Mentorship. I have been fortunate to have had mentors throughout my career and personal life. I have been and I am a mentor to others.

It has been my experience that the success of these life changing relationships is based on the mentor and mentee each bringing their enthusiasm, creativity and understanding of the world to the relationship.

The key to the relationship is the shared focus on serving others. As a mentee, I have been challenged to think more critically and presented with a broad range of stretch assignments and life changing experiences.

The key lessons I have learned is that it pays to surround myself with good smart people with diverse ways of  thinking, but who share a common motivation to change the world and build and improve their  environment.

My first mentor challenged me to reach out and create a personal board of directors. While there have been a few changes over the years, these early mentors have evolved to become my friends. Today, I consider them points of light in my life’s journey.

As a mentor, I understand that success begins with a combination of spirit, a willingness to give back, enthusiasm and creativity. Mentors know how to turn experience into new lessons, and deliver these lessons in the spirit of helping others.

There is joy in sharing your gifts and personal experiences in a framework that creates an environment for new critical thinking. It is truly satisfying when you see a mentee take a grain of your experience and build and improve on it in ways you could not even imagine.

As a member of Vestigo Ventures, I have moved to the other side of the trade from operator/business catalyst to investor/entrepreneur. The joy of it all is giving back in the spirit of mentorship while driving results.

Ian Sheridan
Co-founder
Managing Director