Last year we launched the Seller Community Mentorship Program, which connects experienced entrepreneurs and business owners with sellers and business owners who are just starting out or are in the early stages of their journeys. Mentors and mentees meet regularly to set goals, to discuss challenges, and to share best practices. It has been inspiring to see the different relationships built through the program.
Recently, we caught up with one of our first Seller Community Mentors, Arline Trividic (@Smellthis1919), to learn more about her experience with the program and what she learned from having a mentee.
Arline runs Smell This! Aromatherapy located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. She has been an aromatherapist for 20 years. While most aromatherapists work one on one, she chose to create products for spas, retail clients, and private clients. She loves her work, as dealing with a multitude of people helps push her out of her comfort zone.
What inspired you to become a mentor?
People have always felt comfortable coming and asking me, “How do we do this? What is this good for?”, “how can you help us?” So I go in and train the staff at the spas, and I love that.
What are your tips for getting the most out of the relationship?
My first question is always, “Why? Why do you want to do this?” Then you understand where they are coming from. And until you can understand where people are coming from, you can’t really walk them through or aid them in where they want to end up.
The most important thing is to be a team or a partnership. Being a mentor doesn’t mean I know everything, and I know that. I still have faults, I still have hiccups, I still have frustrations. And so dealing with my mentee now, I was a little bit nervous to start because I didn’t know where she was coming from and what she wanted to do, and I was really scared to say, “Well, this is where I’m weak.” And it has been amazing.
It is nice to have somebody in the same industry, too, if you have a frustrating day. Making stuff from scratch is very frustrating, and it will blow up in your face multiple times. But to me, that’s where you learn. That is nice to be able to pass on to my mentee. She goes, “How do you keep going?” Yeah, you sit down on the floor, you rip your hair out, you cry. And then you put your big-girl’s pants back on and you do it again until you get it right.
What did you learn from your mentee?
The fact that I also need somebody else. I also need that sounding board.
You get that buddy system and that support system, where somebody says to you, “Go for it!” — Arline Trividic @Smellthis1919
What advice do you find yourself frequently giving to other business owners?
That’s a really tough question, but I think the best thing to do — and I think COVID worldwide brought this home to me more than anything; I’m one of the lucky ones who are still surviving by the nick of my nose — but be true to what you want your business to be. And that’s really hard. People think it’s an easy thing. I have to stick my feet in the ground and stick to my morals and my ethics of how I want to create the products. Yes, I have challenges, and I always tell people, “You will have your own challenges.” But by working at that challenge, we found the workarounds. And that’s what I also tell other people in other businesses. It isn’t easy, but don’t bend to other people. That’s another way of saying it. Stick to what you need and what you want and go for it. If it makes it, yay. If it doesn’t, you tried. I never say it’s a failure. It’s okay to fail, because you learn from that and you move forward. You put your big-girl’s pants back on and you do it again.
It’s okay to fail, because you learn from that and you move forward. — Arline Trividic, @Smellthis1919
Thank you very much, Arline! Learn more about Smell This! Aromatherapy and browse Arline's products online.
Subscribe to the Seller Community Blog to learn how to apply to the next Mentorship Program cycle.
Tra is a Seller Community Manager at Square. She is responsible for several programs, including Question of the Week, Seller Groups, and the Seller Community Mentorship Program.
This article is only for informational purposes. The information provided in this article solely reflects the speakers’ views and are not endorsed by Square. This article is limited in scope and is only intended as a high-level overview of the topics mentioned.