Mentorship is of prime importance in any vocation. Having someone senior with experience in the industry can help guide your steps as you pursue your dreams!
I’ll be honest and say: I never had a mentor! Not because people suck and life is a bunch of sour grapes. My brother has been a great voice of reason all my life. If seeking a mentor, he advised me once upon a time to figure out how I could be of use to someone else. Perhaps I wasn’t creative enough, but I could never figure out WHAT I could offer someone I admired so greatly. I thought: “I’m just this lowly person on the totem pole. I have nothing to offer them.” So I didn’t. And I didn’t have a mentor. Somehow I got by by reading books, doing my research, and keeping my schedule full of informational interviews, but looking back, I wish I had had someone looking out for me as I tried to make my way!
Jamé Jackson is my first ‘official’ mentor. She wrote me an e-mail back in 2013, and introduced herself by saying that she wanted to the first black Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue (she wrote, “sort of far-fetched, but if you’re going to dream, why not dream big“). I admired her gumption, wrote her some encouraging words and tips, and kept on my way. She wrote me next in October 2015, requesting an internship. To my recollection, she pitched a few ideas that didn’t work at the time, and our communication died down. Undeterred, she came to Cocktails with Claire D.C. and proceeded to dazzle everyone in my camp with her personality.
My boyfriend, who is FBD’s CRO, said, “Claire you have to hire her.” Since, she has become a staff writer for Fashion Bomb Daily, attended New York Fashion Week on our behalf, and most recently attended her first awards show, Black Girls Rock!, which she poetically wrote about here.
You can certainly chalk it up to timing. Perhaps I wasn’t ready in 2013. You can also chalk it up to persistence. Third time was certainly a charm with Jamé. After our e-mail correspondences led to dead ends, she took the initiative to meet me in person and made a lasting impression on not just me, but also on people close to me whom I trust.
But Jamé truly stands out from her counterparts because she is legitimately helpful. Anyone you might want to be your mentor needs help! They are powerful, they are busy, they are juggling a million things. How can you add value?
I’m actually writing this from an airport as I travel to Fashion Week El Paseo to attend shows and spread the word about Fashion Bomb Daily. Every time I ask the staff to do anything, guess what? She’s the first volunteer! And she doesn’t just say she’s gonna do it. She does it! She has taken over posting our Fashion Bombshell of the Day, which always kept me fettered to the computer. She has stepped in so I can pursue new things, which was honestly always my goal coming into year 10.
How to be a fabulous mentee is to make your mentor’s life easier. Be pleasant to work with. And have a work ethic that is unmatched by your peers.
If you don’t get to them the first time, don’t be discouraged. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Keep pushing until you get face time with the person you admire.
Wish I had known that coming up:)
Do you have any other tips?
Images: Marta McAdams
