The Messenger Group, managed by Lisa Messenger, is a brand engagement agency that specialises in utilising books and magazines as an extension of brand and as a marketing tool. This article explores Lisa’s experience with a business mentor and explains why it is important to choose a mentor that you aspire to be like.
I have always had a lot of passion and tenacity
In every company I worked for, I always wanted equity and realistically, I always wanted to work for myself. I have always had a lot of passion and tenacity and believed in myself, so owning my own business seemed like the natural choice. Also naivety was a good thing!
My managing director, at the time, was incredibly supportive and suggested I start my own agency.
I was working for a sponsorship agency when they brought in a guy above me after I had been my own boss for quite a while, so it was mutually decided that I would leave. The managing director at the time was incredibly supportive and suggested I start my own agency. The business has had several iterations since – sponsorship to marketing, to publishing to social media and we now do a combination of all four.
Every single day is a challenge is business!
Eleven years into the company, I have had a number of different mentors, all of which are specialists in various areas – I have had mentors who have supported me with high level strategic advice, financial advice to mentors who have counselled me emotionally.
I think it is really important that people seek mentors who have a solid reputation and have travelled the path before.
Your mentor needs to be someone that you aspire to be like. Having been a mentor for several people, one of the issues that I think occurs is that mentorees have an expectation that the mentor is going to change their world. But at the end of the day it is up to you, the business owner, to decide the best way to move forward.
It appears that the mentoree/mentor relationship is similar to a student/teacher relationship!
I ended up mentoring a man and really believe in his business and while it was flattering, I realised he was developing a crush. Never really had a problem with any females, but have mentored a couple of younger guys and it appears that the mentoree/mentor relationship is similar to a student/teacher relationship!
I think it is important when you are looking to select a mentor that you really look at complementing your own skill set.
If you need some help with strategic marketing, then find a mentor that can help you with it. Likewise, if you struggle with sales, then find someone who can help develop your sales skills. This will ensure that you get the most out of it.
Having someone who has done it all before can really help to ease the pain!
Running a small business can be complex as there are so many things you need to know — from legalities, to finance to marketing to sales to product development and on and on it goes, whilst you really need to take your own journey, having someone who has done it all before can really help to ease the pain!
About The Messenger Group
We are essentially a brand engagement agency that specialises on utilising books and magazines as an extension of brand and as a marketing tool. We provide a 360 degree approach via our expertise in custom publishing, content creation, design, styling, marketing and social media. From the humble beginnings as a sponsorship agency, The Messenger Group now translates ideas into unique consumer experiences across a multitude of platforms.
