The Value of Mentors: Celebrating Ten Years of Collaboration

The word “mentor,” used as a noun, is a person who acts as an adviser to another, less experienced person. When used as a verb, a mentor is the act of advising or training a younger, less experienced colleague. I find that I hear the question, “Who is your mentor?” more often than someone stating, “I am a mentor.” It is a thought-provoking question when someone asks who your mentor is. Some can tell you immediately who their mentors are in life. Others I have asked to contemplate the question visibly reminisce pondering the positive impact that encompasses the impact of a mentor in their lives.

My father will always be my first mentor. Even though he has passed, the lessons he taught me in life reflect how I live my life now to a great extent. Although I taught for several years in the classroom as an ESL teacher, my professional career as a nonprofit leader has been the longest standing job I have ever had. I opened DiepCJourney Foundation mid-year 2016. How I got to this position was in large part because of my mentor.

I received a phone call from Minas Chrysopoulo, MD FACS in early February encouraging me to open a nonprofit to fill a need. The need was to provide resources to educate and empower those facing mastectomy who were learning their options for breast reconstruction. I had considered opening a nonprofit for this reason but did not move forward with learning how to do it until the phone call was made. We only knew each other from my DIEP flap reconstruction experience he performed on December 1, 2014.

Dr. C, known to his patients, watched the development of the DiepCJourney blog I opened a few months after my reconstructive surgery. Shortly after I opened a private Facebook group to provide a source of evidence-based information and support for those facing mastectomy. I added his personal Facebook account to the group on June 22, 2015, six months after he performed my surgery. As the months passed, recognizing my interest in providing this educational support, he made the phone call asking me to open the nonprofit DiepCFoundation .

The relationship between two people, one the mentor, the other the mentee grows and develops over time. As a person who is being guided and advised by a mentor, there are many unknowns, uncomfortable situations to face, setbacks, and vast areas of growth and improvement to be accomplished. Trust is something that grows and develops over time, but I feel it is one of those most important attributes to foster growth. Dr. C had a vast network of people he introduced to me to grow and expand my outreach. He was not afraid to push the envelope and challenge me, but I trusted he would always be there when I faltered, had a question, or needed guidance.

I believe what we learn from our own mentors continues from one person to another. I recently sat down in a conversation with Dr. Chrysopoulo celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the reconstructive surgery he performed on me after my second breast cancer diagnosis. Dates in time often cause us to reflect on where we have come, how life has changed us, and expressing gratitude to those who helped us. Our conversation finds us chatting about his mentors in life. Dr. C reflects on those who guided him through medical school, residency, fellowship, and the training that makes him one of the most admired and respected microsurgeons in the world.

He shares his thoughts in an interview that is worth listening to here.

https://youtu.be/sP5jXqOrj8I?si=51flPmkQ4YlTo_9A

If you have been in plastic surgery long enough, you will know and recognize some of the names he mentions. I believe we can all learn something from the list of medical professionals he refers to in our conversation. Perhaps these are attributes you see in yourself or value in those who mentor you in whatever profession you have chosen.

One of my favorite quotes from Dr. C in the conversation is,

You just have to be lucky to come across people that for some reason see something in you. You put your head down, do your best, and things work out, but they support you, and they really didn’t have to, right? So, it’s a big deal. It’s a big deal.

It is a big deal Dr. C.

I express my gratitude to you for your support because you really didn’t have to. Thank you for seeing something in me, holding me accountable when we set goals together, the growth you have fostered in my work, and the words I choke back at the end of the interview,

Thank you for being a wonderful mentor, but mostly for being a trusted friend.

It would be an honor to hear from readers about their own mentors in life or those you are currently mentoring and guiding, in their professional lives and the impact you hope to make.

?