MENTORSHIP
Tinn Salinas is a UI / UX designer . In 2013 , her family migrated from the Philippines to Sacramento and she tried to get a design job . She felt confusion and culture shock . “ I developed self-doubt ,” she says , and struggled to navigate the job market as a 20-yearold ( which is a tall order for anyone ). “ I started questioning myself . What ’ s wrong with me ? Is it the language barrier ? Is it the skills ?” She and her family soon moved back to the Philippines , where she eventually landed a job at a design firm called Wide-Out Workforces , Inc .
In 2019 she moved back to the Capital Region . Still at WideOut , she focused on designs for VSP , its Sacramentobased client . Salinas did well and moved up the ranks . Soon she managed a team of 12 designers that knocked out 2,000 design projects per quarter , such as brochures and billboards . But she felt lingering doubts about her portfolio , her writing and her overall performance . “ I just felt that I wasn ’ t doing well enough , or that I wasn ’ t going to cut it ,” says Salinas . She still felt adrift in the job market , unsure how to hunt for a higher paying job .
Then a coworker shared an Instagram post about a program called Ascenders Academy , a nine-month mentoring program from Capitol Creative Alliance . Salinas immediately signed up to be in the first cohort , pleasantly surprised that it was free . So did dozens of other mentees and mentors who were organized into pairs . Throughout the Capital Region , formal ( such as the UC Davis Group Mentoring Program ) and informal ( impromptu coffee sessions ) mentorship is on the rise .
“ Mentorship is more accepted now ,” says Marcy Wacker , design workforce lead and program co-lead of the Ascenders Academy . “ If you look at what mentorship is , it ’ s really about asking for help . Ten or 20 years ago , that was seen as a weakness .” Wacker says now mentorship is seen as empowering — a way of “ advocating for yourself .”
As more and more local executives are discovering , mentorship helps the mentee , the mentor and the greater Sacramento economy .
“ Mentorship is more accepted now . If you look at what mentorship is , it ’ s really about asking for help . Ten or 20 years ago , that was seen as a weakness .”
MARCY WACKER Program director , Ascenders Academy
Opening doors
Jane Einhorn , former partner with RSE , formerly known as Runyon Saltzman advertising agency , who is now the owner of JE Public Relations , has been mentoring young professionals in Sacramento since the 1980s . She sees this as a way to pay it forward , and happily answers calls from anyone who seeks her advice . “ I had a very good mentor ,” says Einhorn , referring to the late Jean Runyon , the legendary founder of RSE . “ I probably wouldn ’ t have had a career this successful if it wasn ’ t for Jean . She taught me how to meet people , have a sense of humor and get new accounts .” The questions Einhorn ’ s mentees tend to ask : How do you get a job ? How did you get to be successful ? Sometimes they ask her , “ How did you do it when you had two kids ?”
Lydia Ramirez , senior vice president at Five Star Bank , estimates she has mentored well over 100 young professionals , “ mostly up-and-coming Latinas .” Ramirez says since she ’ s the highest ranking Latina in banking in the Sacramento area , people often ask her , “ How did you do it ? How did you make the C-suite ?”
Sometimes mentees are looking for a job . Sometimes they need help with their portfolios . Maybe they ’ re confused on how to navigate the rocky waters of freelancing — increasingly important in our gig economy . Or maybe this is their introduction to networking . “ For a lot of mentees ,” says Wacker , “ it ’ s easier to do a one-on-one thing as an entry point to meeting more people .” And sometimes a mentor can add value by showing that a profession is not a good fit . “ They may decide that PR and advertising is not for them , so you ’ re doing them a favor ,” says Einhorn , who has seen mentees leave the field and become lawyers .
What does mentoring look like , exactly ? For Einhorn , pre-COVID-19 , it often meant a monthly meeting at Peet ’ s Coffee in Sacramento neighborhood Sierra Oaks . The Ascenders Academy used regular Zoom meetings . “ Maybe it ’ s a phone call before they go into an interview , to give them confidence ,” says Ramirez , adding that it can also mean reviewing a resume or opening up her Rolodex . “ Driving information and driving inspiration ,” says Ramirez . “ That ’ s what mentorship boils down to .”
Sometimes the mentoring can be more hands-on . When Salinas joined
70 comstocksmag . com | July 2022