My She Says Mentor

Live as is you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
Gandhi

I had my first meeting with my SheSays mentor on Sunday and it was great! I think I wrote a while back about the SheSay network and that I had become a part of it.

Long story short, months ago when I was trying to make contact with people in London to find a job a woman I used to babysit for in Minneapolis put me in touch with Michelle ( Currently an Executive Producer at Wieden + Kennedy) and Michelle told me all about the SheSays network and how amazing it is and so on.

SheSays was exactly what I was looking for and I was over the moon that it was suggested to me. I had been looking for this kind of group here in London, but had no idea if one existed or how I was going to find it. Well, I was lucky enough to be put in contact with Michelle! I joined the group, they have a lovely Facebook page and LinkedIn group and so far I've been to two events.

SheSay is all about supporting women who work in digital media, here's what they say about themselves:

What's it all about?

The world is pretty much half men, half women (give or take Loughborough, which is chock full of rugger buggers). So why are there hardly any females in the creative department of most digital ad agencies? We decided to stop chatting about it and do something - hold events, where top females in the industry would share their thoughts and help people to either get started or work their way up. To the attractive pay packets, private car parking spaces and buckets of champers at the top.

So, what can we do for you?

We can introduce you to industry experts, tell you anything you want to know (about advertising), where to look for info, offer one to one mentorship, and feed you wine, beer, and a black olive or three. It's fun. And it's free.

I decided to checkout the mentorship program that they offer. I don't know anyone working in the idustry out here so I thought it would be a good place to start. I sent an email to the Who's Your Momma mentorship coordinator and eagerly awaited to be paired up with a mentor.

I met with Nicola McAdams ( Co-Founder & Client Services Director at Defected) a few months back and she and I had a chat about what I was looking for in a mentor. My reason for finding a mentor was that I want to have a successful career in London. Most people know that I am a very ambitous person and I am curious about people and finding out what kind of jobs they have and how they got there.

At the moment I don't know exactly what I want to do, what kind of job it is I am looking for. I had hoped that a mentor could help me articulate my skills and passion and help me match that p to a role and also to be a person who inspires me. I am still trying to understand the industry out here in London and how things get done. I had wanted to get some career advice and of course help my mentor in any way that I can and to one day mentor other young women.

I was very excited when Nicola phoned me back a few weeks later to let me know that she had found someone for me. Nicolyn Marino an America woman who has been working in London for the past 7 years as a producer. I was really excited to meet her, especially since she's American and she's had a successful career in London.

We met up this past Sunday for brunch in Richmond. I was very impressed with Nicolyn, she had great energy and was very friendly. We chatted and got to know one another and we traded stories about how we came to London. Nicolyn shared with me what her career path had been like and gave me some advice. I was really happy with it, meeting Nicolyn was inspiring. It's like once you meet someone like you who is working and successful you can believe that it will happen to you. She's a smart, ambitious and down to earth. We are going to meet up in a month, giving me a chance to have a bit more time at my new job and then take it from there. She's going to try and arrange for me to meet different people in the industry so I can start figure out what role I would be best suited to.

I am feeling very good about the mentorship and I look forward to blogging about the developments. I have always been passionate about mentorship, thank you to every one out there who takes the time to mentor another. It is a very precious gift!