Mentoring Magic: Insights from Launch Pad’s Women & Multicultural Speed Mentorship Session
The themes of creativity, storytelling, perseverance, resilience, and funding were explored by the mentors of Launch Pad’s second Women & Multicultural Speed Mentoring Session, held at the brand-new Fairfield Connect Hub. The two-hour session enlightened the attendees, creating an incredible space for them to both learn and network.
Launch Pad’s speed mentoring sessions are a quick way for newcomers to the world of entrepreneurism to learn the trade secrets from those who have been at it longer. The event kicked off with a panel session featuring esteemed mentors, each from diverse walks of life and industries. Launch Pad’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Lucy Lin, began the session by asking carefully curated questions to each mentor, delving into their most transformative experiences while sticking to their specialties.
Insights From the Panel Session
Fazila, Director of FazFar and Z Hotels, reiterated that the best example to relay the importance of resilience is how everyone pushed through the Covid-19 pandemic. “For tourism especially, it was the hardest challenge. Profits went from 80% to 0% within a short time frame, and we just had to deal with it,” Fazila stated. She advised everyone to find balance and to look for opportunities even in downtimes. Fazila was able to get through the pandemic by converting her hotels into temporary quarantine facilities and used the extra time to upskill her staff into all-rounded employees.
Davy, Executive Producer and Director of HeyYa TV, was prompted to share his most effective storytelling tip and advised that it is imperative for everyone to bring their most authentic selves out. “Most businesses go bankrupt in 2 years, and that’s because they aren’t being authentic enough. People can read through bullshit and can tell when you aren’t being genuine about your product and service” he relayed.
"Most businesses go bankrupt in 2 years, and that’s because they aren’t being authentic enough"
Carla, Senior Manager for Innovation Strategy & Services at WSU, began, “As someone who has also started her own startup, I know how difficult securing funding can be.” She added that she has interacted with hundreds if not thousands of entrepreneurs and that some of her best tips are:
- Be open-minded and realistic. “Sometimes we think we are awesome, but do the people out there think we are awesome?” she mentioned. Entrepreneurs need to ensure that they have conducted market validations for their business ideas because investors will expect you to do that homework.
- Choose the right investors for your business types. If you’re a tech startup, you may qualify for an R&D tech fund; if your business is community-focused, funding from your local council or even the state government may be more appropriate.
- NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. “Go out there and get to meet people; you never know, you might run into your next investor,” Carla stated. She also added that it’s important to have an authentic story to take with you to these events so that you can make meaningful connections with the people you meet.
Maria, award-winning actor, filmmaker, and founder of Phoenix Eye Films emphasized the importance of recognising that your trajectory will not be a linear path, and that there will be ups and downs. She went on a tangent and added, “If they (investors) like who you are, you’ve got a good record for accomplishing your goals and are able to communicate with passion, you will succeed.” She also prompted everyone to think deeply about why they are doing it (their business venture) and to remember that they want to create their identities, not just make money.
Diem, Founder of Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen, said she recovered from the loss of her previous venture by being calm and collected. “Remember, you have to analyze each mistake that you make and ensure that you learn from it – just because you made it once doesn’t mean you’ll never make it again,” she added. Diem also advised not to take the ‘No’s’ personally but rather to analyze them and understand why they said no and work on it. “Don’t give up; just keep on going and going until you get that break, and once you get that opportunity, do your best to ensure that you don’t miss out on your chance.” She ended
“Remember, you have to analyze each mistake that you make and ensure that you learn from it – just because you made it once doesn’t mean you’ll never make it again”
Sneak Peeks From The Q&A Session
The invaluable panel session was followed by a small group session in which each mentor spent 7 minutes with a table of attendees before moving on to another. Here’s a sneak peek of what that Q&A session looked like:
Q: How do you stand out in an oversaturated market such as tourism?
A: “There must be a niche; you need to decide on what your specifics will look like. Try not to copy what already exists; find your niche, passion, and specialize in something” – Fazila
Q: “How did you become a mentor?”
A: “Well, to be honest, anyone can really be one; it’s just deciding on how you present yourself. Also, I think it’s dangerous to stick to just one ‘mentor,’ so I always try to learn from everyone I meet” – Maria
Q: “Can I get funding from larger sources, such as the government?”
A: “You need to think about outcomes of your venture; how can society benefit from your product/service? Does it promote mental health, multiculturalism? Look for the problems the government is trying to solve and show them how giving you funding will help them solve their problems goals” – Carla
Significantly more questions were answered by the mentors; however, it would not be possible to include them all here. The final session for this event was a casual networking session in which attendees connected with like-minded individuals and received further insight about their issues directly from the mentors themselves.
Overall, the event was valuable to both the attendees and mentors. Sonny, an attendee, found the table sessions to be quite intimate and found them to be much more helpful than traditional panel sessions. While Joanne acknowledged that she learned how to apply each of the mentor’s specific advice (storytelling, creativity, etc.) in a broader context and not just where you’d expect them to.
"(The session) Was amazing as there was a good mix of people, which is important for community. A lot of good ideas were floating around along with questions about the businesses that people want to form"
Fazila noted that the attendees were very passionate about their ideas, but they weren’t sure about how to go about realizing them, and that they needed guidance. Which is something Launch Pad is in the perfect position to provide. Given its many entrepreneurial programs, with some being exclusive for Women & Multicultural, Launch Pad hopes to not only create more networking and upskilling sessions like this but also to truly help Western Sydney businesses take off.