ravenousveggie

I have recently become a mentor through The Girls Network.  This involves mentoring girls from the least advantaged communities to inspire them and provide them with a role model.

I signed up for this after coming across The Girls Network through a networking group I attend.  It seemed like a good idea – sharing my experiences to help girls become aware or, and achieve (hopefully), their full potential.  I currently mentor new business owners, so thought that this would be a good challenge, but something not entirely alien to me.

One matched with my Mentee I was excited at beginning our journey, but as the meeting grew closer I began to have doubts.  I don’t have children, and apart from my gorgeous nieces and nephews, I have no experience of dealing with teenagers.

Would I be able to connect with my mentee?  How will I inspire a teenager?

I did all my prep for the first meeting and turned up early, worried that my mentee would not turn up, or had the wrong day in her diary. Even though I had confirmed the meeting with her the day before. I was so nervous!

My mentee arrived and we sat down with our coffees, exchanging p;olive conversation.  I broke the ice by saying it was my first time at mentoring and that we are probably as nervous as each other about the meeting and what to expect.  That’s seemed to do the trick. We had a good meeting, set some actions around issues she was encountering and booked our next meeting.

I felt good afterwards.  It had gone well. I can (at this stage) talk to a teenager. She was lovely to talk to and seemed open to ideas on how to deal with certain aspects of her life.  

Now all I need to do is repeat this again at our next meeting, and hope it wasn’t beginners luck.

If you are interested in mentoring contact The Girls Network