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<\/p>\nTORONTO \u2014 After 16 years of connecting travel professionals with industry mentors in Australia and later New Zealand, the Travel Industry Mentor Experience (TIME) has officially arrived in Canada, launching its first Canadian cohort with three mentor-mentee pairings.<\/p>\n
The not-for-profit mentorship program marked the Canadian launch at an industry event in Toronto, where Penny Spencer, Chair and Founder of TIME Canada joined Canadian committee members, mentors, mentees and industry professionals to introduce the program and explain how companies and individuals can get involved.<\/p>\n
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BUILDING LONG-TERM CAREERS<\/p>\n
For Penny, the idea for TIME began with a simple observation: talented people were entering the travel industry but did not always know how to turn a job into a long-term career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really felt that the travel industry needed a mentor program because we\u2019re such a tight industry,\u201d she said. \u201cBut a lot of people get to a certain point in their career, three or four years into their career, and are like, \u2018How do I get to the next level?\u2019 They either don\u2019t, or they leave the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retention and professional development became central to TIME\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
The program has since grown to include 500 graduates in Australia and 100 in New Zealand. Having recently celebrated 15 years of TIME, Penny began considering where the organization could go next.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know quite a few people in Canada in the travel industry, and a couple of the mentees that have been through the program in Australia and New Zealand are now here,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought, \u2018What\u2019s next for TIME? Let\u2019s go to Canada.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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CANADA\u2019S FIRST THREE PAIRINGS<\/p>\n
TIME Canada is launching with three pairs:<\/p>\n
Kirsten Bellis, Partnerships Manager, North America at Chimu Adventures, has been matched with Sheralyn Berry, Director, Commercial Sales at Destination America.\u00a0
\nAlfred Chow, Partnerships & PR Specialist at Explore Worldwide, is paired with Bernadine D\u2019Souza, Leisure & Culinary Travel Specialist\/Trainer at Bains Travel.\u00a0
\nLisa Elliot, Group Department Manager at Collette, is paired with Katie Olsson, National Account Manager, Canada at Air New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The matching process is intended to go well beyond simply pairing a younger travel professional with someone more senior.<\/p>\n
Prospective mentees complete a detailed expression of interest outlining what they hope to accomplish, where they want to take their careers and how they want to grow. Mentors also complete an expression of interest, allowing TIME to match participants based on their objectives and experience.<\/p>\n
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THE VALUE OF AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE<\/p>\n
One of the distinguishing features is that mentors can come from outside the mentee\u2019s own company \u2013 something TIME graduate Steve Farrelly, founder of StarPlusOne Consulting, says was particularly valuable during his own experience with the program in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the mentoring programs that we have in the industry today are internal within your own organization,\u201d Farrelly told attendees. \u201cThe awesome thing about TIME is that you actually get the opportunity to be paired with someone external of your own business.\u201d<\/p>\n
That independent perspective, he said, helped him look beyond his next job title or promotion and consider the bigger trajectory of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do I actually want? Where do I want to go and how do I get there? And what are the skills that I need to grow or develop to help advance my career?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Farrelly summarized his TIME experience around three words: clarity, courage and connection.<\/p>\n
Clarity comes from determining where a mentee wants to go rather than simply pursuing the next available position. Courage, he said, comes from being willing to admit where there are gaps in knowledge or experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentoring and having someone external of your organization is one of the very few places that you can say, \u2018I\u2019m not good at this. I don\u2019t know how to do this. I don\u2019t know where I want to go. I need help,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The third element \u2013 connection \u2013 extends beyond the individual mentor and mentee. Farrelly said mentors can introduce mentees to people within their own networks, share lessons from mistakes they have made and open doors that might otherwise take years to find.<\/p>\n
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FROM MENTEE TO MENTOR<\/p>\n
Farrelly\u2019s relationship with TIME eventually came full circle. After participating as a mentee, he went on to mentor another travel professional in Australia and is now helping bring the program to Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone once took the time to invest in me when I was a mentee back in Australia,\u201d he said. \u201cYears later, I had the privilege of being a mentor with someone else, and then somehow today, we get to launch TIME in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
That cycle of mentees eventually becoming mentors is at the heart of what TIME hopes to establish here.<\/p>\n
Penny said mentors frequently discover that the relationship is as valuable for them as it is for the person they are mentoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost mentors that I talk to when they finish the program say that they got more out of it than they ever expected because they learn as well,\u201d she said. \u201cThey learn from their mentee, and they also generally become great friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
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LOOKING TO GROW THE NETWORK<\/p>\n
TIME Canada is now looking to expand that network.<\/p>\n
Industry professionals can become mentors and share their experience with the next generation, while mentees can apply for a year of one-to-one guidance. TIME is also seeking financial partners to help fund scholarships and program delivery, as well as in-kind partners able to contribute venues, travel, services or time.<\/p>\n
As a not-for-profit organization, partnerships and mentee fees help support the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not for making money. It\u2019s for giving back,\u201d Penny said. \u201cTo actually get the program running, we really need partnerships, mentors and mentees.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization is looking across the wider travel industry \u2013 including travel, tourism, cruise and aviation \u2013 as it builds awareness and its network in Canada.<\/p>\n
Edith Beaudoin is the TIME Canada contact for those interested in becoming a mentor or mentee or exploring financial or in-kind partnership opportunities.<\/p>\n
For Farrelly, the potential impact reaches beyond the first three pairs unveiled in Toronto. His hope is that members of TIME\u2019s inaugural Canadian cohort will eventually find themselves on the other side of the mentoring relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully there is a mentee who goes through the program, and a few years from now, they\u2019ve advanced their career, they\u2019ve improved their life,\u201d he said. \u201cThen potentially they\u2019ll mentor someone. They\u2019ll be making an introduction, opening a door and hopefully changing the career or changing the life of someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat, to me, is the real power of mentoring.\u201d<\/p>\n