Years ago, I met a woman that I thought was incredibly smart and asked her to be my mentor. She was everything I thought I wanted to be. She was beautiful, she was cultured, she was a career woman and, I was fortunate to work alongside her on various projects.
I don’t know if my request came from wanting to keep her in my life or if I actually wanted her as a guide but, I remember my proposal being met with some pushback; and that turned me off. Many people had offered to mentor me in the past but, I had never felt a connection to them or to the projects they wanted to share with me until I met my Toastmaster mentor.
It was early March when I googled Toastmasters in NDG and called the number I saw on the website under the President title. The person at the other end was clearly on her lunch break but, she didn’t turn me away; and what started out as a great chat grew into a mentor/mentee relationship where, she would pour into me. She helped me prepare speeches, she made time to meet with me to discuss long and short-term goals, ambitions and even passions.
At the time I met her, I had high hopes of becoming an entrepreneur. I was going to start a Marketing agency and tell the stories of the underrepresented. I invited her to an event I organized, and she came to support me. She gave me feedback and even literature, to help me keep going in that direction.
Although she has moved on to other projects, we continue to nurture our relationship and she’s left me in the capable hands of other members who play a mentoring role, themselves.
We underestimate the importance of having mentors and being matched with one was one of the best things to happen to me. I understand now that the pushback I received was likely due to time constraints and if I’m honest, I’m glad. I could not have been more equally yoked than with the mentor I was blessed to have.
See you at Toastmasters,
this Thursday!