Having a trusted role model in your life is very important for your personal and professional growth. A lot of girls and women these days use notable females as their inspiration and motivation to work harder. But maybe you didn’t know that these empowering women also had an important mentor in their life as well.
Women support other women, so female mentoring relationships are very important for women’s empowerment. Mentorships are not only personally rewarding, but also make you feel more confident, and help you achieve your goals.
Even the most empowering and confident women you know might have had a mentor in their life that guided them to achieve their dreams. Here are 7 female mentoring relationships to inspire you to become a mentor:
1. Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn
Both Jane and Katherine worked together on Golden Pond in 1981, and that’s how the duo started. Jane Fonda said Katherine Hepburn was the person that taught her not only about acting but life.
Her brutal honesty helped her learn how to say no to things and to learn her worth. Katherine also taught her to be self-conscious, which for her was a good thing, since it meant she could have a presence and style and project it to the public.
2. Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou
Oprah is an empowering mentor to many women, especially those of color, but she also had a mentor in her life to inspire her. Maya Angelou, the poet, and author, was someone who inspired, guided, and challenged Oprah to become who she is today.
Maya’s greatest lesson to Oprah was that she was enough and that she didn’t need another person, or thing, to make her complete. Oprah also mentioned that she was an inspiration to learn what getting older can be, and to believe when people show who they are the first time.
3. Viola Davis and Meryl Streep
Viola and Meryl have been friends since 2008. Meryl gave Viola great career and life advice over the years.
Viola says that Meryl gives her confidence lessons all the time and probably doesn’t realize she’s doing it. On top of being a mentor, Meryl is a great friend to Viola that makes her feel good.
4. Tina Fey and Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing has been a role model to Tina Fey. When she received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, Tina said her grace and efficiency in an industry dominated by men has been a great inspiration for her.
She likes to think that “What Would Sherry Lansing Do?” could be a great mantra. That’s because Sherry has gone through so much and remained graceful through it all, and that is the perfect role model in Tina’s eyes.
5. Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton
Everyone deserves to have a great godmother as their role model, just like Dolly Parton is to Miley Cyrus. She doesn’t hesitate to help her and always shares her opinion with Miley.
She lets Miley be herself, and would never ask why she would do something, or tell her she shouldn’t be doing certain things. She prefers to lead by example rather than give advice because Dolly wants Miley to have her own journey and be there to guide her as a role model.
6. Tina Turner and Jackie O
Tina’s inspiration was no other than Jackie O and appreciates her elegance and class. Tina was always a dreamer and wanted to be like Jacqueline, and even though they had not much in common, she saw her as a role model.
Why? Tina wanted to be like her and perhaps be in the same class Jackie was in. Although Jackie was her role model, she admits that could not sing with such emotions if it wasn’t for her own personal struggles as well.
7. Lena Dunham and Nora Ephron
Two empowering women from two different generations, Lena and Nora both love to tell stories about women. Lena Dunham has taken Nora Ephron’s advice in all her endeavors, and one of those pieces of advice was to not wait for permission to tell her story.
She is very grateful for having been friends with Nora. Her role model gave her not only gave her great advice on life but also on how to do life, like ordering multiple desserts and having only small bites out of them.
Summary of female mentoring relationships
No advice is too big or too small coming from your role model. If these stories have inspired you to help other women and you want to learn more about how to become a mentor and what are the best and worst qualities to have, Mint does a great job at sharing that on their How to Be a Career-Changing Mentor infographic.
Sources: Marie Claire | Fairygodboss
How to be a mentor infographic from Mint.com
An excellent post, Christy; I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
What fabulous role models you highlighted. I particularly liked the relationship between Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn – two very similar and strong minded women.
And who better for Miley Cyrus than Dolly Parton?