On Mentoring

On of our Creators Circle mentoring sessions on zoom

“Can I help you” is such a powerful question. It implies assistance, service and vulnerability. I believe this is a key ingredient to mentoring. How can I help you achieve your goals? What knowledge do I have from my experience that I can share with you so that you feel supported, listened to and your voice validated?

Maybe this is the legacy of my parents. They were both great believers in service to others. It was one of their core values which found its outlet in so many ways. My mother would help the neighbours, arrange flowers for the church and cook pavlovas for the school fete. My father was a church elder who would visit the elderly and sick in his area of stewardship.

Being a mentor to someone is a great gift of service. I never really thought of my dad as a mentor but I can see that this was one of his strengths and joys.

I grew up in bayside Melbourne. I still feel connected in some way to the place of my youth and so I joined the Facebook group about this suburb, 3193, past and present.

The other day, to my delight I read someone sharing a memory of my father and working as an assistant in his chemist shop.

I do remember the string of pharmacy assistants working there as I grew up, mostly the first one and the last one. My dad called them “his girls” and he was very proud of their skills and accomplishments. His last assistant wrote a beautiful comment in the group:

“I was Mr Matthew’s last girl. I worked in Beaumaris Pharmacy for 3 years I think after finishing school. My dad died when I was 15 and he took me under his wing. Mr Matthew taught me so much and to this day I still quote some of his wisdom. I was so very lucky to have [him] as mentor and surrogate Dad in a sad and vulnerable time in my life. I’m still working in Pharmacy! I think he taught me well.”

I’ve had the benefit of working with good mentors and teachers in many different professions, all of them taught me something valuable and I bless them to this day.

When I studied journalism, my teacher was an ‘old school‘ journalist. He taught us to “think as we type”. This was on a huge manual typewriter using liquid white-out when we made mistakes. So you had to get it right. Other mentors have taught me best practice in the darkroom - organise your tools so you can find them in the red light and best practice in the art studio, – wear supportive footgear.

The first skill I ever learnt though, was good customer service. That was my first big responsibility as a kid, to learn how to answer the telephone at my father’s shop: “Good morning, Beaumaris Pharmacy, can I help you?”

I graduated to serving behind the long glass counter, selling Coppertone sunscreen in summer and hot water bottles in winter.

Now I see that this was foundational training. I loved serving people, decorating the shop for Christmas and helping people find the right present for that special person - selling Eau de Cologne perfume was my favourite as it smelled so good.

Then more jobs in retail - selling craft kits in my mother’s shop, selling books in a city bookshop. Chatting with people, hearing their stories and what they want from life. Always with that important question - “Can I help you?”

Now I do this on-line as a mentor, building a creative community of artists and I cherish the opportunities it gives me to connect with people all around the world.

It’s my parent’s legacy and I’m passing it on…

One of my dad’s pharmacy assistants, Mim Boxall. This photo must have been taken in the late 1960s.