National Mentoring Month: Applaud your Mentor

I was delighted when I heard January is National Mentoring Month.  Anytime I can recognize my mentor, Bob Steiner, I take it.  

The meaning of the word “Mentor” means trusted advisor, wise person, or teacher.  Bob was all three of those to me.  He came to me from a chance meeting when I was pursuing my blind walk into the world of toy making.  I had no idea where to turn or what to do.  Bob came into my life  just in time.  He believed in me but more importantly in my idea, Pound Puppies! I learned everything I know about the industry from Bob…I traveled the world with him for 4 years and kept my mouth shut and my ears open! Although I didn’t graduate from college, I tell everybody I graduated from "Steiner University”! He taught me how to navigate the toy industry; he introduced me to Toy Companies all over the World"   He opened doors I could never have walked through without his influence and his name getting me inside fancy board rooms to meet high powered CEOs. We still got turned down numerous times but we just kept going!

He was an icon and his name was known by the big toy companies.  Bob and I worked well together too.  He was a perfect fit for me.  His demeanor and attitude worked well with mine.  I was perfect for him as a mentee because I devoured everything he said.  I was a sponge and it certainly made Bob’s day to see a young whipper snapper take notes as he spoke and put into action the wisdom he shared.

Years later, Bob and I were talking and he said, “Your greatest strength is you’re not afraid to say I don’t know, and ask questions!” Bob said many people’s egos won’t allow them to say that!  I was in an industry totally out of my league, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know.  

But Bob didn’t just teach me about the Toy Industry… he and his beautiful wife Christine taught me about life in so many ways. I will be forever indebted to Bob and Christine.  

Bob is gone now and I miss him.  He’s very much a part of me because of what I learned from him.  Bob Steiner was willing to share, give away his knowledge and open doors for a guy with a floppy eared plush toy.  He believed in me when others didn’t.  

That’s what mentors do and I had the best.

Let’s “Paws for a moment”…  and pick up the phone, and call someone who believed in you, too.  Thank them for sharing their wisdom and expertise.   Then “paws again,” and look out there for someone you can mentor.  All that great stuff inside of you should be released to the world.  It’s not ours to keep.  It’s for the world to have.  Like money, we can’t take it with us, and we shouldn’t.