insight : luann nigara
Mentorship: The Key to a Strong Business at Every Stage How to find and utilize a coach or mentor who will hold you accountable and help your company grow BY LUANN NIGARA
I
’ve had the privilege of working with many business owners through my coaching program, podcast and our live events. One of the biggest problems many of them have is the ability to see the actual challenges and opportunities they have and prioritize a plan to tackle them. This is why mentorship is important. As you are starting your business, the right mentor can help you gain clarity, show you how to avoid mistakes and help you shortcut your way to success. Once you are a wellestablished business owner, a mentor will help you continue to learn and become the be-all and end-all authority on your business. The truth is that none of us builds a business on our own. Not only is that a ridiculous expectation in terms of time and energy, this thinking traps us into doing “all the things” and prevents us from directing our energies into our unique superpowers. Here are the ways mentors can help you whether you’re a brand-new business owner or someone who’s been in the field as long as I have.
22 |
JULY + AUGUST 2021 | wf-vision.com
Mentorship at different phases of the business
When you’re first starting out, your “mentor” could actually be a group of colleagues to bounce ideas off. For a yearly membership fee, you can join the Window Coverings Association of America, Interior Design Society, Black Artists + Designers Guild or American Society of Interior Designers. In these organizations, you’ll meet people who are at your level and years ahead of you. Building a network of informal mentors is key to fast-tracking your industry knowledge and business acumen. In addition to associations, a no-cost solution is to approach a colleague and suggest what my friend, San Diego interior designer Rachel Moriarty, coined a “work jam.” If you click with someone you meet at the International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE), LuAnn University or High Point Market, suggest that you meet informally via Zoom on a weekly or monthly basis to hold each other accountable for making measurable improvements in your businesses. For years, my friends, co-authors and fellow podcasters Jamie Lieberman, Amber De La
Garza and Amanda Berlin have met every Friday after finding each other through a podcast conference. These three female CEOs with very different businesses meet virtually to advise each other on strategy, brainstorm ideas, vet opportunities and cheer each other on as well as pick each other up. Talk about the best one-and-a-half hours of your workweek! Sometimes you just ask someone you admire to mentor you. This can be tricky because people are busy, but when you find the right person, magic can happen. Cheryl Luckett of Dwell by Cheryl guided her mentee, Rasheeda Gray of Gray Space Interiors, as she worked through building her business up from a side hustle to full time. When Rasheeda came on my podcast (episode 267), she shared the value of her relationship with Cheryl. Hearing this, Denean Jackson of D’Nicole Decor reached out to Rasheeda and asked her to become her mentor. It was a beautiful cycle of mentorship.
Consultancy options
Another option for mentorship is to seek out individualized help with a business coach. In this model, you get all the get,
