A Hack for the Modern Mentor: Mix One Part Generosity with One Part Selfishness for Lifelong Rewards
It might seem a bit inappropriate to talk about selfishness on Giving Tuesday. But some things are both generous and selfish at the same time – like mentoring.
As the team at Michael Stars was preparing to launch this year’s campaign in support of Step Up, an amazing mentoring organization for high school girls, I was reflecting on how personally rewarding it’s been to be a mentor.
In case you’re not familiar with Step Up, it’s a non-profit organization that propels girls, living in under-resourced communities, to fulfill their potential by empowering them to become confident, college-bound and career-focused through mentoring.
Just some of the young women of the Pathways to Professions Program at StepUp. Photo credit: Michael Borchard
I’ve learned that if you mentor someone in an effort to be generous, but don’t experience any personal joy from it, then chances are you won’t continue to be a mentor . What a loss that would be, not only for those new generations of women and men, but also for you.
The Generous Part: Changing the World Through Mentoring, One Mentee at a Time
In the fashion industry, the lack of mentorship for women is contributing to a significant gender equity gap.
Consider these startling facts from the ground-breaking 2018 “Glass Runway Report,” sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Glamour Magazine, and global consulting firm, McKinsey:
Only 14 percent of leading womenswear brands are run by a woman CEO.
18 percent of men in the fashion industry at senior levels report that they get promoted without asking, as compared to 5 percent of women
100 percent of women said that gender inequality is a problem in the fashion industry, while only 50 percent of men thought it was a problem.
Here’s the kicker:
Only 22 percent of women, vs. 33 percent of men, report getting advice to advance their careers.
The gap widens at the VP level, with 27 percent of women getting advice vs. 45 percent of men.
That’s a gap that you’ll see mirrored in other industries. Good mentoring can help close that gap. I’ve already witnessed the ripple effect mentoring is having on the young women that organizations like Step Up work with. Imagine what’s possible if each of us commits to becoming a mentor.
The “Selfish: Part: Evolving Yourself, One Mentee at A Time
My first serious mentor came to me through a mutual friend. I credit her with helping propel me into the fashion business.
I was very inexperienced and showed up to our first meeting in casual “hippie wear,” (which today would be called boho chic). She was ultra-fashionable and formidable. I expected her give me a few words of advice and show me the door. She did just the opposite. She listened to my ideas. She showed me everything about the fashion business from pricing a fashion line to building relationships with buyers. She always took my calls.
And most importantly, she helped me believe in me – validating my own sense of style and my knack for spotting fashion trends. She stuck with my fledgling business because she saw her advice being put to good use and had fun listening to our ideas and experiencing our energy and enthusiasm.
I knew I wanted to pay that mentoring experience forward. But it wasn’t that easy to find the time, nor was it clear to me how exactly to be a mentor. But, as with most things in business, you learn by doing. And as I started to do more, I realized how rewarding it was for me.
One of my most recent mentoring experiences started through a friend who contacted me to see if I could provide a loan to an emerging fashion startup, the Cesta Collective.
Some of the artisans of the Cesta Collective. Photo courtesy of the Cesta Collective.
Cesta partners with women artisans in Rwanda, Africa to create and manufacture unique, stylish handbags using locally-sourced, renewable resources. Their goal is to create a thriving business making quality products that will create economy and opportunity in the developing world, promote women’s empowerment, and utilize sustainable materials.
My intention was to simply figure out whether I wanted to give them a business loan. But, I had an immediate connection with the company’s founders, Courtney Fasciano and Erin Ryder, and soon became one of their advisors and mentors. At the same time, I started learning great things about how they shaped, developed and promoted their brand.
Over time, most of my mentoring, whether I am doing it with emerging business or non-profit leaders, has evolved like my relationship with Courtney and Erin -- a great blend of give and get.
Our Giving Tuesday Campaign: Equal Parts Give and Get
You can see our give/get “algorithm” at work in our Giving Tuesday Campaign for Step Up. Our partnership with this amazing organization is going on five years. In that time, our team has mentored nearly 100 girls.
This year our goal is to provide 300 girls from under-served communities with the opportunity to participate in Step Up’s 2020 Pathways to Professions Program, which introduces girls to new career options and mentors.
We’re donating 25 percent of sales from all tees sold on 12/3 to StepUp, up to $10,000.
It’s so exciting for me and the Michael Stars team to spend time with these bright high school girls. Their enthusiasm, curiosity, and hope remind us all why mentoring is so important and rewarding.
When you create your own give/get algorithm this season, consider mentoring. Change the world and change yourself!
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