The importance of WoMen-toring

By Christy Pettit, CEO, Pollinate Networks Inc.

It’s never been more important for Canadians to get good at running businesses. Our economy runs on small enterprises, with 98% of businesses in Canada having 99 or fewer employees. Being an entrepreneur of any description is a challenging and involved experience. Especially “these days”.

Women business owners have an interesting set of variables to negotiate. We are still the minority - although numbers continue to inch up. (Check out the latest statistics here.) We are more often running a business and holding down a job. Many women also have key responsibilities at home. Our time to really percolate and think through business challenges is often limited. That’s where a well-matched mentorship can assist.

As a woman in business, my mentorships over the years have helped me in so many ways: One of my mentors offers herself as a “human whiteboard”. This thought partnership and an opportunity to think long term for a short concentrated time is important for the business. The conversations also continue to fuel my personal growth, to help me see my patterns objectively and make moves to change the ones I don’t like. Mentors often have experiences and observations that are invaluable and have helped me not to make mistakes or choose pathways that would have given me extra steps. Network! Once they got to know me, mentors have provided valuable connections, introductions, and advice to help expand my network. (It is important to have excellent follow up on these!)

I have also had mentors who helped me overcome gender bias. Women in business still face challenges in terms of gender bias and unequal opportunities. A mentor helped me understand and address these challenges in a way I felt good about.

In Guelph and Wellington County, we are fortunate that dedicated organizations make an effort to cross-pollinate women entrepreneurs and make opportunities for us to meet each other. For example, organizations like the Guelph Chamber of Commerce with networking events and introductions, Business Centre GuelphWellington with several mentoring and advisory programs including partnership in the Rhyze Ventures Program for women entrepreneurs. Rhyze is hosted and managed by Innovation Guelph, which is another source of excellent mentors for businesses looking to scale up.

Being a mentor is also pretty great. It’s interesting learning about other people’s businesses, getting a fresh perspective on challenges, pulling forward your own knowledge, and helping to solve problems and see opportunities. It keeps my brain working and paying it forward seems like an important value to hold in “these days”. q