Relationship before mentorship

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to them their own” – Benjamin Disraeli

Italian self-taught image maker, textile artist, set designer and university lecturer Chiara Cola is also a mentor for the LCC Industry Mentoring Programme.

Chiara knows that establishing a career as a creative isn’t easily accomplished alone. Not only in understanding the industry skills you need to learn but developing confidence, initiative, and positive relationships skills. These help people transition from surviving to thriving in their creative field, and mentoring plays a valuable part in this evolution.  

“Where do I start?” is a common question for fledgling creatives when thinking about getting a mentor. 

The imagined struggles and thought of meeting experienced industry practitioners can keep potentially successful careers in the closet. The benefits of having a mentor are proven, yet many people don’t take advantage of the opportunity.

According to a study by software company, Sage, 97% of small-to-medium sized businesses say that mentors are valuable, 55% believe mentoring can help them succeed and 60% look for experience in a mentor above anything else… Yet 85% do not actually have a mentor.  

“Having a mentor increases your chances” 

Chiara says her parents and teachers were her first mentors – people who helped her thrive by exposing her to new things that benefitted her creative work. 

These early mentors opened Chiara’s eyes to new possibilities by connecting their individual experiences to her own interests (the cornerstone of mentoring). And she appreciates how lucky she was to have at least one mentor who helped her explore different perspectives at each stage of her academic journey and “pushed her curiosity for the world.”  
 
This initial connection is where having a positive experience with a mentor begins. The best mentors know it’s not about making people be like the mentor, not making a duplicate ‘them’. And although mentors may share similarities, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to help people develop and succeed. Mentoring is one of the few vocations in which putting the relationship first benefits both parties. 

In the words of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and without the courage to step outside your comfort zone you risk standing still for an eternity. As a mentor and respected creative, Chiara emphasises how most of her progress came through simply being willing to try new things, something she uses to inspire growth in her mentees.  

Chiara’s powerful prints and artistic vision have allowed her to exhibit in venues throughout the US, UK and Italy as well as securing costume design gigs on Academy Award-winning films like ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’.

The only necessary qualification she needed to access the design and illustration world was a monthly subscription to Adobe Photoshop! So, whether it’s creating that first design, making that first connection or sharing that first post, her primary role as a mentor is to ensure her mentees dare to wholeheartedly believe in what they do without sacrificing who they are.  

When Chiara began her journey as a Media & Communication Studies student at La Sapienza (University of Rome), she recalls having many teachers but not many mentors. She felt that the lecturers did not accommodate her needs as an individual and found communication difficult.

Instead of seeing students as society’s potential leaders, Chiara feels they treated them as followers. There wasn’t much in the way of professional mentors. She managed to make her way through however using the values passed onto her by mentors who had helped her in the past. 

Another benefit of having a mentor is their ability to flesh out what you want out of life and set goals that match your vision. Having someone who can provide feedback on personal aspirations or subjects that you might not feel comfortable discussing with family or friends is a great advantage.

Access to the right person who has the extensive knowledge and broad network to help you progress quicker than you would alone is like adding fuel to your creative fire. Someone who is willing to assess your growth and any difficulties you may be experiencing is invaluable.

Chiara realises how important it is to have someone in your corner who can help you take that first step into uncharted land; someone who can help you see fresh perspectives, options and pathways to achieve goals in a way that suits you.  

This mentor understands the value of patience, because things need time to develop. Forcing growth has no place here. Timing, preparation, and a bit of luck are all factors that can contribute to opportunity. But having a mentor increases your chances.  

Chiara explains how working as a mentor involves constantly learning and relearning who you are and what you want. And it is transformational too. She remembers how gratified she felt when one of her mentees, Sydney, sent her a heartfelt letter that began, “I loved being your mentee, and I thought the mentor programme was fantastic.”