The Mentor You’re Missing

Have you ever wished you had a mentor, but had no idea where to find one?

This month, we’re talking about mentorship and allyship — but not just the formal, structured kind. In this episode, we’re rethinking what mentorship can look like and why the person helping you grow may already be sitting right next to you: your work bestie.

We talk about peer mentorship, why work besties often give the most real-time advice, the difference between mentors who help with the future and peers who help with the moment, and how to build your own “mentor ecosystem” instead of waiting for one perfect mentor to appear.

Because sometimes the most impactful mentorship is happening in everyday conversations — through honest feedback, safe support, and the people who help you see your own strengths.

Your Supportive Work Besties,
 Jess & Claude

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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband

Transcript

May Theme And Welcome

Jess K 0:00

Hey Claude, what what do you think uh what do you think the theme for May is?

Claude F 0:04

I don't know. Everybody's wondering.

Jess K 0:10

Well, everybody, the month of May is mentorship and hallowship. So we know everyone needs someone else who lifts them up. That one work festive that does that every single day. So this month we're gonna celebrate all of you who guide us, advocate for us, and grow with us, and help you develop a mentorship as well. Exactly.

Claude F 0:32

We're saying stay with us. Hi, I'm Claude. And I'm Jess. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night, and work besties for life.

Mentorship Might Be Beside You

Jess K 0:43

Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos, and thrive together in every industry. Have you ever said, I wish I had a mentor, but no idea where to find one?

Claude F 0:58

Or as to mentorship had to come from someone more senior, when actually the person shaping you most is sitting right next to you.

Jess K 1:07

This month is about mentorship, but not the formal structured version we usually think about.

Claude F 1:13

Because some of the biggest care shifts don't come from official mentors, they come from everyday conversations.

Jess K 1:19

The kind you have with your work bestie, the one who gives you that real-time advice, honest feedback, and the perspective when you most need it.

Claude F 1:29

And when you start seeing mentorship this way, you realize you might not be as alone as you think.

Jess K 1:35

So if you've ever felt like you're figuring it out by yourself, this one is for you.

Claude F 1:40

So let's get into it. Work besties, welcome back. So today we are going to talk about mentors who shaped us. And it doesn't have to be those senior leaders, but the ones are very close to you.

Peer Mentors For Real-Time Decisions

Jess K 1:56

Right. And so that could be your work bestie. Um, and if it's not, definitely try and leverage your work bestie. But it could also be other peers within your organization or even outside of your industry organization. The area that we would rather focus on for today's episode is really rethinking that mentorship relationship and perspective. We are highly recommending that you still have that mentor with a leadership style approach, but we want to focus more on that peer-to-peer mentorship because that's definitely an area where most people are not always thinking to rely on.

Claude F 2:35

Yeah, exactly. So something that will be different from what we usually have. So something that is less formal, less structured, or even assigned. Yes.

Jess K 2:45

So it doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to your company and say, I want a peer. It would be you chatting with people in your industry, people in your company, maybe somebody outside of your department, but also at that peer level. Correct. So it's meant to be really still similar in the style of you would leverage them to learn capabilities and skill sets that maybe are not your core strength, and vice versa. So it could still have an element that is coaching or structured, but it's really meant to learn from each other.

Claude F 3:20

Correct. And you know, because at the end of the day, at the end of the day, it's because you know, mentorship happens all the time. Yeah, it's just that we don't see that vision that it's called it's called. And we want to make sure that this does not replace the higher level because you're going to seek something totally different.

Jess K 3:52

Right. Different purposes for sure. So again, the peer mentorship is someone um that is that same level or similar stage, similar challenges as you, so you have that instant equal playing field to have that conversation.

Claude F 4:09

More or less you can say that they help you navigate the moment.

Jess K 4:13

Yeah.

Claude F 4:14

When on the contrary, the matter is more also the future. The future. Very well stated.

Jess K 4:20

I like that. Thank you. Yeah. Your peer-to-peer would say, How do I handle this conversation today or tomorrow? Um, how am I thinking about this in this right moment, this right way? And it's really more the immediacy of like, what am I gonna do next? As in within the next 24 hours. Exactly. So it could be both hard skills and soft skills, but it's an individual who's at the same level or at least dealing with the same type of level as you. Yeah. So you're going to have similar perspectives, which is a little different than somebody above or below you.

Soft Skills Versus Hard Skills

Claude F 4:53

I have a silly question.

Jess K 4:55

Yeah.

Claude F 4:55

Explain to me what is the I actually forgot soft skill and hard skill.

Jess K 5:02

Sure. So like soft skills would be um your the emotional intelligence or thinking about things where your interaction with people can affect their perspective emotions, um, communication styles and things. A hard skill would be X lookups. Yes. You're helping them with a PowerPoint presentation, you're helping them with PLs, you're helping them with uh so it's more the technical portion of it.

Claude F 5:29

Correct.

Jess K 5:30

Yeah. So think of the things that like your industry is known for, what you have to do in your work. Versus maybe soft skills are things that you use to survive as a group or organization. That's a really good point, too, because as you develop within your your career path, or it doesn't even matter if you're actually asked aspiring for a new level, as you continue to work in your career, sometimes you do get challenged on your soft skills. And it's good to have somebody who you look to and see in meetings, and you're like, wow, I wish I could have handled that meeting similarly. That's a good idea, right?

Claude F 6:07

So you can reach out. Yeah. So you can have actually, yes. Oh, I'm so excited. So you can, I don't need much. So you have like your mentor, like you look at someone, your peer mentor, you look at someone that you kind of aspire, say, like, oh, I think this person has a great sub-skill. Like, like you say, has they handle that very difficult, let me meet with them and then we start a relationship so that she can have, or he can help me. Exactly.

