Establishing Your Personal Board of Directors

“Embrace discomfort,” is what one of my mentors told me early on in my career. It’s hard to imagine this as a sound piece of advice, but it is something I live by as an entrepreneur. And I can tell you this – she wasn’t wrong! I offered this same nugget to attendees during The Dallas Business Journal’s 7th Annual Mentoring Monday event. I was honored to be asked to serve as a mentor for the second year in a row during this annual event that can best be described as speed dating for mentoring.

Mentoring Monday is held nationwide on the same day in 43 cities for all American City Business Journal publications. I was one of 53 mentors offering advice to more than 250 attendees at this year’s event. The make-up of this year’s mentors was impressive, which included prestigious female business leaders from all industries, many of whom are clients, friends, and industry peers.

I have built a pool of professionals inside and outside the PR industry who I can tap for advice, or as one of my friend’s calls it, “a personal board of directors.” My mentors have served as my sounding board professionally and personally, guiding many of my career choices while also influencing my leadership style. My success is due in large part to my mentors, who helped shape my career path which ultimately afforded me the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the PR business, Cynthia Pharr Lee, and later purchasing her agency.

And from this success comes a responsibility to give back and serve as a mentor. I take time to meet with and mentor college students, whether they are our agency interns or those who have simply networked with me, looking for that one opportunity to get their foot in the door. I have mentored countless high school students who are interested in learning about the PR profession, including creating an eight-week shadowing opportunity at Dala for one eager senior from Uplift Luna who tracked me down at a PRSA Dallas conference and simply asked, “I want to get into PR, but I don’t know where to start. Can you help?”. Her initiative as a 17-year-old blew me away, and the Dala team made it a priority help kickstart her PR journey. And I’ve served as a mentor outside of my professional network through Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) – I was a community-based mentor for ten years and later served as a mentor for another four years in the BBBS Mentor2.0 program.

“ Mentoring is a mindset and not a one-time thing.”

The bottom line? Mentoring is a mindset and not a one-time thing. Mentors helped me achieve success, and I’ve taken that to heart, dedicating time to the next generation of PR pros, helping open doors for them like they were for me. John F. Kennedy said it best: “For those to whom much is given, much is required.”

-       Leah Williams, APR