What Mentorship Means to Me

You know the adage Everything happens for a reason? Or The universe works in mysterious ways? I normally put as much weight into those things as I do into believing that my Zodiac sign explains my personality or that my MBTI can tell you why I’m awkward.?

Little did I know when I opened my eyes on January 1, 2022 what this year would have in store for me and the 6-letter word that would come to define me.?

I should have suspected something in March. My sister made me an Aunt on March 25 and it’s a role I was apparently destined for. Provide guidance? Check. Exude wisdom? Check.?Be cool and calm under pressure? Check and check. I added ‘Cool Aunt’ to my personal resume about as quickly as I did Dog Mom when my other favorite good boy came into my life in 2021. On the day my nephew was born, I went from doting daughter and awesome older sister to the end all be all of Cool Aunties.?

In April, I was excited to learn I’d been awarded a prestigious mentorship award. I’m not sure anyone will ever understand how much it meant to me to be to be named the 2022 Marianne Dekker Mattera Award Winner at the Neals this year. It was a form of validation I didn’t realize I wanted or needed until I held the award in my hands.??It still feels a little surreal.?

When I returned home from the Neal Awards, I learned that the company I’d been working at for 14 years was being sold and that I’d have to readjust to a new environment. No problem, I thought. I had over a decade of institutional knowledge and I was hopeful that would come in handy in my new company.?

“Come in handy” sounds too simple. My penchant for teaching, coaching, and guiding that served me well at my old company turned out to be pivotal for all of my colleagues who – like me – were trying to find our footing in our new digs. “How do we do that?” “Where did that go?” “Explain this to me in Editor-speak, please?” filtered into my inbox and messages with a cadence I found refreshing. I felt useful.?

I have a knack for translating technical things into easy-to-understand methods so, much like in my family or origin, I became the Wise Auntie-type to my work family, too. Need an assist tracking down a metric? I’m on it. Need a hype person to remind you what a rockstar you are? I’ll be your woman. Need to understand why things are the way they are? Welcome to my one-woman-translation service.??I finally felt like I'd figured out what my role was: To be a professional mentor.

On Amplifying Mentorship?

Throughout the second half of 2022, I’ve had the privilege to interview some amazing women from amazing companies doing amazing things – all of which centered around…. You guessed it: Mentorship.?

In my Influential Women in Food podcast series, each of the 7 women I talked to reminded me why I do what I do. To me, being a mentor means being willing to learn from your mistakes and then to be humble enough to pass on your wisdom. It means being mindful of those that have gone before you and are trying to teach you based on their own experience. Being a good mentor means you want to pass on knowledge while also championing those who have a similar hunger for it.

I’m working on podcast episodes for 2023 and they all center around the topic of the workforce of the future. It’s refreshing to me to see companies that are looking at how to cultivate new talent – and not just to have someone on the production line to fill Bill, Bobby, or Richard’s shoes. These companies not only want to teach this incoming generation, but they also want to learn from them too. And isn’t that what mentorship is all about??

Next month, our Pathway Program kicks off and the cycle of teaching, coaching, and learning will start again. I’m looking forward to working with the next generation of media professionals and teaching them what’s taken me 25 years to learn, but I’m also hopeful that I’ll learn just as much from them – be it how to be a better leader, mentor, and even maybe a better person.?