by Tamara Mimmih
I'm Tamara, a 28 year-old woman, getting into the swing of a career that I love. I've been looking to grow for a while now and have participated in several group mentorship sessions in the past,
But, recently I took part in my very first one-on-one mentorship session and I wanted to share my story.
Getting Started
You know the first thing I realized? I had no idea where to start. I looked at profiles of different mentors and found quite a few who I thought could help me. But I wasn't 100% sure exactly who I should reach out to. So because I couldn't make up my mind, I decided to ask for a Recommendation on Upnotch. Just to see what happened.
Once I got my suggestions, I stopped overthinking and just reached out to schedule a session with Paul, a communications expert.
First Meeting Nerves
I'm sure you can imagine how nervous I was before the first meeting!
Since Paul was a recommendation from Upnotch, I trusted that he’d be a great mentor for me... yet I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.
So, before the meeting, I did my research. I went and checked his Upnotch profile, read his bio, and everything I could find about him and I have to admit - I was still pretty intimidated! Paul has over 30 years of experience, a great career and a busy schedule. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was somehow going to be wasting his time.
It had me feeling like I was about to take a final exam. You know that feeling where you're convinced you're going to fail even though you studied really hard? It's a feeling I would always get at University. But the moment the exam started, I would feel fine, focused, and ready to give it my best. Guess what? The same thing happened here.
That was partly down to the fact that I had made a list of questions to ask him during our session to ease my nerves and feel prepared. It really helped!
The Mentorship Session
As soon as the call actually started, Paul made me feel super comfortable and all the pressure I had built up inside of me just disappeared. I felt focused and ready to take in all his wisdom. He was approachable, very concise, and gave me amazing advice. I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him and I could feel he truly wanted to help.
Since Paul is a communications expert, we talked mostly about communication strategies I could implement and ideas to consider. He even suggested using platforms like Twitter to advertise, which I had never thought of before.
And while Twitter specifically isn't the best platform for me at the moment (I don't have a huge following there!) I can and will apply the strategies he shared with me to my other social media platforms - e.g. LinkedIn.
In fact, one of the things I learned from this first session is that it's important to go with the advice that resonates with you, rather than trying to do every single thing that your mentor suggests. I've found that this way, I can really commit to the things I've decided I should be doing.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my first mentorship session. I hope it will be the first of many with my mentor, Paul, because I feel like I learned so much - including the fact that there’s a lot more I still have to learn!
I truly believe we all need other people's knowledge to grow and achieve our goals. Having a mentor is almost like having a personal GPS for your career - they've been there, done that, and can guide you through the tricky parts.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone!
Upnotch | Start Your Own Mentorship Journey
I hope my story has given you a glimpse of what the first baby steps of a mentorship journey look like.
Not knowing where to start is normal. For me, requesting a recommendation on Upnotch was really effective. Getting nervous is normal too! Just be prepared and trust that your mentor actually wants to help you.
Ready to take the leap yourself?
Or if you've got questions - email us at info@upnotch.com.