These 6 Women Share the Best Advice They Ever Got From a Mentor

Whether you're fresh out of college and just starting your first job or knee deep into your burgeoning career, finding a mentor in your area of expertise can be exceptionally helpful. While not always easy to find (it's not like people just advertise themselves as "executive here, willing to help!"), gaining useful workplace advice can be so significant that it shapes your professional journey.

The best part? There is no limit to how many mentors you can have, or restrictions on where to find them. Valuable workplace advice can be found everywhere, from peers to professors to more established colleagues. Thinking of mentorship this way — as more than just the traditional relationship between a senior mentor and a junior mentee — highlights the possibility that valuable mentorship can be found even in our daily lives.

Up ahead, find out how these six staffers found their mentors and what their biggest takeaways were:

My then-boss Deanne gave me my first official job in digital. She taught me search engine optimization, social media, and how to make a headline more clickable. But in addition to those work skills, she offered me life advice about everything from dating to shopping. One of the smartest lessons she ever taught me is to not take things personally in the office. Instead of worrying about how someone asks you to do something, just focus on what needs to be done. — Lauren L., senior editor, Beauty

The first day I walked into my Magazine Writing journalism class in college, I felt like my life was going somewhere. Initially my professor Sue's fast-paced train of thought and excitable nature drew me in. Once I realized she was a contributor to every cool magazine I was dying to break into and had a memoir in the works, I needed to understand how she did it.

Sue not only taught me how to write a compelling piece, but also how to be fearless about putting myself out there. She also showed me the value of being kind and helpful to everyone you meet because the industry is a lot smaller than you think. — Joanna D., editorial director, Native

The most valuable and steady mentor in my life is my mom's friend Jan, who is a brilliant, successful, and all-around kickass woman. Though I've known her since I was a kid, she became my informal adviser when I was in high school, while she was working as a professor. Growing up in Pensacola, FL, I knew very few people who had left the state for college or who lived in a big city. Jan helped me envision what my life could be like; I knew I wanted to leave the South and go to a good college, but neither I nor my (very supportive) parents knew exactly how to get me there. Jan helped me figure out what colleges to apply to and how to navigate campus visits and applications. — Nancy E., vice president and executive editor

My managing editor at my previous job was an amazing mentor to me. Not only did she help me navigate a company that didn't have clearly delineated roles, she really helped me to see the value of my work. Before her, the only validation I ever received of my writing was in an academic context. When I started, I was really unsure and questioned everything. Would I need to rewrite a blog post? Was my copy engaging enough? Through working with her I learned to stop second-guessing myself. — Stephanie N., assistant editor, Native

When I got my first job in ad operations at a large tech company, my manager trained me from the bottom up. I didn't know anything about ad trafficking — nothing. She took a chance on me. I had been working in retail and had no experience. I think she was a good judge of character and preferred to hire people she felt like she could train and depend on rather than people who had all the experience.

Her big motto was to own your mistakes, don't hide behind them. — Allison S., East Coast manager of project management

In the Summer of 2014, I attended a college specializing in entrepreneurship and start-up education. The goal was to come up with a start-up idea at the end of the program. I was assigned a mentor.

When I first presented my idea to my mentor, Mike, the first question he asked me was, "Is this something you really feel passionate about?" I looked at him with lost eyes and said, "No, not really." The pitch was related to easing the burden of people moving.

He told me to completely forget about that idea because if I didn't feel passionate about it, then no one will be convinced. I went back to the drawing board, and came up with something more meaningful.
— Gianna C., Native ops coordinator