We recently came upon a great article on Refinery29.com The first in their series on Female Mentors entitled: 7 Empowering Tales of Mentorship. It's a 14 page article - so it's takes awhile to get through - but is well worth it for the insightful advice from some of the world's most inspiring women.
Until you get a bit more free time (as if) we've narrowed down a few A-List quotes that we found particularly inspiring. Enjoy.
Judith Jamison - Artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and creator of her own company, The Jamison Project.
"My mom would always say — she loved Shakespeare — 'This above all: to thine own self to be true.' It just sticks, and it's worked all my life. "
"...if you're fabulous, make it your whole life; aspire to that kind of level of excellence. It all translates the same. Life, love, dance, move, etc. You're always on."
Whitney Cummings - Actor, comedian, a regular guest on The Chelsea Handler Show, the creator of 2 Broke Girls and (sadly, now-cancelled) Whitney.
"I was trying to figure out how to do a talk show and she (Chelsea Handler) was straight with me and told me things no one else had the balls to tell me. She was like 'why are you talking so loud? It’s annoying.' It was a really good point that no one else would have told me. And then she was like, 'Why are you wearing high-heeled shoes? You never wear high-heeled shoes in real life. Just wear sneakers.' I thought if I’m on TV I need to wear high heels, it was just really obvious stuff that I missed."
(The A-List says:) Like Judith's advice above: "This above all: to thine own self to be true."
Kate Somerville - the founder of Kate Somerville Skin Health Experts
"Barbara Wells - my college boyfriend’s mother - taught me that I didn’t have to live in chaos. I was in control of my life, and I had the power to change whatever it was I didn’t like."
"I would go on and on to Barbara about my troubles and my disappointments. One time she told me, 'You know, you have a choice. You can make your life good or you can continue to dwell on your hardships.'
Reshma Saujani - the founder of Girls Who Code, and author of, Women Who Don't Wait in Line to be released October 8.
On what she learned from mentor, Hilary Rodham Clinton: "Women sometimes are so ashamed of our failures that we don't talk about them, and we have to!"
"During Hillary's concession speech in 2008, she said something to the effect of, 'Just because I failed, doesn't mean you shouldn't try, too.' That stuck with me, and it's something I shared with my own campaign volunteers on election night after I lost. As women, we have to keep running, keep applying for the job we don't think we're qualified for, keep reaching. That's how we win."
Caroline Ghosn - The founder and CEO of Levo League.
"I met all (of her mentors) through the uncomfortable process of gathering feedback for and pitching our startup in its infancy, and they serve as a reminder of what incredible things can come from pushing your personal limits, meeting new people, and daring to ask them for their support. This is something that I have only recently learned to do, and that I 100% advocate young women become more comfortable with: Overcome your fear of asking."
"The moral of the story is: You get what you ask for."
