Do you mentor? Sometimes it has surprising results.

I love mentoring. Perhaps it's my oversize ego enjoying the attention and adulation of a young mind soaking up my apparent wisdom. Maybe it balances my for-profit businesses or maybe it's just hanging with young people so I can better understand the next generation. 

Whatever the reason, I believe there are huge benefits in mentoring and I wanted to share one particularly interesting story. 

About a year ago, pre-COVID, a young man cold called me. If you are anything like me, you generally don't take calls from numbers you don't recognise and are very suspicious of any unsolicited call. But on this occasion, I took the call and was surprised by the young man on the phone requesting me to mentor him. How did he find me? Why me? What does he really want? I really didn't believe that he hadn't been a past University student or had been referred by a client. 

I was a little dubious so I asked him to email me with his information and was greatly surprised by his response. 

He emailed me with a very well written letter, which I could tell he worked on for hours to get it just right. It spoke to his struggles in his community, bullying, racism, and his ambitions to escape the path that some of his friends have taken to crime and drugs. Plus he has a huge ambition to be a world champion boxer.

I'm intrigued by now and researched his online profile. He seemed quite an angry young man by his photos and social media. But I decided to meet him and see for myself. Here is the crazy part.

The moment I saw him (30min early as he didn't want to be late) he broke out in the biggest smile and I knew I had misinterpreted his brand. He is tough, don't get me wrong, you don't win professional boxing matches without grit. But he also has a huge heart that was hidden from the world. 

I learnt that his day job was as a nurse caring for disabled children. His passion is helping school kids in lower socioeconomic areas overcome bullying and racism through inspiring speaking. Wow, not your average fighter.

So we started working together and he is so motivated and honest that I trusted him to teach my kids boxing. In fact, we are so close he is going to train me for my first ever fight! But more on that later...

The point of my story is, take the time to get to know young people as they are not always what they seem. They could appear lazy, disinterested or angry. But this could be concealing other emotions such as shyness, lack of encouragement or fear. 

I am guilty of judging the next generation at times - like I was so much better as a teenager (not!). So let's give them a break. You might be pleasantly surprised by how it helps you and your life in general.

Andrew

P.S. If you are keen to meet my boxing coach, check out Furkan Demirkaya's LinkedIn profile here or his website here.

Andrew Ford

Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.

 
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