I was talking with a friend recently who’s stepping away from a collegiate teaching role in the arts. They told me, quietly and honestly, that the reason they felt stuck was because they didn’t have any mentors left around them. No one to push them. No one to expand their curiosity. No one who lit that spark that makes showing up feel like more than just showing up.
And that really hit me.
It made me think about the incredible mentors I have had throughout my life across music, film, marketing, and those wild Yelp days. These were people who challenged me, believed in me, and saw something in me long before I understood the shape of it myself.
I have always been a sponge. I have always loved learning. I have always been hungry for that next piece of wisdom, that next challenge, that next opportunity to grow. And the best mentors in my life did not just teach. They created space. Space for me to experiment. Space for me to fail. Space for me to bring my own ideas to the table and feel like they mattered.
Looking back, the thing that still surprises me and humbles me is that every one of those mentors told me at some point, “I learned a lot from you too.”
At first, I could not understand that. I did not see myself as someone who had anything to teach. But that is the secret, isn’t it? A great mentor is never done learning. A great leader always leaves room for new perspectives, fresh angles, different experiences. Mentorship is not a one way street. It is a conversation. It is energy flowing both directions.
So I told my friend this: maybe the reason they feel unmentored now is because they have crossed over into that space themselves. Maybe they have become the mentor. Maybe they have grown into that role so naturally, so quietly, that they did not even notice the shift.
That is a responsibility, but also a privilege. To inspire. To guide. To help someone else unlock parts of themselves they did not know existed. To become the person you once needed.
Mentors have shaped so much of who I am. Their voices, their lessons, their belief, those things stay with you. But so does the moment you realize you have become that person for someone else.
And to anyone who finds themselves in that space feeling uninspired, feeling alone, feeling like the magic is gone maybe it is not gone at all. Maybe it has just evolved. Maybe you have become the spark now.
And that is a beautiful thing.
Photo: One of my all-time favorite Yelp teams. Every single person in this group mentored me in some way, at some point. Also worth noting: this moment commemorates my 15th soy latte in three days at Yelp HQ. Long live the Yelp baristas at the Yelp Café!