Joining AWNY for Mentoring by Lori Wigler

My name is Lori, I’m 33 years old, have been working in media for about 9 years and have been happily working at the same company for over 7. While I have had great managers, I never connected with an official mentor. I joined AWNY this year based on a co-worker’s recommendation of the AWNY mentorship program.

After applying to the mentoring program, I soon received a helpful welcome package with my mentor, Beth Egan’s, resume. I was overwhelmed by Beth’s success in the industry. She is currently a Managing Partner at Mediaedge, but once held a position similar to where I am in my career now. The similarity gave me an immediate sense of connection to her and made my long-term goals seem realistic. I asked around and was thrilled at the reaction when I mentioned Beth’s name. I was told she was “real”, “great to work with” and a “great person”. While I’ll always make my own judgments about people, her great reputation just furthered my excitement about starting our mentor/mentee relationship.

Beth and I first met at the AWNY kick-off breakfast. I was standing in line to get coffee and although I had no idea what she looked like, I instantly smiled at the woman getting in line behind me. It was Beth! Although I had some pre-conceived notions about top management at other agencies, Beth seemed the complete opposite of all of those things- we made plans to have lunch the following week near my office and we arrived at the same time- 15 minutes early.

We both admitted that we’re new to a mentor/mentee relationship and we weren’t exactly sure how to structure our conversations. This actually made me feel comfortable just speaking, without a set agenda. Beth was a great listener and she even wrote down some things to send me following our lunch. I’ll share the outcome of our meetings soon...