By Melissa McManus
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Sacramento BizWomen’s Mentoring Monday event sponsored by the Sacramento Business Journal. The event brought in 41 women mentors from varying professions, including women business owners, partners, CEOs, executive vice presidents, presidents, directors, founders, associate vice chancellors, and consultants, as well as approximately 100 women professionals who were looking for some advice in their current career or business ventures.
The event was referred to as “speed coaching” and took place in a similar fashion to speed dating. The mentors took their seats and the mentees moved around to different mentors. Mentees could choose up to about eight mentors, as seven minutes were allotted with each mentor selected and the event lasted one hour.
The event is intended to inspire other women to move forward in their career or business. It is inspiring to see other women who have done what you want to do and who have overcome obstacles in their lives to reach their goals, but it is important to remember inspiration means nothing without action. This event also inspired a culture for women to have meaningful interactions with each other, to share a common goal while also demonstrating that nothing is impossible with motivation, drive, and desire.
I would recommend this event to any woman who is within, pursuing, or deciding on her career. Not only is this an inspirational event, but I also believe that this event will drive the attendee to act on that inspiration and then share and mentor others along the way as well.
About the Author: Melissa McManus has five years of research experience as well as over a decade of experience working in the educational sector spanning from TK through Adult education. Melissa has a Masters in counseling, received from California State University, Fresno and a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership with a focus in Human Resource Development. Melissa’s professional interests include human behavior, research, writing, coaching, training, and knowledge transfer. On a more personal note, Melissa is involved in community service efforts including serving as chair of her children’s school site council, volunteering her time as an art docent, and serving in the library of her local church. In her free time when she is not running her kids to gymnastics or karate, Melissa enjoys reading (a lot), wine tasting, Crossfit, being with friends/family, and spending time with her husband and two children.