How I Figured Out I Want to Write About Mentorship

I have a blog — a website of my own. I’ve had it since early 2010 and I called it “Trend-e Mkt” because I wanted to tell a story about online marketing. I was a senior in college when I created it and as time went by, I not only wrote about digital marketing, I also wrote about new gadgets, quick tidbits that were going through my mind, and travel among other things. I tried different WordPress templates, affiliate links, ad real estate, and eventually bought a couple of additional domains, including my name, pointing to it.

I never really had a particular objective for this blog, so I didn’t have much of an audience. Beyond the spam that plagues the web and a few friends that still follow my publications, I haven’t really built it with a particular intention. At the end of the day, I’ve treated it more like an online Moleskine of mine, a smorgasbord of thoughts ranging from professional to leisure.

Why? Just reading the comments, the polarization of thoughts, the power that people feel thanks to the anonymity of being behind a keyboard, have made me pause about what I really want to write about and garner an audience for. I mean, what would I consider important enough for me to dedicate time and energy to write about? What subject should I write about that no other “expert” or thought leader was already covering? There are a vast number of books and online publications out there talking about leadership, the tech industry, travel, speaking several languages, even stoic philosophy — all subjects that I am passionate about. How could I find something that I love and I could bring value to?

Little did I know that it was right there in front of me. I got more and more involved in volunteering opportunities. It didn’t happen overnight — I have been volunteering for the past 5 years now in different groups with different objectives ranging from mentoring minority entrepreneurs from emerging countries to career development and diversity, equity, and inclusion. I didn’t design it that way, I just kept feeling compelled to carve out time from my calendar and help out in these subjects.

The opportunities arose and I accepted the invitations. Again, I never did them with an intention for myself, rather with the intention of being helpful for someone else. I didn’t really feel like I was part of a community, at least I didn’t think it that way — to me, it was just as simple as helping someone out by pointing them to the right tools and sharing a little bit about my own experience to make them feel that they weren’t alone in their journey of being an entrepreneur or developing their career.

I later had the opportunity to participate as co-emcee at the Amazon: Represent the Future online event. The objective was to share our stories and our journey at the company as Amazonians of different backgrounds to show the audience that no matter your background and your objectives, there's a place for everyone at the table.

The point got across alright, but not just to the audience, but to me as well. As the event happened and days later, I got an influx of LinkedIn invitations and messages. I had never experienced this volume of messages ever before. At that point, it became more clear to me why representation matters. I received messages of “I see you”, “I commend you for following your dreams” and “I too am LatinX and I’m very happy to see you speak”.

Folks who see someone who shares their background and that they are where they want to be, are inspired and know they can do whatever they set their mind to. I feel that way about the role models in my life as they are my trailblazers. I felt grateful for a chance, albeit a two-day chance, to give such hope. I felt humbled by it and happy that I gave my two cents.

It made me realize that I hadn’t seen myself as part of a community until my community opened my eyes and pointed at the obvious. I was and am part of a community already, I just hadn’t seen it nor the echo it carries.

So what do I want to write about? I want to write about what I’ve already been doing and hadn’t stopped to realize. Though of course, I am not claiming that I am an expert, I want to write about mentoring and representation; how if you see someone who looks and speaks like you, has similar experiences to you it means that you too can do it.

Mentoring goes up and down a professional environment, right and left, and diagonally. Something worth mentioning as well is that although role models with your same characteristics, background, and traits are important, mentors and mentees don’t need to come from the exact same background to understand and help each other, they just need to be aware of where the other is coming from.

This is my first realization, and I intend to write continuously about this subject — I have time carved out on my calendar, just like I do for my other volunteering endeavors. I am aware that it’s not a groundbreaking subject nor am I in a blue ocean where no one else is writing about the same thing. I see this as an opportunity to add my voice to the subject and hopefully, it will be useful to more than an audience of one.