Mentoring
Individual guidance and support for your creative practice and/or business.
2026 is fully booked.
Bookings for the first half of 2027 are now open.
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 a 4 month period.
There are 5 x 90 minutes sessions in total, all held on Zoom.
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.
Sessions are flexible in content and are capped at 5 sessions per mentee. All sessions are a maximum of 90 minutes.
My Mentoring Structure
1 x Ground Work Session
Our first session 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 my thoughts and planning ideas for the rest of our time together.
3 x Pillar Sessions
3 big sessions where we dig in to uncover all the dirt and hopefully, strike gold! Each mentoring journey is completely individual and tailored to your needs and ambitions. I am flexible and responsive as we go or we can structure each session more formally (usually it’s a mix of both).
1 x Consolidation Session
Our final session 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 I offer suggestions, resources and people you may want to connect with, going forward.
Ongoing Support Sessions for Mentoring Alumni
Once you’ve completed a mentoring program with me, you can book further 90-minute sessions when it suits you. For most people, this looks like a quarterly accountability session or a one-off conversation on a specific topic. This is a great way to stay accountable to your own goals, plans and aspirations. These sessions tend to be extremely detailed and have the advantage of me already being across all aspects of your business – so they can be very impactful in a short amount of time.
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:
- Values in creative practice and business.
- Quoting, pricing and invoicing creative work.
- Communications and marketing support.
- Systems and workflows for sole traders.
- Photography skills, techniques and advice on gear and equipment.
You will get my honest feedback 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.
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?
We will have 5 x 90-minute Zoom sessions together that you can choose from my online calendar (made available once the deposit is paid).
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 xyz – 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.
You can stagger your sessions at times that suit you – but they must be inside the time frame offered, to make the most of the natural momentum we create.
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 is $1,500 +GST.
This investment covers our time together, access to me throughout the time period and links to any relevant resources. Once a deposit of $550 is paid, you’ll have access to my calendar, then the remainder is invoiced during the sessions, usually in two more invoices of $550 each.
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. Having worked alongside and in your business before, these sessions tend to be very strategic and focused.
I am completely present and focused in our sessions together and expect you to be similarly invested in our time together.
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 an arts 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.
It’s a small world. 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 generously championing my career since the very beginning. As I reached ‘mid-career’, it became increasingly difficult to find mentors who were more experienced than me, had time to support me and understood the nuances of the arts and culture sectors.
Twice a year I open space in my schedule for mentoring. This means I can formally dedicate time to the success of other sole traders and freelancers consistently and sustainably via a clear payment system. 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!
Mentoring Enquiry
