Mentorship is something that I think is really important from a really young age. I sit on the board of a non-profit called Polished Pebbles, a mentoring program for underserved girls in our Chicago communities. The founder is focused on making sure girls have the communication skills to present themselves. This program helps them discover what their passions and strengths are, so they can hold important conversations. She wrote a book called Every Girl’s a CEO. It’s about showing every girl that every single day, you’re managing a bunch of stuff like a CEO. Whether it’s getting up and getting your schedule together or balancing sports and school. Whatever it is, you’re managing things, and that’s part of a skill set.
The program is for sixth graders through high school. It starts there, so when they get to the corporate environment, they are important because it’s about representation. I try to make myself open to anyone who wants to sit and have lunch. I have a couple of mentees at cars.com. I enjoy those conversations with them. I think it is important for people to see themselves in you and know that they can get to those levels. It’s about representation.
