But, how do I find a mentor?
Finding Your Mentor
Now, young Jedi, you might be asking: How do I find a mentor?
My personal suggestions: Look and listen. Seek them out. Amazing marketers are hiding in the cubes and offices in the building next door. But they are hard to get to. Easier are those people that are out and about in the community. Go to local events, and strike up a conversation. Poke through LinkedIN, and read their blogs.
- Ask Yourself: Who do you admire and why? Who do you identify with? Who do you want to be like?
- Email them. Don’t hold back. Do send them a note – about anything. Trust me. They’ll appreciate it. It opens the door for more conversation.
- Don’t Be Scared: Do invite them to lunch, coffee or happy hour. Seek them out at local marketing events. (And don’t go getting all creepy by stalking them. Just invite them into conversation.)
- Know your objective. Which can be simple, to start. “I’m graduating in 2 years, and I wanted to get a better understanding of the Austin Business Landscape. What companies do you know of here?” or “I’m hoping you could review my paper on Building a Marketing plan. I’d love your real-world feedback.” Or “I’m curious. What is a day in your life like?”
- Believe in yourself. Mentors often learn just as much from you as you learn from them.
Then here’s the scary part: ASK FOR IT. Ask them if they would be interested being your mentor. Tell then what projects you enjoyed in school, or why you are passionate about whatever it is you are passionate about. Tell them what you want to be when you grow up and why. Then, give it space and time to blossom.
P.S. At this time, I want to thank my one-time Marketing mentors: Suaad Sait and Josh Baer, and my numerous one-time interns and mentees including Stephanie Brown, Marlana Salmon, Cora Griffin, Mei Lee Ling, Scott Daughtry, Mike Fellers and Caroline Lim.