A Mentor’s Gift

The best thing to happen to anyone professionally is having someone become their mentor. I have been tremendously blessed to have three – my program co-ordinator, my first “PR employer”, and someone I work with today. These strong, brilliant and powerful women have taught me so much over the last two years that I felt a post about their amazingness was warranted, nay, needed!

Let’s start with my program co-ordinator. The Durham College Public Relations program and its graduates would be nothing without this woman’s tenacity, spirit and passion for student success. She consistently pushed me to do my best, while being a shoulder to lean on in times of stress and uncertainty. She’s always there to share her wisdom and experiences with me, enabling me to better understand the importance of hard work and perseverance. I’m so humbled to say that, while she was once my teacher, I’m now privileged to call her a dear friend and colleague. Our relationship is something I wouldn’t trade for the world, and will continue to cherish deeply.

Then there is the woman who gave me my first-ever internship in PR. This woman is a total badass and continually teaches me to appreciate my worth as both a communications professional and as a person. Her passion and dedication to her organization’s cause taught me the importance of a communications role in a non-profit. She taught me to look at my brand as if it’s my child, and should someone use it inappropriately or fail to follow style guides, I need to protect my baby….erm…brand. Not only that, she continues to inspire me with her fight, sass and overall attitude for her job that I hope I’m able to exude too, one day soon.

And finally, my incredible mentor at work. This woman…she’s power, brilliance, class and sass all rolled into one – making her one badass you admire and aspire to be. From her style to work ethic, she continues to inspire and teach me something new everyday. Not only that, she pushes me to grow as not only a communications person, but as a professional overall. She works hard and gets shit done; she’s not a lady boss – she’s IS THE BOSS of her domain. If I can grow to be even 10 per cent like her, I will consider myself blessed. Her brilliance makes me want to up my game and become wiser to the various aspects of the workplace. Learn about employee relations? Sure. Want to learn about internal culture? Why not. How about learn about management styles? Sign me up! This woman not only pushes me to be my very best, she makes me want to prove to her that I am the very best at what I do. She makes me want to not only be a better employee, but a better person overall.

Without these three strong women in my life, I have no idea where I might be today. Sure, I might still be in the communications field, but I don’t think I would be as content or fulfilled with my role. I can’t thank these women enough for taking me under their wings and guiding me. And I hope, one day, I’ll be able to pay it forward.

Until next time…