In this Dame and Age | Mentorship Event Recap
The Setup Women in Marketing series highlights the thoughts and advice of prominent marketing brand and agency leaders in companies such as Aflac, Mizuno, Great Clips, Lionsgate, Blackbaud, and Regal Cinemas. The takeaways from these blogs were not only informative, but incredibly insightful for any marketer on their career path.
The contributors’ powerful stories and advice led to our all-women networking group: In This Dame and Age, where we host discussions and connect women marketing leaders with one another.
The latest event to discuss the importance and power of Mentorship had representatives from a variety of companies such as Truist, IHG, Regal Cinemas, Hiscox USA, and The Home Depot.
Key Takeaways:
Kindness + emotional intelligence as a leader is stronger than fear.
Amanda Thompson, Setup COO, started the conversation with the mindset that empathy in the workplace is incredibly important.
Hannah Carter, the Director of B2B Customer Marketing and Global Sales at IHG, supported this claim by sharing, “You don’t have to be feared to be followed. You can be relentlessly pleasant and authentic to yourself, while being a personable leader.” Carter emphasized that the Devil Wears Prada dynamic is unnecessary and unrealistic.
Always be open to mentorship.
Throughout the discussion, several people brought up that mentorship could come from anywhere. Guidance doesn’t have to be from a person in your company (though you should still stay open to that possibility). Company programs aren’t always effective, and a connection or spark with someone happens unprompted all the time. Thompson urged that “we should follow our intuition” when finding a mentorship connection.
Mentors can come from past companies, friendships, non-business related organizations, or even within your team.
Kelly Hawkins, the Vice President of Loyalty and Insights at Regal, said she mentors her own team and constantly looks for ways to help them shine and grow.
Caroline Burdo, the SVP, Director of Communications and Teammate Experience for Truist, mentioned how she is mentored by her team. She pointed out that she has built a team smarter than herself, and that she is constantly learning beside them.
To counter that point, however, Burdo also brought up the power of having a mentor outside of her company and how that brings a freedom to express any issues without judgment.
Mentorships + advocates are different.
A discussion around mentors versus advocates/sponsors was sparked during the virtual event.
A mentor provides guidance with little to no risk.
A sponsor/advocate is someone willing to spend their, as Sarah Woodward, the EVP of Growth at Three Five Two, put it, “political capital” on someone’s behalf to elevate or recommend them to a person or company.
Both mentor and sponsor may be challenging to find, especially as one ages and their peers are on the same level. What is important is to identify the people in your organization who will offer that sponsorship when it comes to advancement and raises.
The fruitful discussion filled with smiles and insights ultimately ended with Hawkins quoting Coco Chanel,
“Remember a girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”
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“It’s a great environment (even virtually) to connect and network with other people in marketing.”
To celebrate women in the marketing profession and to continue highlighting them throughout Women’s History Month, we asked women marketing leaders to contribute to our Women in Marketing Series detailing their personal triumphs, tribulations, and advice about working in the marketing industry. Part 13 features leaders from Nationwide, NAPA, Neogen Corporation, and Pratt Industries, Inc.