feel the feeling—and then I make the decision to do it anyway. By taking the action I am not letting fear limit me.?

Our mothers are often our first mentors in life. What did you learn from yours, and what would she share with Girls Write Now mentees? ???

JUDITH: My mother gave me permission to be myself. You can have anything you want provided you get it for yourself.

GATI: Be who you are, inside and out, because those are the gifts that were given to you—and when you accept that—you unleash your real power, potential, and possibility.?

What was the best advice you ever received? Have you been able to pass it on?

GATI: Stop being the little girl in the corner of the room and pull up a chair. I try to pass that on, almost daily when I see people that are shying away from their potential, or feel their voice is either unappreciated or unneeded— particularly at work.

JUDITH: The architect Daniel Burnham said, "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood," which has always stuck with me. I have the privilege of having lots of opportunity to pass this on through teaching, through mentees, and through living,

How do you pick yourself back up after making a mistake?

GATI: By owning and embracing the mistake—until you understand how and why it happened and take accountability for it,? you can’t learn from it and make sure that it doesn’t happen again…

JUDITH: I allow myself to feel disappointment—allow yourself to have those feelings and then you can find the road to fix it. Your mistakes can help drive you forward.?

When did you first feel like an adult?

GATI: When I had a tiny human that I was responsible for. For better or worse, when something comes into your orbit that makes you want to put it first…that’s when the maturity, the prioritization, the understanding of what’s real and fleeting really hit me.#adulting

JUDITH: Never and always.?

Are you able to keep a secret?

GATI: To a fault…I am sometimes not the favorite because I will not spill the tea!

JUDITH: Yes.?

Can you speak more than one language?

GATI: Three! And studied two dead ones as well.?

JUDITH: No, but that's why I read and publish books in translation. Reading gives you a view of the world like no other.?

What’s the most exciting part of your job??

GATI: The making of the things!? Being a part of finding a creative solution to a business problem is just fun…and the problems sometimes stay the same, but the excitement comes when the shape of the solution shifts and morphs—and it rarely comes out the way you went in thinking it would.

JUDITH: The most exciting part of my job is all the opportunities to learn from the incredible people I get to work with and get exposed to so much talent. It's a privilege to play a role in amplifying that talent,—which led to me meeting the pope!?

Is there one person with whom you always share news first?

GATI: My husband, always.

JUDITH: No there isn’t— the person that I share the news with is the person who I think will appreciate it most.?

Are you a good cook?

GATI: I like to think so. There is nothing more cathartic for me at the end of a frustrating day and there’s just something about taking a bunch of stuff and turning it into something yummy that is so satisfying.

JUDITH: Yes! I am an intuitive cook.—You can give me anything, and I can cook it. In my younger years, while I was in school, I worked in restaurants and learned a lot from those jobs.?

What’s something you always/never do?

GATI: I always eat my vegetables, and I never eat bananas.? I know it’s weird, but it’s the first thing that came to mind.?

JUDITH: I always stay active, and I never know what I never do because I never do it.?