Mentoring
Individual guidance for you, your business and/or creative practice.
Mentors Matter
“Mentors matter for both work and life. Research reveals that even just having a mentor is enough to predict higher job performance, career success, and satisfaction”
— Dr Adam Grant
We all need guidance in our careers and lives to navigate change. As sole traders, seeking mentoring can be one of the most important investments we make for the sustainability and success of our careers.
As a skilled distiller and serial completionist, I help you clarify your vision in muddy waters and motivate you where there’s stagnation. To continue the water metaphor (of which I have many), I’ll get you swimming in the wide open ocean. Consider me your kayak support. I offer a bird’s-eye perspective, tools and relevant resources to support you on your mission.
Process
Mentoring with me features focused and flexible sessions over 4 months.
There are 5 sessions in total – a mix of phone calls and Zoom sessions. Each session is followed up with a detailed summary and access to any relevant resources.
Working in lockstep alongside your business and/or creative practice, I provide individualised 1:1 support for your broader vision, as well as working on the finer details of your documentation and communications.
You’ll leave each session with renewed clarity, a clear path forward and have accountability every step of the way. All sessions are private and confidential.
The Structure
Ground Work Session
Our first session is a 45 minute Groundwork phone call. This helps me understand where you’re at now and where you’d like to go in our time together.
After this session, I email you with my thoughts, ideas and plans for our Pillar Sessions.
Pillar Sessions
These are our 3 x 90 minute Zoom sessions where we dig in to uncover all the dirt and hopefully, strike gold! There is no ‘course’ to follow – each mentoring journey is completely individual and tailored to your needs and ambitions – we are flexible as we go, but can lean on my ideas I’ve offered after our Groundwork Session for some structure for each session.
Consolidation Session
Our final session is a 45 minute phone call where we touch on each pillar of our work together and make sure that you are moving the needle forward in each area. This session also identifies areas you may need further support in and suggestions going forward.
Ongoing Support Sessions
Once you’ve completed a mentoring program with me, you can book further 1 hour sessions when it suits you. For some people, this looks like a quarterly accountability session or a one-off conversation a year later. This is a very affordable way to stay accountable to your own goals and be reminded of them at opportune times! These sessions tend to be extremely detailed and focussed – and have the advantage of me already being across all aspects of your business – so can be very impactful.
What’s included?
Session topics are tailored to suit you.
My expertise and skills are in being able to hold your big-picture ideas alongside the tiny, granular details of running a business. We can work on the deeper values that you’d like to bring to your work and I can thread this into anything from your email signature and quoting system to your broader marketing strategy.
Example session topics:
- Quoting, pricing and invoicing systems
- Communicating clearly and managing tricky clients
- Efficient systems and workflows for clients and back-end business.
- Marketing, communications and social media strategies.
- Photography skills, techniques and advice on gear and equipment
- Values-based business foundations
- Any other business conundrums that need attention.
You will get my honest feedback and opinion in plain language with useful tips and tricks. I speak frankly about money and tools for communicating clearly. I am totally independent and have no affiliations or agendas outside of supporting you to succeed.
Many people I work with comment on my attention to detail throughout the process and are surprised at how quickly things can move for them once they start.
Generally, mentees can immediately implement streamlined workflow and client communication systems, increase efficiency in the ‘backend’ of their business administration, further their understanding of industry protocols and attract more aligned clients. We often work with broader aims and smaller tasks concurrently.
Testimonials
I felt like a bit of an island as a self-employed, working from home newbie photographer. I had no idea if what I was charging was fair, how to understand contracts and licensing, or some of the more technical aspects of shooting and editing. Bo tailored my three month mentorship program specifically to my needs at the time and then openly shared her experience, providing example documentation and connecting me to resources along the way. It was professional and yet personal.
By the end of our time together I felt way more in control of my business, confident about approaching clients and more skilled technically. I don’t believe I’d have been able to learn those things so quickly through any other means. It’s invaluable to have someone really deep dive with me on my business like Bo did, and I feel her input really set me on my course to running a successful film and photography business.
