Celebrate Mentor!
Teaching, listening, and a vintage T-shirt
Welcome to another edition of Willoughby Hills!
This newsletter explores topics like history, culture, work, urbanism, transportation, travel, agriculture, self-sufficiency, and more.
If you enjoy what you’re reading, please consider a free subscribtion to receive emails every Wednesday and Sunday plus podcast episodes every two weeks. There are also paid options, which unlock even more features.
I have definitely gotten more hardcore about buying things second hand lately, but I’ve always been a fan of purchasing certain items at thrift stores.
Sometime around 2007 or 2008, I found the T-shirt pictured above in a thrift store in Ohio. It’s a white shirt with a red ringed collar. It’s printed with the words “Celebrate Mentor, 25th Anniversary, 1963-1988.” I bought the shirt long, long ago and still wear it to this day!
I’m not really sure what the shirt commemorates though, as Mentor, Ohio (which is the next city over from Willoughby) is much older than 1963.
Mentor was the home to James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. He was reluctantly drafted as the nominee at the Republican convention in 1880 and ran his presidential campaign from the front porch of this house. He won the election and was inaugurated in January, 1881. That July, he was shot by an assassin. He survived the gunshot wounds for a few more months, dying in September of 1881. He served for only 199 days. William Henry Harrison is the shortest serving president, at only 32 days, but Garfield comes in second.
Today, Garfield’s house sits across the busy U.S. Route 20 from the Great Lakes Mall, which opened in 1961.
The point of all of this obscure local history is that Mentor wasn’t established in 1963. The shirt remains a bit of a mystery, but I still happily wear it nonetheless.
For some reason, Ohioans don’t pronounce the “t” in Mentor, so it sounds like “Menner.” When I first brought my girlfriend (now wife) there, she said the city reminded her of the word for “men” in German (Männer), not realizing it was spelled with a “t.” You can always tell when a newscaster moves to Cleveland from out of town because they’ll say “Tonight in Men-tour.”
Strangely though, Ohioans will correctly pronounce lowercase mentor, as in somebody who teaches or guides, but as soon as that “M” gets capitalized, it becomes a different word.
Today, I wanted to talk about lowercase mentor: the act of sharing information with others, offering guidance.
I had three different mentoring calls last week where people came to me seeking advice. I have always been willing to speak to people looking for information, but often have maybe three or four calls per year of that nature. Having them all fall in the same week was a bit unusual.
My first call last week was with a person who I met a few months ago who recently started a podcast and is hoping to integrate video into her work. I gave her my advice on how she might approach it with a minimal investment in equipment and expertise, plus shared how I would consider camera angles and coverage from a director’s point of view.
The second call was with a friend’s wife and her best friend who are looking at starting a podcast. I offered some advice to them as well about what has worked for my show and my workflow in terms of equipment and software, although there are about as many ways to make a podcast as there are podcasts so there’s no singular answer to the question of how best to start a podcast.
The last call was with a young woman who recently graduated college, has a passion for video editing, and was hoping to learn more about breaking into the production industry.
For some people, this work might be considered consulting and they would charge a fee to share their expertise. I don’t and wouldn’t consider doing that. In fact, I’m usually pretty willing to offer my perspective on things if anybody asks simply because I think it’s the right thing to do.
I saw a post not long ago on Instagram from
saying we don’t need “activists,” arguing that we all need to stand up and speak out, rather than delegate that responsibility to a select few.I feel the same way about teachers and students. The truth is, we all have something to share and we all have something to learn throughout our entire life. Labeling some people as “those who teach” and others as “those who learn,” putting economic barriers around the notion of learning (tuition, consulting fees, etc), and designating certain times of our lives for these acts (“I’m a college student”) remove us from the acts of constantly sharing ideas and information.
In some ways, I like to think of this newsletter, podcast, and teaching in general in the same way that I think of a street musician: you can hear the music on the subway platform whether or not you paid for the show. Many, many people will pass through and enjoy the music. Some will feel compelled to drop a dollar or two in the guitar case if they have the means and feel inspired, but somebody can consume the same content for free and still feel fulfilled. (If you feel compelled to drop a metaphorical dollar in my metaphorical guitar case, here’s the subscribe link.)
I’ve been in the TV and video production game for around two decades and am coming up on four years as a podcaster. Still, I hardly consider myself an expert in either of these fields. I know what works for me. It may not work for others, but sharing my ideas and opinion may spark something else in them.
Part of why I am so willing to share is because people have done the same for me over the years. When I launched this podcast, I reached out to Scott Carty, a friend in Seattle. At the time we spoke, he was hosting his own podcast and I wanted to learn from him how it all worked. He has since shifted gears (and was a guest on my podcast to discuss that shift), focusing on building sheds, tiny homes, and other small structures (follow his company Instagram to see his work).
When I was producing at This Old House, I used to meet other Bostonians in public media through Twitter or mutual friends and go visit other productions to learn about their way of doing things. Over the years, I got to stop by Antiques Roadshow, On Point, America’s Test Kitchen, and Milk Street, to name a few. Everybody I encountered on those visits was eager to share more about their process with me. I also actively volunteered to produce our PR appearances, finding my way onto the sets of TODAY, The Tonight Show, Fox and Friends, and The Weather Channel over the years (plus countless local PBS stations around the country).
When I spoke to that recent college graduate last week, the advice I gave her was to talk to as many people as she could. Build her network, introduce herself to people, listen to their stories. Not everyone will say yes or make the time to talk, but those who do will almost always have some bit of wisdom to share.
It’s advice that I wish I had when I started in the entertainment and media business. With social media, connecting with strangers who may share an interest or passion is easier than ever.
So take the advice on my vintage shirt: Celebrate Mentor! If somebody asks to talk, make the time to meet. If you find somebody with a great story to tell, listen to them. You might learn some things. If there’s somebody whose brain you’ve wanted to pick, email them or send them a DM. The worst they can do is ignore your message or say no.
We all need mentors in this world, and as such, we all need to be mentors to others. Give that advice freely, for it will come back to you in unexpected and joyful ways.
Thanks for reading Willoughby Hills! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Related Reading
Three Years of Podcasting: What Have I Learned?
Annie, Woolworth's, and a Racist President
If you’ve missed past issues of this newsletter, they are available to read here.