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The South Florida Business Journal hand-picked dozens of businesswomen from throughout the region to offer career advice in speed coaching sessions. We recently spoke with some of them.
You could meet your mentor during our virtual Mentoring Monday event on Feb. 27. Click here to register.
Jody Beaverson
Chief people officer
ModMed
How can a mentee best engage with a mentor? Be clear about what you are looking for in a mentoring relationship. Is it someone to help you network? Navigate a challenging career situation? Share years of industry experience? Knowing what you are looking for and being transparent will help make your relationship productive and beneficial.
If someone wants to become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? It can often start informally. If someone is taking on a new role or project, offer to share some lessons learned from a similar experience. If you make a good connection, it can turn into a more formal mentoring relationship. If an informal opportunity doesn’t exist, lean into mentoring programs in your network and volunteer. Business accelerators, nonprofits and universities often have mentoring programs.
What qualifications should a person seek in a mentor? A great mentor is one who is honest and candid, approachable and nonjudgemental; has good listening skills; is positive and enthusiastic; and has relevant experience and expertise.
What makes an effective mentor? Someone who is motivated and engaged, earns respect and trust, cares about developing others, and is willing to commit their time.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? We have a responsibility to lift other women in the workplace up – to help them build confidence, aid in their professional development and guide them through career challenges. Mentors and mentees can both grow from the relationship.
How has being a mentor impacted you? Mentoring has made me a better person and leader. My listening skills improved and I have more empathy. I gained new perspectives.
– Ashley Portero
Tamika Bickham
Founder and chief storyteller
TB Media Group
How can a mentee best engage with a mentor? Be intentional about what you plan to give to the relationship and what you hope to gain from it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and also be receptive to your mentor’s answers and feedback.
If someone wants to become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? Establish connections and network in the same way you would for a potential job or business opportunities. We all gravitate toward working with people we feel connected to. The same should be true of the person you choose to mentor. That way, you are invested in their success.
What qualifications should a person seek in a mentor? It’s a good idea to seek out someone who is just a few steps ahead of where you are in your career. This provides access to the additional knowledge and experience you’re seeking to learn, while not seeming out of reach. A mentor should also have communication skills that you appreciate and are similar to your own.
What makes an effective mentor? It’s someone who is supportive, has experience in your field and expresses empathy. They should be able to put themselves in your shoes. It’s important that they also have the desire, time and bandwidth to commit to supporting you.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? Representation. Seeing and interacting with others who look like you in roles that you want to be in reinforces the fact that it is possible. Women want to see other women win.
How has being a mentor impacted you? It’s very meaningful to see that I can inspire other young women while bringing out the best in them. Being a mentor also changed the way that I communicate and show up in the world, knowing that there are others I can have a positive impact on.
– Ashley Portero
Dayanny De La Cruz
VP of culinary and core resources
Levy Restaurants
To become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? Having a genuine connection with your mentor is very important.
What makes an effective mentor? An effective mentor must always have compassion and empathy in anything they do. Mentorships have been used as “I’m here to take care of you and guide you.” But people have to remember there needs to be a sense of respect. Which is why we need to be great listeners, because being attentive to your mentee is the best way to show your respect to them.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? As women, we’re the first ones to put ourselves in a box. When helping our mentee make decisions, investing time and giving them our wisdom, we help take them out of that box. As mentors, we try to help mentees understand that they’re not alone in this. Nobody else can understand [women] like we do.
What are some hurdles you faced while being a mentor? The first hurdle is trust. Sometimes we don’t trust each other from a mentor and mentee perspective. For example, I don’t trust you are strong and powerful enough to grow into what you are supposed to become, or the mentee might not trust me to guide them properly. As a mentor, you have to make hard decisions, engage in tough conversations or reroute a person back in the right direction.
How has being a mentor impacted you? I learn by teaching. Part of my inspiration is the people around me. Mentoring has shaped who I am as a professional. Every person or career that touches your life leaves something, positive or negative, but it helps you understand better. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing someone grow and seeing them accomplish what they’ve been longing for.
– Jasmine Floyd
Michelle Fee
Founder and CEO
Cruise Planners
How can a mentee best engage with a mentor? Be prepared to take action. Find out what mentor best suits your business style. Be direct on how you want to be mentored.
