The Impact of a Mentor
Who Do You Consider Your Greatest Mentor?
I’ve had a lot of mentors. But I can’t choose just one who brought the most impact to my life.
One particular mentor, however, taught me marketing in the shortest time possible — as well as basic life skills, like picking a great piece of furniture.
In this article, I want to share three pieces (out of dozens) of advice I’m most grateful to have received from him.
1. He Taught Me How to Sell a Pen
Turns out, everything you need to learn about marketing can be found in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
There’s this scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character teaches his colleagues how to sell a pen — all in the context of conning men into buying cheap penny stocks with HUGE upside potential in the middle of Silicon Valley.
Working with my mentor for the past eight months had a profound effect on me.
If I had risked all my savings and started a business a year ago, I would have failed.
I would’ve wasted all my time on the wrong things, gotten zero sleep — and still ended up with zero customers — because I didn’t know that selling requires three things:
A need
A benefit
Urgency
You can’t sell anything without all three.
Even with something as simple as a pen, you need to establish that the person needs a pen. Then you point out the benefit that satisfies that need. Finally, you have to find someone who needs it right now.
If they don’t need it now, they won’t buy it — even if your pen works in outer space.
2. He Taught Me That God Is in the Details
In just eight months, I’ve heard this phrase a hundred times: God is in the details.
Take social media, for example. Our staff would design a great photo — but maybe the text is slightly off, the colors feel off-brand, or the content just isn’t timely.
Turns out, the little things do matter. There are details that can make a script, article, or design perform significantly better.
Learning to spot those details — and act on them — is what brings in more customers.
3. He Showed Me How to Actually Work on the Weekends
As a full-time developer, I used to work non-stop — including weekends.
Any tourist could’ve explored more of Cebu in three days than I did in three years of living there.
Out of all the beaches, I’d only been to Moalboal. I never saw the beautiful northern side of Cebu.
Compare that to the two weeks my mentor spent in Dipolog:
He dined in every bar and restaurant.
He met more locals than we did in a year.
He went to remote beaches and even went snorkeling.
All that — with just a rented semi-automatic scooter.
Sometimes, the best mentors are the ones who get on your nerves. Like your parents.
I didn’t realize how much my mentor had influenced me until I found myself admiring elegant wooden furniture — and realized that love came from him.
He gave me more than marketing lessons. He taught me:
That selling well matters — and selling like Leonardo does work.
That details matter — because God is in the details.
That weekends are for living — not just working.
Tonight, I realize why so many people say their greatest mentors are their parents.
It’s because we don’t often think of them as mentors — until we grow up. Until we recognize their influence. Until, in my case, we realize we’ve adopted their quirks… like their love for furniture.
Tonight, I’m grateful for all the mentors who’ve come into my life.
I wouldn’t be who I am today without the influences you’ve had on me.
I can’t think of a better way to end this than with a big, resounding — thank you.