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Adrienne Arieff & Mireille GutierrezWomen & Prodigy Come TogetherTWP & Fairytale Success Mentor ProgramPhotography by Lauri LevenfeldStory by Lauri LevenfeldAfter my first call with author Adrienne Arieff, I realized we had an amazing opportunity here. Adrienne a leader in the digital & marketing world, has written 3 books. She recently wrote her 3rd book, Fairytale Success: A Guide to Entrepreneurial Magic to help young entrepreneurs bring great ideas and products to market. Adrienne also recently created a mentoring program to pair young aspiring individuals with leaders in their fields. I immediately knew our latest Prodigy Mireille of The New Order Blog was the perfect match for Adrienne’s mentorship. Here is the initial meeting of the minds. We asked Mireille to come up with a series of questions for Adrienne. We also share an excerpt from Adrienne’s book.
Mireille: Why do you think mentoring is important? Adrienne: Mentoring is important as we all need role models in our life both professionally and personally, informally and formally. |
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The missing link between a promising career and a successful one, is mentoring in my opinion. Giving people advice on how they can best achieve their goals is something that is often overlooked. I support the idea of formal mentor programs in organizations. Many times women and minorities are locked out of informal networks. Mentoring programs equalize access to people, resources, and information, and is an important aspect of an organization’s diversity program. I’m a big fan of mentoring, and have been at different times on both the contributing and receiving end of the process. Like any other relationship, it takes work on both sides to make mentoring work.Mentors are especially important for women who work in fields dominated by men.
M:What kind of people do you like mentoring? AA: I like mentoring young women and moms going back to work. I can relate to both and feel inspired by the freshness of young people and their appetite for learning!
M: Can you think of an experience in which you mentored people you found especially rewarding? Talk about that. AA: I had a lot of pleasure teaching classes in public relations. Many of my students were interns. I mentored many of them in the PR industry. I also love mentoring brands. I currently mentor early stage businesses at Accel Foods. My most rewarding mentor experiences have been with my employees. I stay in touch with most of them and watch them grow in their careers. Most of them still reach out to me. I run my business like a school in many ways…
M: By the same token, can you think of an experience in which you mentored someone that meant a lot to you? Feel free to riff on that. AA: I mentored a recent employee towards her goals in tech PR. It was wonderful to see her blossom from intern to account coordinator to executive to director. She now has new mentors. This is the thing–you do grow out of mentors as well on many occasions and that is OK. |
M: Since you mentor young women, are there special issues that you would like either young women to be aware of or older people to be aware of? AA: When you consciously and deliberately seek out a mentor, you must look for someone who genuinely cares about you as a person. That emotional involvement and genuine concern for you are the keys to real mentor contributions.
M:Do you have advice for someone who wants to begin mentoring? (Anything from practical advice on how to go about doing it to what to say) AA: 1. Make yourself available. 2. Make it easy for your mentee to reach out to you. 3. Respect time. 4. Listen before you speak.
M:Do you have any advice for someone who wants mentorship? Are there ways people should prepare for either situation? AA: 1. Honor your commitment to learning from the mentor 2. Be prepared with questions 3. Expect support not miracles 4. Be willing to learn new things 5. Establish trust early on
For more of the conversation between Mireille & Adrienne, stay tuned to TWP. And click here for an excerpt from A Fairytale Success, A Guide to Entrepreneurial Success. |
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