As we approach the mid-point of the year I always reflect on the past and think about the future.

“It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in the workforce for over thirty years, nearly twenty of those years building our business”. – Country Fried Creative. We’re looking forward to celebrating our 20th year in business starting next year. In the meantime, it’s helpful to reflect on key success factors that got us here – including me personally. At the top of that list is the mentorship I’ve received from the most influential people in my life.

A mentor is a trusted adviser who can provide experience, guidance, and influence.

There’s no question that some of my personal and company development has been by trial-and-error, “school of hard knocks,” and traditional business training. My training at IBM and my MBA program did provide a base of knowledge that’s been helpful. Having a knowledge base is important, and I’m a big believer in professional education, but the power of mentorship is what makes it effective. A mentor can help you focus on what’s relevant and essential. Also, they don’t do the work for you, but they can help you tackle it with experience. These people shape knowledge with wisdom by providing perspective.

Most of us have benefited from mentors in our life – teachers, coaches, trainers, family members, bosses, and others. 

I’ve been blessed by having incredible mentors in my life, some of whom are reading this right now, after all, It’s been an honor for me to be a mentor for others both personally and professionally.  Historically, there have been some classic mentorship relationships – Socrates and Plato, King Arthur and Merlin, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. As can be seen in pop culture, mentorship plays a big role – would there be a Luke Skywalker without Yoda or a Harry Potter without Professor Dumbledore?

here at Country Fried Creative, we’ve been deliberate about using mentorship to help our new managers. 

That got us thinking – what about offering mentorship to our clients?  Do you need perspective and experience to help you tackle business and marketing decisions?  Do you need experience in evaluating options and prioritizing decisions?

If you have an interest or need, we can put the power of mentorship to work for your business in our new Marketing Mentor program. 

Your #CountryFriedMentor,

Joe