Vol. 22: You Can Mentor - Now!

Last night we had the705’s Mentor Mixer - the kickoff event for our flagship mentor program that brings 705 members together with community and business leaders so they can learn more about each other before being paired up.

’m a massive advocate for mentorship. It’s truly changed my life. I’m blessed to have multiple mentors from Dr. Valerie McGehee (my first mentor) through UL, Deacon Ed (my CEO), Rickey Heroman (a Sigma Chi alum), and some awesome mentors I’ve gained through the705’ Corey Jack, Missy Bienvenu Andrade, and Jaci Russo.
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I’ve heard a sentiment from some mentors that they didn’t feel qualified to be a mentor at first. I get that.

I even had some people tell me last night that I’D be a good mentor, and I’m only 25.
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I don't instinctively feel like I'm in the position to mentor. But I always go back to this one thing Corey told me during our first mentor meetup together in early 2024.

I hadn’t graduated my MBA program yet and didn’t know whether I wanted to go the full time 9-5 route, entrepreneurial route, or marketing consultant route. Consulting was an option, but it was definitely the one I felt least qualified in. I started talking to him about general marketing principles, and he said “See, you already know more than me!”

Corey founded and runs Jack & Associates, an extremely successful small business development firm that's helped hundreds (maybe even thousands) of entrepreneurs start their businesses. And yet here he was telling me that I knew more about marketing than him.

That opened my eyes.

While I didn't pursue consulting, it forever altered my perspective on mentorship - on providing information to others who don't have it.

You don't need to be an expert on a topic or know everything (spoiler alert: you never will). You just need to know incrementally more than the person you're talking to.

Let's put numbers to it. You don't need to be Level 1000 on a topic to finally reach "mentor status." If you're Level 10, help those who are Levels 1 - 9.

Not only will you mentor and empower others, you'll reinforce your own knowledge and grow as a result.

If you want to mentor others but don't feel ready yet, find the areas of life you love that you also know a good bit about. Then find someone who knows less than you and help them know what you know.

Peers, friends, parents, supervisors, community members, strangers.

You can mentor - now!

See you next Thursday, Steppers.

We will succeed,

Grayson

​graysonstepanek.com​

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Song of the Week:

BAILE INoLVIDABLE Bad Bunny PREVIEW   ​

This song had me all happy and dancing with the jubilant instrumentals and melody! Then I looked up the lyrics, and it's about Bad Bunny finding someone who taught him how to love then left, and he'll never be able to forget or replace them. "I don't have my sun anymore, I live on the moon." Music and love are humanity's universal languages. They bridge the gap.