News And Updates
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Back in January, Betsy Lerner — brilliant author of The Forest for the Trees – wrote up a quick post in which she remembered two of her early mentors. And then, a week ago, Holly Hoffman brought up the topic again. All this mentor-talk got me thinking back on my own favorites, and how important they’ve been to my career success.
I myself have never had one single, larger-than-life figure playing the part of mentor (talk about pressure). Rather, I’ve approached mentorship in much the same way career expert Marci Alboher does: as an ever-shifting collection of people I surround myself with…people I feel I can learn from, no matter what stage they’re at in their career. I highly recommend this approach.
Why do you need a mentor? Because you shouldn’t be working in a vacuum, stumbling along your career path without outside inspiration or guidance. Why do you need multiple mentors? Because it’s silly to rely on a single person, when an entire community can provide much better support, and a greater diversity of insight and advice.
So where can you find this army of advisers?
I channel-surfed my way to Tabatha’s Salon Takeover during today’s lunch break. I had never seen it before and, honestly, had never felt compelled to. What did I care about the trials and tribulations of hair salons across the country?
Silly me. I was quickly sucked into a three-hour marathon (I know) and, aside from constantly wondering where she got that fierce black jacket she’s always wearing, I realized: Tabatha Coffey has a lot to teach me about running a business.
My posting has been a bit all over the place this past week. I apologize. I was swept up in wrapping presents, baking xmas cookies, and stockpiling posts in preparation for my long weekend away.
You can see some of the fruits of my labors above. They’re tassies, a recipe I learned from my mom when I was young, a delicious bit of heaven made up mostly of brown sugar, butter, and vanilla (yum!).
As I uphold the traditions my mother passed down to me, I marvel at how much of her is in me. Though there was a good amount of resistance in me, I’ve learned a lot from my mother.
After the jump, 7 things I learned from my mom about career success, despite myself:
From Michelle Goodman’s My So-Called Freelance Life:
“Take a page from Molly Crabapple and get your friends in on the act: ‘For big, long-term goals, I’ve found loudly bragging about what I’m going to do makes me do it,’ says the award-winning illustrator… ‘Otherwise, I have to face the humiliation of public failure.’ (Talk about incentive.)”