In the last post, we shared with you the experience of one of our mentees. Today we bring you the perspective and story of one of our incredible mentors, Sarah Reitz . Mentorship being not only beneficial for those who receive it, but also for those who give it, we wanted you to know more about her mentorship experience, and how it has helped her. Without our mentors, the Femstory program wouldn’t exist and having her in our community makes us incredibly honored and proud.
“I strongly believe that there is so much wisdom in the women in our immediate network. Learning from one another is both empowering and inspiring.”
Sarah studied psychology in Germany and the United States and worked in Management Consulting in Berlin for almost 4 years. And the first time you talk with her you quickly realize the magical energy and passion that Sarah has to encourage and empower other women. That might be the reason why she founded the digital purpose platform whylab alongside two female co-founders. She also hosts a podcast, Monday Smiles, to help find the happiness formula for the workplace.
Her decisive willingness to support women comes because she considers that, still today, a lot of women have limiting beliefs compared to their male counterparts and she is convinced that a strong network can help women overcome these thought patterns. That belief drove her to become a mentor in her previous job and to apply to Femstory as well: “I applied because I love the idea of female empowerment and peer coaching. I strongly believe that there is so much wisdom in the women in our immediate network. Learning from one another is both empowering and inspiring.” And she definitely found that wisdom in her mentee Tanja, by whom she told us she was really impressed. Because being a mentor is not only about giving, but also about receiving.
“We all can learn something from every person - no matter how experienced we are”, told us Sarah about her perspective on mentorship. “Talking to my mentee made me reflect upon my own path in life and I found Tanja very inspirational. Also sometimes it can be enriching to take on a task that feels slightly too big for yourself – as growth mostly takes place outside of the comfort zone” .
“We all can learn something from every person - no matter how experienced we are”
Inspiration also plays a key role when it comes to mentorship, and we asked Sarah about the women who had inspired her the most: “I think growing up, I learned most of what I know from the women surrounding me: My grandma, my mum and both my sisters. They are all very strong women and I look up to them a lot. Besides that, Brené Brown is probably the person who has influenced me the most through her research around shame, vulnerability and guilt. I think self-awareness and emotional intelligence are the superpowers of the future and I love how she makes these topics more accessible for everyone.” And we cannot agree more.
The way Sarah cares about others’ purposes and emotional intelligence is a clear statement of how she perceives mentorship. This conception, we are sure, will continue having an impact on others. The way others have a reflection on her: “They say that you're the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with. If that's true, I'm really happy because I am extremely proud of my circle of friends I grew close with over the years.”
We cannot wait to see what is yet to come for Sarah. But we are convinced that she will be supporting women no matter what, and from what she shared with us we are sure amazing things are on their way: “I will continue to invest in my personal and professional network, of which a large portion is female. Also with our all-female founding team at whylab we hope to inspire and encourage other women to also dare to dream big and take a risk. I can’t wait for all the other inspiring women that I will meet along the way! “
Thank you Sarah for being part of Femstory!