Mat Garner co-founded Ethos Farm, an award-winning specialists group for employee and customer experience that works with leading brands globally. He mentored Amara* (25) who completed the programme in November 2024. The key results for him were:
- reinforcing his commitment to being an ally and offering support to those facing adversity;
- helping to support young women in the workplace and giving them the confidence to succeed in finding employment and the skills necessary to succeed; and
- understanding how he can support others from his position of privilege and experience.
“Mentoring for You Make It shines a light on how challenging the circumstances can be for some mentees,” says Mat. While his company had been involved with the programme for the last two years, he participated for the first time, finding the experience unique compared to his usual mentoring roles, which are often for employees within established companies. “It was extremely insightful and eye-opening to go on a journey that is very, very different to the usual mentoring roles.”
Initially, Mat had concerns regarding his ability to provide the best possible support for a mentee who had gone through very different life experiences to his own. “But the YMI team were fantastic. They gave some great training; it specifically went into detail about the nuances of this particular programme, which is ultimately working with people who don’t necessarily have the same level of privilege that I do. And seeing the world from their perspective, which is incredibly important.”
When he met his mentee, Amara, for the first time, both were slightly nervous. “So, the key was not to try and cover too much too quickly; it was just to find out a little bit more about each other, to understand the journeys that we’ve been on.” For the next 16 weeks, they would meet online and in person for an hour, gradually creating a framework for and path to the next steps in her life.
“Amara was fantastic. Every task and every objective that we set together, she would achieve, and she would return the next week with more passion, energy and enthusiasm. At the end of the programme, we felt that she would be a great addition to our company. We are delighted that Amara now works for us!”
What changes did you see in her in those 16 weeks? “I think it’s probably more important that she says what changes she saw in herself, but it felt as though there was the development of a better structure towards what she wanted to achieve in terms of her life and work objectives. And with that came greater confidence and a sense of direction.”
Mat remembers wondering upfront whether or not Amara would have much of a vision of where she wanted to go. “Actually, she had a very clear narrative, but there were quite a lot of things she wanted to achieve and a lot of places she wanted to go. And some really big objectives around setting up her own business, which were fantastic.”
His challenge was to break it down into a manageable structure, be clear about what her three to five-year plan is, and then start to work on some small steps towards taking that. “Amara has a passion for creative writing, and we’re really lucky that we had a role within our marketing and branding team where she can use those skills. That isn’t necessarily where she wants to be in five years, but it’s the first step on a journey and it gives her the relevant experience.”
Although Mat’s company employs about 1 000 people, he still sees Amara frequently. “She’s thriving and enjoying life. So, my commitment to her goes beyond YMI; I can now also help mentor and support her within the work situation. She can message me whenever she wants to.”
On a personal level, the mentoring experience has really helped him to view the world from different perspectives and privileges. “It’s part of that permanent learning curve about understanding what it’s like for other people around the table of life. We all need to become more emotionally intelligent and cognisant of others’ challenges.”
According to Mat, the YMI programme shines a light on how challenging the circumstances can be for some of those mentees, meaning that they can’t necessarily push forward as much as others would like to think they could. “Part of the journey that we went on with Amara was getting her to believe that she can do this, that she’s absolutely capable and competent enough to really progress and achieve all of her objectives.”
He would undoubtedly mentor again and recently attended the induction meeting of the latest YMI cohort where he and his mentee did a Q&A session “talking about the experiences that we’ve had and how fantastic it’s been. For me, it’s about really supporting someone who needs it, dialling up our emotional quotient, and dialling up our understanding of the privilege that we all have.
“That side of it is hugely powerful, especially for a business like ours, where we’re focused on the employee experience. We want to understand better what our people think and how we can support them.
“Ultimately to take time out and support someone as they go through that journey is so powerful. As Asma (Shah, CEO of YMI) says: ‘It’s a movement.’ I really like that, and it’s something she should be hugely proud of.”
* Pseudonym
