Theresa Cantley Business Growth Strategist

Why a Business Mentor is So Important to Growing Your Business

Welcome! I’m a brand and marketing strategist, and I’m also a coach who does one-on-one coaching and online training.  I’ve been meeting with a lot of new people and so many of them ask about the importance of having a coach or mentor.

In case you’ve been thinking about getting a coach, I thought I’d tell my story. I’ve had several mentors over the years. From the time we are little, we have mentors in our life. For instance, my grandmother was one of my first mentors and she taught me the importance of being empathetic and really being kind to people. That shaped me as a little girl, and gave me the burning desire to want to help people. My grandfather, my Dad’s father, was a huge influence in my life and he taught me the importance of not stressing the small stuff.

My father has also been a big mentor in my life. He’s very analytical and I’m creative, so we’re good compliments. My whole philosophy of making anything possible comes from him. True story: When I was little, a group of friends and I wanted to be a football team for Halloween, and I was supposed to dress up as the football. Well, I was upset because I didn’t think I could get this costume together and be part of this, but of course, my Dad made it happen.

The philosophy I have, and that I share with my clients, is that absolutely anything is possible if you believe that it is.  That really stems from my Dad, the things that we went through growing up, and what he was able to do for us.

So, mentors come from anywhere. They could be parents, teachers, they could be grandparents, friends, aunts or uncles, or anybody, and they really help us to shape our opinions about things and how we handle things. Then as we get older, especially if you are starting your own business or you’re feeling a little stuck, investing in a coach can be one of the best things that you do with your business and your life.

 It was transformational for me.

When I started my first business (a retail business) back in 2009, I found a mentor and learned tons of information from her. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone you meet with face-to-face, it can be someone you meet with online, over the phone, or even in online classes. Chalene Johnson was my first virtual business mentor and has been for years. I’ve learned everything from productivity to planning my day to staying motivated to marketing tips from her. She helped me to shape things and really move forward. Another mentor I found was Marie Forleo. I’ve done her online training programs, and when I needed information on things I was struggling with, she helped. She has built an amazing brand. Brendon Burchard is another virtual mentor; I was so fortunate to go to his “High-Performance Live Academy” this year! Brendon’s helped me to take my business and myself to the next level.

Today, I also have a one-on-one mentor who I work with via web conference, and she’s been instrumental in helping me work through some of my own fears and work through some of the struggles that I’ve had. She can really kick my butt if I’m dragging on something and move me forward—that person is Mindy Lawhorne. Mindy is a fitness professional but she also has a business called Hope & Struggle where she teaches you how to keep the hope and faith in the midst of struggle. She’s been helping me with new things I want to launch, to help me implement the strategy and steps I’ve learned along the way, but also helping me put my own spin on it. I’ve been extremely successful in my business, but it’s so so nice to have someone to bounce things off of.

If I could give you three top reasons of why and how to get a mentor:

  1. Look for someone who inspires you. Find someone who has been there and gotten through it. Like I said, my mentors, Chalene and Marie Forleo, and Mindy Lahorne, they inspire me.  I saw them doing great things, and I knew they were tremendously successful and I could learn from them. Look for someone who has gone through the struggle, who has honored the struggle, and found success.
  2. You can’t do it alone. To use words from Marie Forleo, “You gotta go pro, you gotta get help.” Whether it’s delegating things out, or saying, “It’s time that I invest in myself.” There are things that these coaches and mentors provide that you can’t get anywhere else, and I do this in my own business. When I meet with someone, I can give them actionable steps and create a strategy for their business, whether it’s a business that’s reached a plateau or a new business just starting out. We talk about the steps to take, and when we meet again we’ll review. When I first started in my business, yes I knew what to do. I had marketing experience, but I didn’t have the entrepreneurial or the online experience. I needed to get more information about it, so I spent the time and invested the money because I knew it would be well worth it. It makes it easier, and makes things happen quicker. They may see things you don’t see. Invest in you!
  3. If you’re a business owner and you want to take your business to the next level, you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone, a mentor or a coach will do that for you. That was the thing with me, I had started this retail business and a marketing business, and I wanted it to go to the next level. Things weren’t quite happening the way I wanted them to. So I invested in a coach, I invested in a mentor. I invested in leveling up myself and my business and getting additional amazing information.

So… if you want to take your business to the next level, the most important thing I can tell you is to get a coach. Again, someone who inspires you, someone who’s been there, and someone who has had the success you want to have, and someone who’s got the information to help you execute your goals.

I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope that you might take the time over the next couple days to think about investing in a coach if there’s a business you want to start. Here’s what it’s like to work with me

 

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