Is it a dream for you to get unstuck in midlife with a mentor?
It’s a funny thing about mentors. You never really know when you will discover one or be mentored by one. That is, unless you hire a mentor for that specific reason.
My mentorship story started out as hiring someone because of a specific thing I wanted them to teach me. In my case, I hired either an instructor/teacher, life coach or business coach (and sometimes a combination of these) and then got a beautiful surprise…I was a mentee.
I didn’t understand what was about to happen, but here’s how it all rolled out for me.
Early in my coaching career, I hired four amazing women: Brooke Castillo, Susan Hyatt, Kendrick Shope and Jenny Shih. They each ended up being both an instructor AND a mentor to me when I began my entrepreneurial journey as a Master Life Coach & Midlife Mentor myself.
Most of the time, however, that’s not quite how it works. You don’t have to hire someone to be your mentor.
Sometimes you don’t even have the chance to meet your mentor or know them personally.
For example, maybe a mentor for you is an author or speaker. Think about a book that changed your life. I’ve heard several stories like this where, unbeknownst to the author, he or she became a mentor to you.
Or maybe it’s someone you know, but not professionally, like perhaps your friend’s mom or a high school teacher or coach. I had a high school band director who was definitely a mentor to me for decades, without having contact with him for years.
I wonder who you’re thinking about right now, by me simply bringing up this mentorship topic. Notice it.
I had several significant mentors throughout my life, but something really interesting happened for me after 50.
I had several significant mentors who I didn’t even see coming, lol.
As I mentioned briefly, I was specifically looking for them to teach me something, but their impact for me as a mentor was a surprise.
I became an entrepreneur when I was 50 years old after 27 years of public sector career. I needed to learn some skills and these women were offering exactly what I was looking for.
That’s not all though. They were more than that.
I’m sure it’s no surprise that there’s more to being a mentor than simply being an instructor and/or coach.
I found one definition from the Oregon Youth Challenge Program (OYCP) that I think really explains what a mentor is:
“A mentor is a person or friend who guides a less experienced person by building trust and modeling positive behaviors. An effective mentor understands that his or her role is to be dependable, engaged, authentic, and tuned into the needs of the mentee.”
Each of these women not only focused on what they were teaching, but also on how they were being an example of what was possible. They didn’t just talk the talk, but they also walked the walked.
What happened for me was that I ended up learning and being mentored in both formal and informal ways.
Women in the Middle Podcast Mentorship Series
A few years ago, I discovered how meaningful mentorship was for midlife women. Understanding this better gave me the perspective about how important this was for midlife women to know, because it was a viable option for so many! The trouble is though that so many midlife women don’t appreciate their “transferrable skills” enough to really believe they have so much to offer.
I had this idea to interview each of these mentors on my show Women in the Middle, early on in the 2nd year of my podcast. I wanted to share some specifics about how they each impacted this unique phase of my life, as a midlife (woman over 50) entrepreneur.
I have to say, I got tremendous enjoyment out of being able to share this insight with each of them!
Of course, I also loved hearing about who their mentors were too. It was fascinating!
I think you’re going to love hearing this series of very special interviews. They were recorded in 2018.
So on that note, please enjoy the Women in the Middle Podcast Mentorship Series!
And…I highly recommend that you also take the opportunity to thank your mentors too. It was an incredible meaningful experience for me to be able to do this and to see their reaction. I’ll never forget it.
Interview with Brooke Castillo
Interview with Kendrick Shope
Interview with Jenny Shih
Interview with Susan Hyatt
Suzy Rosenstein, MA is a master certified life coach and host of the popular podcast for midlife women, Women in the Middle, with over 1 million downloads. Having wasted five years being stuck herself, she knows how frustrating and painful it can be. She uses her upbeat approach with the serious topic of aging to help you get clear about what you want, get unstuck and live your best life. Girlfriend, there’s more fun to be had! Start now with her free midlife video training about how to get unstuck: www.midlifevideo.com.
