Mentors, Not Mentos

Normally I prefer to write blog posts in a very stream-of-consciousness kind of way. However, since these are a part of an on-going class and are connected to learnings that I care deeply about, I've tried to begin each one with some brief research to gain some insight into what's trending on that topic. So, you can imagine my surprise when my search yielded old Mentos commercials because I had mistyped my search...


The concept of mentorship feels a bit foreign to me at this point in my life. I haven't really thought of seeking out formal mentorship in many years and kind of feel like it's inherently a young person's game. I've been on the other side of mentorship for so long now that I don't really know how to approach it from the mentee side.

However, I do seek out guidance often - it just usually feels more like a conversation with a peer. The people I would consider mentors for my project right now are the following -

Brandon Atkinson + Dallas Edwards // My Team
I know these guys are on my team but I count them as mentors because they are the folks that regularly question my idea, push back on it, and force me to look at our solution through the lens of how to build the thing. Although they're fairly fluent in on-line shopping and fashion for a couple of programmers, they view shopping very differently than I do and it's made me reexamine my idea over and over again. They're also experts in development and I'm learning a great deal from them.

Karen Adams // Former Boss Lady
We don't have a formal mentorship but she has always been very generous with her time. She understands the connection between business and technology more fluently than most people I speak to and always has feedback that is helpful.

Vida Williams // Teacher
I'm overdue for a meeting with Vida! She was really the first person that "got it" when I talked about the problem I wanted to address. She pushed me to stop working through the backend solution and begin thinking about the frontend interface. She loves a storyboard and truly, truly forced me to sit down and do it, which opened my eyes to so many possibilities. She really inspired me to go after this idea and offered so much encouragement. Again, why haven't I scheduled a meeting with her?

I've tried to connect with some other friends that are running businesses that I know could offer me some guidance but I've found it difficult this summer with everyone's competing travel schedules. It also hasn't helped that I kicked off the summer with an intensive Leadership course that I enjoyed so much that I allowed it to kind of dominate my time. This post serves as a reminder that I need to get back on it and climb aboard the networking bus.

Comments

  1. Mary-ChrisJuly 2, 2019 at 12:04 PM

    Haha! Mentos! Thanks for that earworm! :-) I like your reflections above, and how you are thinking about mentors on different levels and with different roles. I also agree about the importance of peers and friends who are running businesses-- sometimes it's just really nice to sit down with someone who is doing a similar thing and speaks the same language. I got to have a long chat over coffee with a local friend who is also a writer, last Friday, and I left just feeling really heard and understood. Schedules do make it hard to coodinate- but then I think that just makes me appriciate the time even more when it happens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alan Ireland (Vollmer)July 11, 2019 at 5:04 PM

    Your team is strong! I'm commenting all over your blog this week, btw :) I've got two mentors on my team as well. However, in my case, they are most certainly my teachers. It's hard, sometimes, switching between co-collaborator and subordinate. However, the labelling of tasks helps. Also, depending on the task, the roles sometimes change. Just a point of view, in case you ever hire an employee :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quinncia: Resume + Interview Feedback, Feedback, Feedback (Can I Get Some Feedback?)

Image
To be honest, I was not in the best mental place to be thinking about my resume and interview skills. I have been working hard on Swayance over the last two weeks and it's all we talk about at home these days. I've also signed a contract to teach again this Fall so immediate employment is not top of mind right now However, I will begin seeking full-time employment elsewhere come September to prepare to make a move in December or January. I will probably continue to teach a class or two, as I love teaching, but I fear there will never be a full-time opportunity in the department and I don't think it's in my best interest to wait. I spent way too much time creating a new and beautiful resume before I realized that this is just practice and it doesn't need to be PERFECT! So, I updated an older resume that was created with a Word template and uploaded it. Two bugs I found in this process were: Missed two of my employers' names even though they were formatted exa...
Read more

What is Life, Without a Little Risk?

Image
I sat and stared at the topic for this week's post for so long that the word 'risk' began to look seriously misspelled. Has that ever happened to you? Risk. R. I. S. K. Just me? Okay then. Well, I really had to delve deep to come up with something here. Not that I've necessarily played it safe in my life but I don't really equate some of the things I've done with risk per se. To clarify the topic, I looked up the definition - (1) possibility of loss or injury: peril (2) someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard; (3)...you get the idea. This information only made writing this post more challenging.  Initially, I thought I'd write about making the decision to join the MPI program. How I thought about applying for months and reread the program description over and over again before I finally submitted an application (last minute, the day it was due). I also scheduled my GRE test that night and took it two weeks later. Not only was it diffic...
Read more

Taking Ownership of My Day

Image
As I've come to do with each and every one of these blog posts, I go out on Google and do a little inspiration seeking, reading, and note taking. In this instance, I came across a wealth of life hacks and ended up saving a bunch to a Pinterest board... Not really helping me with this post and illustrates a key issue I have with getting work done - distractions ! Although this technique has served me well in the past, its success relies entirely on my ability to focus on the task at hand and ignore the shiny objects that seek my attention and take me to a place I like to call "Procrastination Station." Since it's so easy to get sidelined on the internet, I prefer to work in places that don't compound distractions. First, it's easiest to work when my kiddos are in bed or at school (obviously). Next, I like to get out of my office, where there's always a pile of things to be done and work someplace that's very tidy and pretty. I usually end up at m...
Read more