Everyone knows they need great mentors in their lives, but not everyone knows where to find them.
That’s the opinion of Bobbi Mahlab, the managing director of Mahlab, who’s partnered with STM Bags co-founder Adina Jacobs to help make accessing a mentor as easy as — literally — a walk in the park.
The pair are preparing to launch Sydney’s first ‘Mentor Walks’ event on the 28th October, an hour-long early morning walk in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
They’re opening the walk up to aspiring professionals who are looking to be share a mentoring walk with established businesswomen like Naomi Simson, Suzie Shaw from We Are Social and Mandi Gunsberger from Babyology. Groups of three mentees each are matched with a mentor who they meet on the day and can spend an hour talking and walking with.
The format follows a similar program launched in China in 2013 by Australian businesswoman Michelle Garnaut.
They’ve got the mentors, now they’re calling on mentees to get involved, via a small administrative fee that goes toward running the event.
Adina Jacobs said they’re looking for mentees who’ve launched their career and are looking to make a difference. “They will typically be young professionals, middle managers or executives starting their careers, experiencing career transitions, or looking for inspiration as they launch new ventures,” she said.
Bobbi Mahlab told Women’s Agenda she’s had plenty of great mentors during her career who’ve helped her frame and re-frame her world when necessary, offering everything from general to specific guidance. “Mentor Walks is about making mentoring accessible, helping people with their questions – and combining it with what women do so naturally – talking while walking. It’s about helping women with their burning questions and giving them access to wise people who can guide them,” she said.
She also shared her own experience of joining Jacobs on a Mentor Walk in Shanghai earlier this year. “It was such a simple, effective, joyous experience that we felt compelled to bring it here. The model is that mentors walk outdoors in a group for an hour with up to three mentees. It’s not just about the wisdom of the mentor, but what the small groups bring to each other, the connections and community it builds.
“It is also a resource for time-constrained mentors. When senior women are asked to meet young women and to mentor or support them, they have the option to suggest going to the website and signing up for a walk.”