The Visibility Mindset

10Optimizing the Magic of Mentorship

Bernice Chao

Understand that one day you will have the power to make a difference, so use it well.

—Mindy Kaling, American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director

Five years ago, I worked with an intern named Houtan Sharafatian at an advertising agency called David & Goliath. Two years later, he reached out to me on LinkedIn with the message, “I remember always having really candid conversations with you, and was wondering if I could pick your brain about how I should proceed with pursuing jobs in marketing?”

When we connected, he wanted to talk to me about the next stage in his career and recalled the advice I had given him a few years earlier about creating a career path that mattered to him. He said how much he appreciated that I stopped to have meaningful conversations and how they helped him navigate his career.

Last year he reached out to me again. “I know it's been a while since we last talked a while back, and I was asking you for some life advice. I was hoping to ask you for some help again if you have a chance to chat!” We talked about how he applied our last conversation to how he's currently navigating his career and wanted to talk about which classes to take during his MBA program at Loyola Marymount University. He also asked if I could help make an introduction to someone in my LinkedIn network for a job opportunity, which I was happy to do. After knowing more about what job he was looking at, I followed up with ...