Mentor: a person who gives a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a period of time, especially at work or school.
Mentee: a person who is advised, trained, or counselled by a mentor.
Back in December 2021, I was taking the time to reflect on who I wanted to be, who I wanted in my life. How can I better me? How can I get back out there and meet new people?
So, I started looking online for things I could get involved in. I came across Bloom UK. They 'champion the real voices of women to drive change in the communications industry'.
'By harnessing the power of their real voices, Bloom strive to future-proof women’s careers, spearhead industry change and pay it forward.'
I was ecstatic to be informed I was to be a Mentee, meaning I would get a Mentor! I admit I was a little nervous, but I was also so excited to have someone willing to dedicate time to helping me excel.
On my LinkedIn, I've put this down as a volunteer role, as in a way, it was! I volunteered for myself! To better myself. My end goal is to be able to help others, so I want to make sure I give them the best advice!
I applied to be part of the Bloom Mentoring Programme because I had never had that kind of support in my life before. So, I was used to giving myself advice. In fact, quite often I would come to a session with my Mentor already knowing what I needed to do. But, what I got the most out of our sessions was the most amazing feeling of support. I wasn’t alone anymore, I had someone to guide and believe in me. This helped me believe in myself.
Before joining Bloom, and meeting my Mentor, I was terrible at presenting myself confidently, even in my most skilled areas, I would come across as a novice! I would belittle my accomplishments and consider myself not good enough for success. Since then, I've done so many things I considered scary, that I would have never seen myself brave enough to do. Now, one of my mottos is do the scary thing!
And one of those scary things was I finally took the leap and went self-employed, and haven’t looked back! It’s been one of my best decisions, and it’s all thanks to the confidence I gained amongst so many amazing women.
Bloom helps you learn to love yourself and empower you to strive for greatness. After working with Bloom, you will know you deserve the success you will achieve. It has been such an honour to learn from so many inspirational senior women, who I can now keep learning from in my network.
Thanks to Bloom, I’ve developed the confidence to be the person I want to be. It really is true what they say about seeing people like us in the places we aspire to be.
I got this awesome feeling the most, when I attended Bloomfest 2022. You can find out more about Bloomfest '22 in this wonderful blog written by Emilie Coalson. P.S I'm the one sat in the front with my eyes closed! 🤣
I am so heart warmed to be able to say I have a lovely relationship with my Mentor Charl O'Hare. Our one year mentorship came to an end, but we still keep in touch. That's what I love about Bloom, every person I have met through Bloom has been so lovely and GENUINE. If you look through my stories, you will know I've had some big Life Lessons when it comes to people being genuine, so this is a value I truly appreciate in someone.
And now I can announce that my story with Bloom continues, my application was accepted! It's official, as 2023 Bloom President Elizabeth Anyaegbuna said 'Laura is now a Bloomer'. Not just a member, I am part of 2023's Event team as Event Content Lead!! So far I have helped kick start our events with our first get together, it was fantastic! It was so cool to explore the London Coliseum and to be entertained by Em Stroud. It was such a fun evening. More on it here.
I've also joined all of the Bloom Inclusion Groups: Bloom- Advice, BelEVE, Exchange, Colour, Intersectionality & Allyship, Jobs, Mentors, Mpower, ND, Parents & Carers, Pride, Wombs. It felt very important to me that I acknowledge my desire to be an ACTIVE ALLY. I want to learn more about how my fellow women experience tribulations in life, this way I understand better how to help them.
This is a classic story of going for it even if you feel you're not experienced enough for it. I had my doubts when I first saw the applications announcement, but I went for it anyway! You can't get it if you don't try!
Thanks again to the Bloom team, I am incredibly excited to see what we learn next. Watch this space!
- The journey so far
Check out what Bloomers thought to our first Member Mixer here.
Disclaimer: There are no ill intentions with this post. I am shining a light on a fantastic initiative. If anyone is uncomfortable being mentioned here, please reach out and I will remove your inclusion. All opinions are my own. I acknowledge and respect that you might have different thoughts to me.