I’ve worked at numerous jobs and internships. This is not a brag—I actually believe there is a lot of value in finding a workplace you love, sticking with it, and honing specialized skills. That’s why the I’ve spent so long at the 1893 Brand Studio and InHerSight.
However, all my moving around and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life has made workplace switches inevitable. And as I’ve gone from job to job, I’ve noticed something odd: In most, I am cursed with lack of mentorship.
Up until recently, every time I’ve gotten an internship, my would-be mentor has quit or been laid off.
Some might write this phenomenon off as coincidence, not a curse, to which I say live a little. It’s so much more entertaining to blame life events on witchcraft than chalk it down to random happenstance.
Which witch is targeting me is yet to be seen, but I’m sure I’ll meet her eventually. And connect with her on LinkedIn. I’m ready to infiltrate a coven.
Anyway, back to my curse.
Exhibit A: At my first internship at Deseret Digital Media…
…the employee who hired me as her intern left the company shortly before I arrived. I ended up taking over her responsibilities, and while I didn’t have a mentor, I was happy to have so many varied tasks. My boss was in charge of an entire media department, so his mentorship time was limited. I thrived anyway, finding little difficulty in the work.
Exhibit B: The spring after that, I worked at Clean…
…on copy in the creative department. The lovely woman who decided to hire me had told me she was impressed with my sample features on sex trafficking. In the first few days, she gave me some amazing advice, and I was so excited to finally have a mentor. After two weeks, she was laid off for budgetary reasons. While my new boss was incredible at her job, she didn’t really have the time to mentor me—not to mention, copywriting is a largely independent activity. That was OK; once again, I adapted.
Exhibit C: Wait a second.
The internship to sort-of break the pattern was my recent one at InHerSight, where Ursula Mead guided me deftly in the little free time she had. She was ridiculously busy as CEO, talking to investors and handling pretty much everything, so she didn’t really have time to mentor me fully–and I’m not sure I really needed it in that role. Ursula answered questions I asked, but beyond that, my independence worked out well. I proofread articles, maintained high engagement on our social media accounts, and did the best I could to keep the blog active in the 10 hours per week I was allotted during the school year.
Okay, come to think of it, I’ve only had three internships, and the curse pattern didn’t repeat at the last one, so maybe the whole premise of this blog post is wrecked. HOWEVER…
Exhibit D: It sort of happened again…
…at my job as an Ad Account Executive at the Daily Tar Heel. My boss left a couple months into my first and only semester. She actually had been a really strong mentor up until that point, but like I said, it was only for a couple months,
My first mentor was the best
At my very first job at the Southern Utah University Journal in 2016, I had a truly wonderful long-term mentor in Kate Beaudoin. She helped me cut the fluff from my opinion editorials and sharpen my persuasive writing abilities. The communications department fired her at the end of the year, but it was very obviously corrupt. All year, it tried to influence the opinion section and pressure me into not publishing controversial stances. Its choice of newsroom adviser for the next year reinstated the previous year’s editor-in-chief (who had sexually harassed and belittled staff before deserting ship the night before production) and began using the newspaper as a mouthpiece for the marketing department. Regardless of this nasty lack of journalistic integrity, I cherish the time I spent at the Journal. My coworkers were dear friends, and Kate was my first true mentor. I love her for that.
I digress! The point of this blog post is that mentorship is not the only key to success in every workplace. In fact, I contend that not having a mentor can be a valuable experience. Sometimes, you just have to take the reins yourself, communicate well with superiors, and then stumble half-drunk towards success with the hand you’re dealt, Googling things left and right. (Disclaimer: I have never and never would go to work drunk. It’s a joke I swear)
I actually have had some really strong mentors outside of the workplace, namely in professors at the UNC School of Media and Journalism. You can find a list of some of my favorites who have been incredibly helpful in helping me kickstart my career here.
2022 UPDATE: Shouting into the void here for my own satisfaction. Let the record show that it happened again, not once, but TWICE THIS YEAR. MY BELOVED MANAGER LEFT ME NOT 5 MONTHS INTO MY SECOND BIG-GIRL AGENCY JOB. THEN I GOT HIS MANAGER, WHO ALSO LEFT ME. NOW I HAVE HER MANAGER. GOOD THING HE’S AWESOME. I AM CLIMBING THE LADDER. IF HE LEAVES I MAY HAVE TO BE MANAGED BY THE HEAD OF NORTH AMERICA.
THE CURSE LIVES ON!!!!! HUZZAH, HOW I LOVE BEING RIGHT!