As the event industry’s Elevate Mentoring programme kicks off its eighth season, the team at live and experiential agency TRO, talks to M&IT about the positive
outcomes of mentoring and having a mentor.
“I joined Elevate Mentoring for its seventh season last year
– and it was one of the best decisions I ever made for my career. Why? My
mentor gave me the skills, support and confidence boost I needed to grow
personally and professionally,” explained Louisa Daley, PR and marketing
manager at TRO.
“I’ve hosted roundtables, presented at large-scale industry
events and now, even entered the wonderful world of experiential. I enjoyed
Elevate so much that I’m returning, but as a mentor, as I strongly believe that
helping the next generation of talent will only enrich our capabilities as an
industry.
“I’m lucky enough to be part of an agency who shares this
ethos, which is why TRO is a proud supporter of Elevate.”
Accelerate your career
TRO project manager, Sophie Millard, became an Elevate mentee
in March 2023, and was paired up with Chloe Ward, director of live at Wonder. As a newbie to events and the wider
experiential world, Sophie signed up to Elevate to learn more about the wider
industry and accelerate her progression within TRO.
“I wanted an objective opinion to share my workplace experiences
with. I also wanted advice from someone that has been in the industry longer
than me. Elevate helped me feel more confident in myself and encouraged me to
go after my goals,” Millard said.
“At the time, my three goals were to be promoted to project manager,
successfully line manage someone in my team (for the first time ever) and get
the opportunity to move onto a new client. By the end of the Elevate programme
I achieved two of my goals – I was promoted and began successfully line
managing.
“Six months on, I am now getting the opportunity to work on
another client.”
Similarly, Zhina Dimitrova, TRO’s creative services manager
was a mentee in the same cohort, and her mentor was Charlotte Key, people experience
director at Smyle.
“I joined Elevate to develop the skills and knowledge I
needed to master my role, as well as gain clarity about my career path,” Dimitrova
explained.
“Throughout the programme I constantly went beyond my comfort
zone and picked up new responsibilities such as reviewing budgets and improving
processes. This contributed to my progression and led to my promotion to creative
services manager.
“I still keep Charlotte up to date with all of my career and
development updates.”
Support budding talent
TRO senior talent manager, Harriet Bullen participated in
the 2023 Elevate programme as a mentor. “My mentee was Abdullahi Yussuf. He
really embraces life and every opportunity that is given to him and works
incredibly hard to get what he wants, while also giving back at the same time.
“Abdullahi is currently a human rights masters student with
a scholarship funding in the department of sociology at the London School of
Economics and Political Sciences. He’s not only a student, but also a strong
social advocate. He volunteers at Coram, a youth-focused charity, at We Belong
as a podcaster and Young Migrants’ Rights Campaigner, he has also been
volunteering for Hackney Migrant Centre since 2021.
“He has become a dear friend to me,” Bullen added. “I can
honestly say Abdullahi is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met – so
thank you Elevate for matching us!”
Find out how you can get involved with Elevate here.
