“I’ve always enjoyed being a safe shoulder for my friends and colleagues,” Blissett reveals when asked about why she decided to first become a mentor.

“After training to be a mental health first aider, I really got a taste for working with people on a one-to-one level. That wish stayed with me until I started my own consultancy. Once I began working for myself, I was able to create the time to give something back to society.”

Ultimately, Blissett sees the reward in offering just 10 hours of her time over a 12-week period to really see her mentee’s business grow. 

She adds: “I love to see people succeed and I want to help others in any way I can, and mentoring felt like a really flexible way to do that.”

“I’ve always valued networking,” says Blissett. “Networking gave me the foundation on which to build my own business.” 

And Blissett understands how important it is to help mentees build that network for themselves.

“Becoming a mentor enables you to meet so many different types of people in different circumstances, all with varied skill sets,” she says.

“In some cases, through mentoring, you can make lifelong friends/contacts. In others, they may well require your professional services in the future through mentoring or even, vice versa. I’m a great believer in: ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’.”

“You just never know when you might need to draw on the knowledge you’ve learned from the process of mentoring, which one day, could prove invaluable to you or even someone else you mentor,” Blissett says.

“It’s an enlightening experience and one you can’t replace, so as much as mentoring allows for intellectual growth, it also offers the opportunity to grow emotionally. For example, in learning how to create a safe space for others to be heard and so on.

“The position of being a mentor also gives me extra confidence, just by knowing that someone else may benefit from my support – and this in turn helps me to grow professionally.”

“As a person, I’m often too keen to raise my hand and offer immediate solutions – but in mentoring, you’re there to listen, understand and support the mentee, not to offer your advice without a second thought.

“Being empathetic and self-aware will help you take stock of your conversations and evaluate how the mentee might be feeling and the direction in which your conversations are going – ie, ‘Is my approach helpful for this person or should I reconsider?’

“Mentoring has given me the opportunity to learn how to make room for the mentee – to fully consider their own solutions and only provide prompts and support when needed. This way is so much more beneficial all round, as people value an outcome that they had to work for themselves.”

“I absolutely get so inspired by my mentees,” Blissett concludes. “In many ways, I’m on the same journey as they are – learning, building a business and looking for support to grow. Also, you genuinely learn something new in every mentoring session.

“Another major benefit for me is the relationship building. I find it very satisfying to see the end result. This work is voluntary, but you are very much paid in kind through the experiences you get from it.

“When I hear my mentees discuss their achievements and ideas, it really gives me a boost and I often log back into work after a call with an extra sprinkling of motivation!”