Written by NZINGHA for TheGlamSquadFiles™

MENTOR vs MONSTER…maturing gracefully and passing the BeautyBaton© with style! If the first sentence has offended you ; then you are not maturing gracefully and perhaps you need to recalibrate your coordinance on life’s maturity map.

There are times when we all grow (and truthfully that’s all the time) and are seeking higher ground. Wanting to do greater things, explore new avenues or maybe even pick up other talents and gifts that we long ago put away or lay dormant in our great beauty pursuit. Well, some of us. There’s a verse in the bible that says: “When I was a child I spake as a child and when I grew up I put away childish things.”

QUESTION???…how do you know you’ve grown up?

I’ve seen people in this “beauty industry” do some “pretty ugly” things to themselves and especially to others. And the real odd thing about it is how literally CRAZY some become and justify their wrong thoughts, behaviour and most of all deeds!!

Growing mature gracefully and passing the BeautyBaton© is when you are willing to be a MENTOR to those who want to learn and grow as Artists. There’s a lot of whining and complaining about this new generation of Artists and honestly rightfully so! However they will not bring honor to our Beauty Business unless they are trained and they are willingly wanting to learn!!!

I have seen some of my peers prancing around touting how fabulous they are and being drama queens and the truth is they need to use and hand mirror to take a good look at themselves and recalibrate!!!! We don’t realise we are creating not extremely talented, wise, creative moral valuable mentees but creating rude talentless vain numb & dumb novices!!

I’ve got to tell the truth here…I’m not here to pacify adults here on this blog but to open minds and challenge mind sets to become the best and brightest representing our industry. When I think of the people who mentored me they were and are still qualified, wise, talented, moral, humble and unapologetically passionate people.

A major component to passing the BeautyBaton© is knowing with wisdom how to speak and effectively communicate with others. People should want to talk to and listen to you. If you are too fabulous to talk to then you truly are not worthy of having an IndustryBaby©

An IndustryBaby© is commonly know as a mentee. I affectionately call individuals who have been my Makeup Assistants at one time or another as my IndsutryBabies©…they are the ones who have and are continuously carrying on my BeautyBaton©! I’m proud to say most of the people who’ve been my Assistants or been present at any seminars I’ve given have all been a great success and some have even gone on and gotten various awards and public accolades!

Sometimes you mentor someone from afar, perhaps someone you’ve never even met or been in the presence of! If you’ve ever been a mentor you are a LEADER and INFLUENCER! You are INFLUENTIAL!! This is your offering and purpose in the world.

There are 7 qualities of a good Mentor according to Jenessa Connor freelance writer for http://www.freelancersunion.com.

Here are some qualities to look for according to Jenessa:

1) You want to be like them
2) They’re a bit older
3) They’re generous with their time
4) They have X-ray vision
5) You feel energised after a conversation with them
6) They’re humble and have a sense of humour
7) You always wish you had more time with them

Sometimes your mentors are not always older than yourself, sometimes they are your peers! I’ve learned a lot from some of my peers. I don’t necessarily want to be like them but I can learn from them. And most of what I learn from my contemporaries are how-to’s and a lot of how-not-to’s! I’m constantly in a state of observing.

Some people I know right now who are my colleagues (and I can think of a few off the top of my head) are brilliant Artists but not so admirable people. They are great Artists but they’re rude or callous or don’t know how to share their gift to potential IndustryBabies© and their peers!

Being a mature mentor you will closely and honestly examine the person you are mentoring and chip away at all the rough edges in them and maybe rough edges in you that they’ve picked up and help smooth them out. Smooth them out and send them out because in truth they are your industry legacy! Your industry legacy are your IndustryBabies©! They are a continuum of your work in the beauty industry.

I’m thinking of some of my current peers and their Assistants and I sometimes want to step in and say NO BOO BOO NOT THAT WAY…THERES AN ALTERNATE WAY! I feel that way because some of my peers still have some things they need to work out and unfortunately they’re passing it onto their mentees.

Some of their Assistants think that all they have to master is the Art of Hair or Makeup but that’s not quite accurate. You also have to develop your character as well. Figure out where you are going or want to go in this beauty industry.

There are so many things to learn about in this business and if you the mentor are not approachable for questions then again the industry and our industries respectability gets thrown under the bus and run over by the next generation that have been trained or not trained by seasoned professionals.

Part of the beauty of being a voluntary mentor is to know how to have the perfect balance between a drill sergeant and an IndustryParent©!