Jess K 6:38

Yeah, or mentor me. I think that's an amazing example. Of giving you um uh a reason to chat with somebody that you maybe didn't think about while also developing yourself.

Claude F 6:51

And I'm sure that as you look at all back in all your the position you had or your career, I'm sure you can identify some of those peer mentors, which were not official mentors, but some kind of some peer mentors that shaped you.

Jess K 7:09

One of the the areas that I've leveraged peer mentors is industry events. Right? So like every industry I do go to a lot of I never go. It's like I read a lot of books, I go to a lot of them.

Claude F 7:23

Um and she's journaling, journal.

Jess K 7:25

I journal, I journal. I don't do any of those. But I don't sleep. Nor do you do though. Me neither. Um so I but if for all industries there's events of some kind, and if you don't have or know of them, I'm sure you can save without no. Well, I was gonna say, I think a quick Google looking it up, you can find some, or Facebook groups or LinkedIn groups, you can find areas or find industry events in your area. Um, and I highly recommend them because like if you're in consumer product goods, there's so many ones that I've met amazing individuals that I still chat with. We aren't in the same exact category, but we deal with similar challenges. Um sometimes it's great to get that perspective of oh, how did you come about it? Because I wouldn't you don't always think of it, right?

Claude F 8:18

A lot of time you're stuck to what you're used to doing.

Jess K 8:22

Yeah.

Claude F 8:22

A lot of time. That usually needs someone to break the mold.

Why Work Besties Help You Grow

Jess K 8:26

This the cycle. Yeah. Or just just to think differently. Because you're just not always always thinking that way. Yeah, yeah. So ultimately, what you're doing then is building your mentor eco ecosystem. Yes. So I think we brought this up maybe season one, how I talked about how whether from a work landscape or a personal landscape, having your your board of directors, like all these people around you that you have now made as your board of directors. If you if you were to have a big crisis of do I take this job or that job, these are the people you can go to. And you know which one has which question exactly. Right. Does this company have a great fit for me? Does this have the career development? Do you know me better about the yeah, what my work-life balance are? Those different parts of who you are. It is great to have mentors across each of them. Totally. Totally. Yeah, I love that. All right, so let's go back to the work besties and how they can help with the the growth of things. Um, because as we talked about all the time, work besties know you better than anyone.

Claude F 9:40

Yes. And that's one of the biggest advantages of having a work bestie. You know, it's how much faster you go, you know, like that.

Jess K 9:49

Right. They're the ones that are gonna know your blind spots, they're gonna know your tendencies to do certain things, they're probably gonna know your reaction and response before you even you do.

Claude F 10:00

Exactly. And they can reflect that back to you in a way that you feel safe. Right. Right. You you can actually, for example, you're going to tell me something like you know my pattern, let's say, you can call me on it, right? And I'm not going to take offend because I know that it comes from a good place that it's about support and making sure and watching watch out for me.

Jess K 10:28

Right, right, right. Yeah. Because they're the ones that are gonna know your strengths just as much as you know your strengths, but they also know those strengths that you doubt yourself, yes, and that is important, right? Which goes goes to the supporting system.

Claude F 10:44

So it's the combination between the support and this honesty role feedback. Right, right.

Build Your Mentor Ecosystem

Jess K 10:52

Uh, that combination is really what's gonna drive the growth for you as the person that's being mentored, but also the mentee as well, right? So, what would should we do next? Um, if you feel you don't have a mentor, start by looking at those around you, right?

Claude F 11:13

And if you have a work bestie, recognize the role they're already playing in your quote.

Jess K 11:19

Because you don't have to navigate your career alone and you shouldn't. You definitely want to continue to build that board of directors. Exactly.

Claude F 11:27

You don't exact you don't have to call it mentor. No, but you know, all your work besties or your your board of directors that is going to give you this insight that you need.

Jess K 11:38

Right. It's going to really balance you as an individual and balance where you feel you want to go in life. Exactly. Yeah. All right. So this to me really does shift the conversation around that style of mentorship. Um, it's gonna reinvigorate me because obviously I leverage Claude a lot as my peer mentor, but maybe haven't been so good with everybody else. I don't need anybody. But you do. Asking for a friend. Yeah. That friend is me.

Claude F 12:22

So just look around at who you're really thinking that oh, I would learn a lot from this person. Again, can be soft skills, can be hard. Or both, or both, you know, something you value, their work ethic. Anything. So and I liked also what you say. Don't go and say, You want to be my mentor? You know, but it's like, you know, let's have coffee and let's talk and everything. Yeah, yeah.

Daily Support And Final Sign-Off

Jess K 12:51

And I I just an idea spurred in my mind. Leverage the work best in community. There are so many there. You all that reach out to us all the time with such positive, amazing comments. I am sure all of you would lean in and support each other. So feel free to leverage any of our socials to find that connection through them, whether it's Instagram, threads, you, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn's amazing opportunity. Yeah, yeah. We aren't on Facebook, but you can do it there without us. But leverage, leverage the work bestie community. We are a pretty strong number of people right now, and every single one of you are amazing and so supportive. So we just want to end it by saying sometimes the most impactful mentorship is the one that's happening every day. So reach out to your work bestie, reach out to the work bestie community, and remember, keep supporting each other. Bye. Remember, whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings, or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work bestie is like having your own personal hype squad.

Claude F 14:11

So keep lifting each other up, laughing through the chaos, and of course, thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive, and don't forget to keep supporting each other. Work besties!