As we launch this year’s mentoring scheme, we caught up with several of the 2020 mentees to find out how it went and what they got out of the experience.

My first PR role was in an FMCG agency but I soon moved to healthcare and that’s where I’ve been ever since on a mix of pharmaceutical and medical device accounts starting in consultancy and over the past decade, in-house.

I could offer lots of career highlights and challenges over the years but I don’t think anything matches what we’ve all had to deal with – and are still dealing with – this past year and the COVID-19 pandemic. Successfully establishing a new UK marketing and communications leadership role and joining a management team that I’ve only met in person at interview has been both my career highlight and biggest challenge to date.  I’m certainly looking forward to more traditional challenges in the future!

I’m a huge believer in the power of mentoring at whatever career stage you’re at and I’m also a huge believer in the power of women supporting other women as they climb the career ladder. When I saw the opportunity in PR Week to connect with a mentor via the Women in PR programme I had to apply but I really didn’t expect to be chosen as a mentee. I had imagined that more conventional communications pro’s would be chosen and I was so delighted to get through.

My mentor was Doyel Maitra, who is Group Communications Director and Board Member at Hachette UK and has a formidable career to date. I was so excited to e-meet her and I had in my mind what I hoped we would work on. However, as with many people last year my career suddenly stalled.

It’s no one’s dream scenario to have their role made redundant during a global pandemic and although I know I’m not the only one to have faced this in the current climate it was certainly a shock and I had to dig deep into my resilience reserves.

I couldn’t have foreseen it but I’m so grateful I was a part of the programme during such a time of transition for me. Without Doyel’s expert guidance I know I wouldn’t have navigated this difficult period in my life so effectively.

For those who’ve not experienced a mentor before, expect to be challenged, supported, guided and asked to think in ways that might not always feel comfortable but will unlock new perspectives as you develop and build leadership skills. It’s a fantastic opportunity and I’d recommend applying as soon as the 2021 programme opens.

I’ve still not met Doyel but we plan to rectify that later in the summer so I’m looking forward to having a drink with her at Pennethorne’s at Somerset House, London (keeping my fingers tightly crossed that a little bit of normality will have returned by then).