The mentorship I received from Bo has been absolutely invaluable. I really enjoyed my connection with Bo, her attention to detail and the time she actually dedicated to me during the process. Having my regular calls with Bo was something I thoroughly looked forward to. I felt like after each session I was more focused, motivated and could clearly see the pathway forward. Most useful to me was Bo’s insight into the profession, her knowledge as well as the support I received.
Within 6 months I achieved goals that were once a dream and it has been a very rewarding journey. A massive thanks to Bo for all her great work with me.
Bo’s mentorship has helped clarify and fine tune numerous aspects of my business, which I had been thinking about for some time. The structure and documentation are very thorough, and feels like great value for money. Being accountable to Bo has helped me reach milestones and make progress faster than I ever would have by myself. Bo was friendly and forthcoming to share the wisdom gained from her experiences, and how it relates to my situation.
It’s helped me build my confidence professionally, and I’m excited that my future work will align with my values and ultimately, be more fulfilling.
FAQ
How many sessions are there?
In total, we have 5 sessions together: 2 x 45 minute phone calls and 3 x 90 minute Zoom sessions.
Can I contact you in between sessions?
Yes! You don’t have to wait until the next session if you have a quick question related to our work together. Generally this looks like: “Bo, which photo/logo/word should I use? This or this?” Or “Bo, this clients wants xxx – how much should I charge?”… or “Bo, what’s your favourite kind of chocolate?” (kidding!).
Will the timings suit me?
On commencement, I’ll send you a link to my mentoring calendar where you can book all 5 sessions at once – or you can book one at a time, whatever suits you best within the timeframe.
You can stagger your sessions at times that suit you, via my calendar – but they must be inside the timeframe offered. In my experience, 5 sessions in a longer time period than 4 months works against the natural momentum we create to foster change.
That way I can guarantee that I am working with a limited number of people at any given time and you can schedule all of your sessions in one go – so this is beneficial for both you and me. Of course if circumstances arise that mean you miss sessions I assess these case by case – but generally, it’s up to you to take responsibility for making the time and being present in our sessions.
How much does it cost?
The cost of our sessions is $1,500 +GST. This investment covers our time together, access to your detailed summaries, overview notes, access to me throughout the time period and links to any relevant resources. This is generally paid in two parts. The first payment is due on booking and the second payment is due 6 weeks later.
Ongoing sessions after this are $180/hour +GST. Mentees tend to book these quarterly for accountability and ongoing support, though you can book once a year or once a fortnight – depending on where your projects are at and what you need. These sessions tend to be very focussed and having worked alongside and in your business before, they tend to be extremely impactful for a one hour timeframe!
I am completely present and focused in our sessions together and expect you to be similarly invested.
What can I ask you about?
Nearly anything. We can work on the deeper values that you’d like to bring to your work and I can thread this into anything from your email signature and quoting system to your broader marketing strategy and vision.
I am not a mental health practitioner or a lawyer. I can offer advice and suggestions from my 20+ years experience running my own business and 10+ years running workshops and development for creatives, sole traders, freelancers and small businesses.
I am here to support you to bring your ideas to life in real time and stand alongside you while you run the business and/or creative practice that you are striving for. Anything relevant to that is on the table.
My business details are private. How confidential is this?
Completely confidential. The process isn’t very useful if you aren’t clear and honest about where your business is at – and for this reason, all information you share with me is strictly confidential – and vice versa.
Why do you do this?
As a sole trader, I’ve been fortunate to have informal relationships with mentors championing my career since the very beginning. As I reached ‘mid-career’, it became increasingly difficult to find mentors who were both more experienced than me and had time to help. I realised that if this could simply be formalised and I could pay for their time, I wouldn’t feel that I’d be a burden in their already very busy lives, but nobody who had relevant industry experience was offering this.
Twice a year I open space in my schedule for mentoring.This means I can dedicate my time to the success of other sole traders and freelancers. In short, I wish I’d had this opportunity at various points in my career as it would have saved me learning a lot of things the hard way. That is why I do this.
Mentoring Enquiry