If someone wants to become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? The best way to start a relationship is obviously communication. The mentor and mentee must get to know each other personally. I’ve always learned the most from leaders who I’ve personally known in the travel industry. I try to emulate their style, as well as follow the good business practices they’ve shown and shared with me over the years.
What qualifications should a person seek in a mentor? I believe that the mentor and the mentee should have the same goals and passions. It’s also important to connect and feel like you understand what each other’s needs and wants are. At the onset of the relationship, the mentor and mentee need to share with each other what they want to accomplish, along with a timeline. In other words, the mentor might set goals in order for the mentee to succeed, and the mentee must be ready to act upon them.
What makes an effective mentor? Someone who knows how to listen, be patient and also to give good advice on lessons learned along the way.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? Women need to hear from other women that they have a voice that needs to be heard, and should not be afraid to pull up a chair and sit at “the” table.
How has being a mentor impacted you? It always feels good to know that you’ve helped someone succeed. I know [that], throughout my career, without having mentors surrounding me, I would not have accomplished what I have today.
– Eman Elshahawy
Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson
President and CEO
Community Foundation of Broward
How can a mentee best engage with a mentor? One is just having some social engagement. Joining them for a lunch or a meeting where you can watch them interact with others and observe and learn. Asking the mentor for feedback. Perhaps the mentee is working on a project at work and the mentor can provide some feedback on how that project is coming together.
If someone wants to become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? You have to put yourself in places where people might connect with you and identify you as someone who could help them. It’s always important to interact with a diverse groups of people – whether it’s by age or business sector or ethnicity. Get involved with professional organizations, as many of them have young leaders. I also see our chambers of commerce as great places that have young professional groups and offer a lot of business networking opportunities. Also through your university’s alumni office.
What qualifications should a person seek in a mentor? They have to have had some strong mentors in their life to see and know and feel the benefit. They have to be committed to their profession and their community so they want to build the next generation of leaders. They have to be open to learning. We learn as much as the mentees do.
What makes an effective mentor? An effective mentor has to commit to the person and to building a long-term relationship. It’s not something that’s one and done. As a mentor, you need to have courage and be willing to take a chance on someone and provide enough support and guidance that they succeed.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? We still are seeing tremendous disparity in the percentage of women in the leadership of organizations and salary gaps. Many women choose to stay in lower-paying jobs because it gives them access to better benefits. We, as women, need to strategically and intentionally look out for other women and help them in their careers and personal lives to have the strength and courage to try new things and take risks and provide the support if things don’t go exactly right.
– Brian Bandell
Maureen Shea
CEO
Right Management, Florida | Caribbean
How can a mentee best engage with a mentor? I would suggest that the mentee be open, honest and specific about what she is looking to accomplish. If they’re prepared with their questions, it’s a much more mature conversation.
If someone wants to become a mentor, what’s the best way to start that desired relationship? Inside your own company, there is informal mentoring that goes on all the time between supervisors and employees. If you have an ardent desire to be actively involved in mentoring, there are many women’s organizations that make a point of connecting women with organizations that are looking for mentors.
What qualifications should a person seek in a mentor? I think the most critical piece would be understanding a person’s experience, reputation and brand. People in my position really want to bring people forward, bring women forward, bring men forward. We would love to be able to share [our knowledge] with up-and-comers.
What makes an effective mentor? An effective mentor is one who truly listens to the needs of her mentee, helps guide the person through their challenges, offers suggestions and consistently stays in touch. Guiding with encouragement and inspiration is always an added plus to helping the mentee achieve their goals.
Why is it important for women to mentor other women? It is important because women have come a long way. When I started my career in the late ‘70s … we were the trailblazers. We were getting into organizations where … women were perceived as moving into nontraditional roles. Having been there and done that, [mentoring] gives us an opportunity to give back, to leave a legacy, to help make the world a better place.
How has being a mentor impacted you? We [Shea and husband and co-founder Tom Shea] have been running our company for the last 40 years, and I am just proud of the fact that a lot of our ladies have come in as administrators and gone up to top positions, not only with our company, but in general, moving forward. It’s just very exciting to build that friendship and relationship.
– Erik Bojnansky
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2021 revenue
| Rank | Prior Rank | Company / Prior (*Not ranked in 2021) / URL |
|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | RCC Associates |
2 | 1 | CSI International |
3 | 3 | Kent Security |
