The Importance of a Mentor

Growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the 1950's, like many other African Americans of that time period, my family had modest means. (Of course, it was years before I realized this fact.) But anyhow, when I became a young adult, I met my husband, who had also been raised in similar lean conditions. One of the first stories my husband told me about his childhood was about how he often didn't have boots in the winter. Now anyone who grew up in Detroit knows that it snows heavily in the winter in this city.

Anyhow the story went that his father, (now deceased,) who was a proud Black man, had told his son, "Step down in the other people's foot prints." Looking back, I understand now that the unspoken words were—“So you won't get snow down in your shoes." When I think of it, this was an ingenious way to keep your feet from getting wet with snow. At the same time, this saved the father's pride that he couldn't afford to buy his son a pair of boots. The main thing is that the son always remembered this valuable lesson about love and survival long after his father’s death.

As a writer, I'm always thinking in parables, so I'd like to make an analogy. Just think of someone stepping through the snow (without boots) by putting his feet down in someone else's footprints and compare it to what it is like for a new business person to follow a pattern set by an established business person. This is what having a mentor is like. In business, you are more certain of success when you walk in someone else's footprints. This can keep some of the snows of failure off your dream when you've had a mentor.

In fact, having a mentor should be a prerequisite to starting your own business. On the Internet they have many career coaches for this same purpose. However, I got the idea to seek a mentor about two years ago, after reading an offline magazine article about how you should find someone doing what you want to do. The article even pointed out that the Small Business Association was starting mentoring programs or "incubator programs." Shortly after reading the article, I was fortunate enough to have had the hands-on experience of working with a Mentor at a publishing house.

My mentor's name is Dr. Rosie Milligan of Milligan Books, http://www.milliganbooks.com. She has published over 50 authors in the past two years. Before I went through my apprenticeship at Milligan Books, I knew I wanted to publish other writers, but I didn't have a clue as to how you go about doing it. Even after having self-published my books, (which at that point had slowed up selling since I'd gone through all my family, friends and colleagues,) I was just at a loss. On one side, I saw a blank wall and on the other, I envisioned my dream of being a publisher. Since having had a mentor, though, I've been able to fill in many of the missing pieces and launch an ezine on the Internet, called On The Same Page. (http://www.maxinethompson.com). Now, I have future plans for publishing ebooks.

I read that you should find mentors, even if they are great people who have been long dead. That works fine for some people. But for me, I need the experiential form of learning for it to carve itself into my brain. Some people can learn by being told information. Others can read it in a book and comprehend it thoroughly. I'm the type of person who has to learn from hands-on experiences. I approached Dr. Milligan and told her exactly what my objective was. I admitted I had all these "empty spaces," since I did not come from a business background. One of the best things that ever happened to me was that Dr. Milligan agreed to let me work as an apprentice in her publishing company.

So looking back, these are the benefits I have gained from having had, and still being able to call on my mentor, Dr. Milligan.

• You get to learn how to do what you love to do, and you find out if this is the business for you.

• A mentor can save you time and money. When I printed my second book, I lost a few thousand dollars due to ignorance. I erred by going to a pre-press company, who still did not provide me with a book. I had to scrap the project and start with another printing company. From this experience, I've learned there are many unscrupulous people who will take advantage of a writer's desire to be published. A mentor who has been through the ropes will keep you from making the same mistakes. They can walk you through the process with far fewer errors.

• A mentor can be a helpful person. She can open doors and bring you light years towards your goal by sharing her resources and expertise. For example, Dr. Milligan taught me to never put the carriage before the horse. Dr. Milligan said that you should get your book set up in distribution before you go on Oprah or any TV show. It doesn't matter if you have a nationwide audience if no one can get the book when they go in bookstores and ask for it.

• A mentor can keep you from investing your life savings in something that you may discover you don't want to do anyhow. Before you take the plunge, you'd do well to find a mentor working in the field you'd like to run your business in. If you work and learn all the functions of the trade, and you find out this was really not something you wanted to do, you will have saved yourself from opening a business doomed to fail.

• A mentor can help you identify your skills. When I first went to Dr. Milligan, she asked me to write down all the things I could do. (My interviews that I conduct on On The Same Page at come from being a social worker and finding out "Now what's really going on?")I listed the various skills I'd learned as a social worker/self-published writer. I started out working in Dr. Milligan's company from the bottom, doing the menial things that keep the day-to-day operations going. Over time, I learned how to do each job from packaging to formatting. From that training, I found out what my strong points were.

I learned from this experience that I am more of a visionary, rather than a technician or strategist. All of these people are important to a business. So I have since surrounded myself with people with strengths in the other mentioned areas that I am not as strong in. I now focus on my strengths; which I see as helping to create a viable industry for the self-published writer.

Meantime, I'm learning how to accept my limitations. I now seek help with the chores I don't care for. I realize we can't make it alone. No one is a success in a vacuum. Therefore, I network with other writers and businesses. Most of all, still go to Dr. Milligan for counsel, advice, and help.

This is the first and foremost tip for seeking a mentor. Offer your services first.