Many success stories can have a fantastic mentor behind them.
Even if people claim to have paved their way on their own, there is a good chance someone was there early to guide them on the right path or to offer them wise advice.
These people are often the magic ingredient for your small business to thrive, telling you to stick with it when it's hit rock bottom or just someone who gave you the right advice at the right time. We owe a big thank you to your mentors.
Here are six of those people who told us great stories about mentoring.
Not all mentoring stories are typical. You may think that, by definition, a mentor should be older than the person you are mentoring, but this is not always the case.
Take, for example, Nancy A.Shenker and his mentor Jim D'Arcangelo Shenker is the CEO and founding father of a marketing company called The On Switch. D'Arcangelo, six years her junior, helped her with content strategy and marketing technology.
"It opened up completely new career opportunities for me, even if my strong brand marketing knowledge threatened to become obsolete," says Shenker. She believes that thanks to D'Arcangelo's help, she will be ready to continue her career for years to come. She describes her mentor's approach as "tough but fair".
He pushes her when she needs it and tells her directly what she could do better.In one particular instance, Shenker wrote what he believed to be complete. He wanted to post it right away, but D'Arcangelo told him it was too negative and needed some work.
"At first I was very stubborn," she says. "But I have to admit that the rewritten piece still had my voice, but it was smarter and more interesting." Although Shenker has been in the business for a few years, he's not shy to admit that he still benefits from this type of help. She says, "You're never too old to be a mentor!"
Kelsey Nelson did not click immediately with Hallie Fisher, a manager who worked several rungs up the career ladder at the small public relations firm they worked for.
"To be honest, I used to be scared of her," says Nelson. Nelson describes Fisher as "a fool, completely over-the-top Midwesterner" and someone who "literally doesn't knock on the door and not just ask, but expect all of his staff to be great".
That was a big wake-up call for someone new to the workforce, and Nelson now appreciates it very much.
In time, Fisher showed great compassion and encouragement.She was in Nelson's corner when he was fighting for a promotion. When Nelson felt like he was upset with a customer and was understandably upset, Fisher didn't scream or get angry, instead helping her come up with an idea to fix the problem. She was even encouraging when Nelson left her company in search of a replacement.
"In the four years I've worked for her, she has taught me more than any step in four-year college could have given me," says Nelson of her mentor.
Like many other mentors, Baochi Nguyen’s mentor is his boss, James Beriker. The two work together at a startup called Munchery in San Francisco, Nguyen as VP of Sales and Beriker as CEO. But he did not always have a permanent position at Beriker.
But she did not always have a permanent position with Beriker. She worked as a contractor for a time, with her mentor giving her help along the way.
"He gave me a chance when I didn't seem to have anything to offer, invited me to company events and strategy meetings even though I was just a contractor, and listened thoughtfully to my marketing ideas," says Nguyen.
Because of the chance Beriker took on Nguyen, she is constantly motivated to prove him right and to be the best she can be at her job. "He highly motivates me to be successful, empowers me to make decisions, and overall he makes me want to be a better person," she says.
While finding and getting to know your mentor can take time, these six people show us that a rock solid bond is what comes out of the mentor/mentee relationship. Despite one's situation, mentors can tirelessly work through frustration and fear to ensure a bright future for those they hope to inspire.
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