The Mentor I Needed Never Came—So I Became Her.
How the absence of a mentor became the foundation for a purpose-driven career.
Sometimes You Don't Find the Mentor
For years, I searched for a mentor.
As a first-generation, dual-degree graduate, I wanted someone who had already navigated the challenges I was facing-someone who could help me avoid mistakes, challenge my thinking, and remind me that I belonged in rooms I hadn't yet imagined for myself.
That mentor never came.
At first, I saw that as a disadvantage. Looking back, I realize it became one of the greatest gifts of my career.
I stopped waiting. I started building. I learned. I failed. I figured it out.
Then one day... People started calling me.
When my department announced a new Leadership Academy, I quietly thought about applying. Instead, I was asked to serve as a project sponsor.
Later, when a mentoring program was being developed, I found myself thinking that maybe this would finally be my opportunity to have a mentor. Instead, I was invited to serve on the committee designing resources for mentors.
I couldn't help but laugh. Somehow, life kept placing me on the other side of the table.
It finally dawned on me that perhaps my career was never meant to be defined by finding a mentor. Perhaps it was meant to be defined by becoming the mentor I once needed.
Today, whether through my work in public service, my consulting business, or simply through conversations with women navigating their careers, I strive to give others what I once searched for-a trusted voice, strategic guidance, and the confidence to recognize their own value.
Sometimes our greatest purpose isn't found in receiving what we hoped for. Sometimes it's found in becoming what we once needed most.
