The Power is in Your Hands

The first time I worked in a mentor capacity, I was Assistant Managing Editor at Reminder Publications. Through Minnechaug Regional High School’s School to Career program, overseen by the amazing and talented Paula Talmadge, each year a high school student would intern in our news department.

These students would come in willing and ready to absorb all they could learn each day. Errors led to discoveries, nerves strengthened to confidence and each story led them to become a part of the news team family. One of the greatest rewards in participating in the program, on my end, was that each student reignited my passion for news.

Each time they figured out a way to track down a source or finally nail their lead, you felt a piece of their victory when their story went to print. You remember how good it feels, because you can recall being in their shoes.

Last week I had the pleasure of talking to students at New Leadership Charter School on entrepreneurism. It was wonderful to hear about their dreams and hopes for the future. Two students hoped to start a wedding planning company. It gave me great satisfaction to tell them they were on the right track. In order to gain experience, they have been planning whatever they can, including school activities and events. After we did a brief exercise that is designed to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses and to access your needs, the two young ladies discovered that what one lacked, the other excelled in, which makes an excellent partnership. It would allow the two be able to focus on different, yet equally important, functions of their future company.

After we went through my Power Point presentation, munched on snacks and muddled over some of the press and marketing materials I brought them, I also shared with them that often people have a certain idea of what an entrepreneur is. I explained to them that an entrepreneur is YOU. It is a person who sees where there is nothing and creates something. It is a person who looks at a product or service and says, “How can I make that better?”

I explained to them that I wasn’t the best student in high school and I had a son at the end of my senior year. But, what saved my future is there was one thing I knew that I loved doing – writing. I had no idea how I was going to make a living at it, but I knew I would. I had veered off my path, but was determined to get "write" back on. So I went to college, worked, interned, and interned some more, and the most important thing I ever did was LISTEN. I have always admired and respected people older than I. And until this very day, when they talk, I listen. I take their advice, learn how they do things, what works, what doesn't and then I do it my way.

I can name numerous people who have made a difference and impacted my life in a substantial way. People who don’t even have a clue they did. Here are just a few: Laurie, a mother of four children who worked with me at The Avenue when I was 23 years old. She told me I could start my own business one day. She was right. Thanks to her, I attended the Center for Women & Enterprise in Rhode Island.

There is a gentleman I never met face-to-face in the early 2000s. We spoke on the phone for about 10 minutes. I don’t even remember his name. He told me to call The Republican and say he sent me. After a series of phone calls and an interview, I got my first paying freelance job writing for the Plus section. Gosh, my articles were horrible. However, Cynthia Simison was kind enough to let me gain some experience.

Later, when I worked at The Reminder, G. Michael Dobbs would listen to our story ideas and give us permission to write them – no matter how out there they were for a weekly newspaper: i.e. “Mike, can we go to the Mojave Desert to track local Marines as they prepare for war in Iraq?” Yes. “Mike, can we drive down to Connecticut in the wee hours of the morning and cover the Michael Ross execution?” Yes. “Can I ride a bus with hundreds of citizens who are going to rally at the New England Congressional Delegation?” Yes. “Mike, can I go to Thailand for a month to write a piece on Group Study Exchange?” Yes. “Can I cover Bill Cosby?” Yes. “How about Grant Hill?” Yes. “Dick Gregory?” Yes. Sorry Jim Carey, but Dobbs is the true “Yes Man.”

Today I encourage you to pay it forward. Even if you did not have someone in your life that helped you get where you are, be the first to turn around and lift up a young person behind you, and then nudge them forward in your own, unique way. Maybe you may know a good resource for them; maybe you can offer advice on a particular subject – it may be as simple as showing them a little love and respect. It all makes a difference.