LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "What, Me Mentor?" Edition
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Friends,
Many business people, especially women, like to talk about having mentors or being one to other women. I have mentored a lot of folks, women and men alike. Many have worked for me, some for years and years; other mentor/mentee relationships were brokered through human resources or industry programs; lots come through the more informal but no less important asks of friends and peers on behalf of their peers. Or their children.
There are many rewarding, fulfilling relationships that grow out of these sometimes initially lop-sided engagements. There are others that just don't work. The very best ones, like most relationships, are those that feel like you're both approaching the relationship as equals, with equivalent value to offer, though often from vastly different vantage points.
It's rare, though, that I am in a pretty deep work relationship but didn't know I was a mentor at all! It happened just this week.
If you read the fine print of this Facebook post, the woman on the left, Allison Rapson, tells the story of going from an intern at Bravo to co-creator and producer of a fabulous docu-series. The surprise to me is that, while I knew I was the Executive Producer, I did not know I was also credited as a mentor.
How did it all begin?
Truth be told, she "won me" at an auction at NBCUniversal. Yup, that's right. Allison recently reminded me that years ago she was working for NBC News in D.C. Pre-Facebook- and Google-as-we-know-them, she had been "studying me" because I was the head of an NBCUniversal division called The Women & Lifestyle Entertainment Networks, and she wanted to transition from working in a news bureau to female-focussed audience platforms. So, when the chance to enter the corporate lottery came, she entered to win an "NBC Experience"-- like seeing the tree lighting at 30 Rock or going to an SNL taping. When her lucky number was called she instead chose her own real life kewpie doll--me. Or, actually, a breakfast with me at a now-defunct breakfast club atop 30 Rock. Subsequently, she became an intern in my division, ultimately working at two separate businesses.
Many years later, Allison emailed me out of the blue to ask for a meeting with her and her business partner, Kassidy Brown. They wanted to tell me about their aspirations for a company they were founding. And they wanted help: Support. Validation. Connections. Money. Some pencil-pushing. Advice. Feedback on everything from logos to business structure. That was a couple of years ago. It's been a terrific business relationship. Now, reading Allison's Facebook post, it forces me to reclassify my "business relationship" categorization from the transactional to the personal. That's intense. And moving and gratifying.
While we are not currently offering a grab-bag of life-changing "experiences" for you to win, hopefully you will find something fun and/or beneficial in this Bingo-board of a Newsletter. The LZSundayPaper is a snapshot of the week's news about and by women in business, politics, digital, media, film, tv, fashion, sports, and pop culture. Roughly in that order. And it usually contains a little bit of a laugh, no matter what.
Please Tweet or share your favorite links from the Newsletter (I know, it's hard to tweet or facebook individual links while still crediting the Paper; we're working on that); or Forward the entire thing to a Friend if you are motivated to do so.
As you see, I really do look at most everything people send me. Please do so when you find items of interest or have questions/comments: here.
And do peruse the back catalogue for the issues you missed, forward the Paper, or sign up at LZSundayPaper.com.
Sometimes there's so much interesting stuff out there I can't wait 'til Sunday so I tweet it during the week. Follow me @LZSundayPaper.
LZ
THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
The British Punk Rocker Widow Who Wants To Run ISIS's Hackers via The Daily Beast
NEWS & INSIGHTS:
Thurber Prize Crowns First Female Winner Because, Finally, Women Are Actually Funny via Makers
Why The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Woman via Inc.
Do Male Freshman Know What 'Rape' Is And How To Negotiate Consent? via The Daily Beast
Who Is The Planned Parenthood Defector Who Testified Before Congress? via Slate
Shuttering Texas Abortion Clinics Means More Second-Term Abortions via Slate
Inside Reddit's Plan To Recover From Its Epic Meltdown via Wired
Facebook Exec: Let's Talk About My Brain, Not Babies via USA Today
Why Working For A Tough-As-Nails Boss Was The Best Thing For My Business via Inc.
History's Better Half via Medium
Amy's 'Buy-Up Index' Wins App-lause via The Spec.com
Ashley Judd Says She Was Harassed By The Head Of A Studio via Buzzfeed
How Amy Schumer Negotiated A Million Dollar Raise via Vanity Fair
Austen Purists Will Gasp At 'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies' via Wired
The Hollywood Gender Discrimination Investigation Is On: EEOC Contacts Women Directors via The Los Angeles Times
This Chart Shows Hollywood's Glaring Gender Gap via Time
'Twilight' Gets Gender-Swapped New Novel 'Life and Death' via Variety
TV: We Don't Need A Reason To Be Bad via Dame
Julianna Margulies Should Own Her Animosity Against Archie Panjabi. Not Cry Sexism. via Slate
Keli's 'Milkshake' Brough All The Boys To The Yard. What About Her New Cookbook? via Time
A's Hire First Female Coach In Major League History via MLB.com
How Liza Minnelli Ended Up Taking A 200-Mile Uber Ride With An Egyptian Olympic Athlete via Vanity Fair
Who Are These People Who Need Peeple via Dame Magazine?
My Own 'Indecent Proposal' via Dame via Salon
AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
What's The Weirdest Thing You've Bought While Wasted? via Thursty
The LZ Sunday Paperâ„¢ (soon to be registered trademarked and copyrighted) launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes in size high, medium, and low. Our audience for this content is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
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