Mentoring 101
Once you have worked your way to a profitable business it’s very easy to maybe sit back, relax and enjoy your life. Maybe if no-one gave you a helping hand in life, it’s easy to think that people should learn the hard way, or on their own. But if you’re a female founder, I strongly encourage you to spend time researching mentorship programs, so you can spread your knowledge and help other women up the ladder.
This is applicable for men too, but it’s particularly important for women. Science says women can benefit from having a female role model. Obviously females relate to their own gender more so than the opposite, so if more experienced women show the scaling female founders that it can be done, and offer them advice, I strongly think this will improve the divergence in male to female founders. So what are the main reasons for helping those a few laps behind you?
Empower other women.
According to some science, women, on average, are not as confident as men: I think this is entirely learnt, and not biological. Therefore it can be changed.
Mentoring is a great way to say to other women “Yes, you can do this.” I think mentoring would eliminate imposter syndrome which women seem to suffer from too. Our founder Alison Cork says “women respond powerfully to other female mentors, as they are uniquely positioned to understand the particular practical and emotional challenges that face an aspiring female entrepreneur.”
Celia Francis, CEO of Rated People added “certainly I particularly see great benefit in specifically supporting the women pursuing their tech careers and building interesting companies because I believe that having gender balance in this very socially important industry is important to shaping the future of humanity.”
Help them grow their network (and maybe yours too).
A great way of helping scaling female founders is to introduce them to people, and expand their network. And you never know, they could help you out too. Sahar Hashemi, Founder of Coffee Republic, said to me she loves mentoring as it “brings back the excitement and creativity of building a brand!”
And for the mentees out there… Here’s How to find the right find mentor.
Make It Your Business has events all over the country. Become a member, and you can have access to our gallery of entrepreneurs‘ email addresses. We’ll provide the platform for you, but after that?
Our Head of Marketing and Social Media, Sophie Jarvis says “It’s pretty natural. Just find someone you click with and can take criticism from. They don’t necessarily have to be from the same field as you, or from the same background. It’s all about the connection.”