#BeAMentorMonth: Who is Your Mentor? Vol. 4!

Serena believes that your mentor can be your parent!
(From L to R: Serena and her mother)

It is important to have a mentor for many reasons, but most of all, a mentor is someone you look to at a time of trouble. Someone is your mentor because you believe in what he or she has accomplished and his or her way of going through life. So it is natural to try to think of what your mentor would do in times of stress. It is important to have a mentor, so that you have someone to look up too. It is impossible to know the right thing to do in a situation all the time, especially as a teenager. That is why it is important for teenage girls to have a mentor to look up to and lead the way for them.

The person I look up to and consider to be my mentor is my mother. It sounds cliché, but when I need help with something I always look up to her. Balancing school, sports, friends, and extracurricular activities can be very stressful at times, but thinking about how my mom has accomplished so much helps me get through it. She is always there for advice and constructive criticism.

Having a person to help you and guide you is the reason why everyone should have a mentor.  It would be hard to accomplish much without one! 

Cindy Monroe: Dream-Leader!

Cindy Monroe at the Thirty-One Conference, July 2013

#FollowYourDreamsMonth is in full swing, and we can't talk about dreams without talking about Girl Talk's BFF Thirty-One! Pictured above is the Founder and CEO of Thirty-One Gifts, Cindy Monroe! The company just celebrated it's 10-year anniversary and it is one of the fastest growing direct-selling companies. Did we mention that it is only 10 years old?! Amazing right?!

Cindy Monroe (L) with Haley Kilpatrick (R)

Cindy was just your everyday working mom in corporate America, trying to find time for her family and all of her extracurricular activities. One activity she greatly missed was shopping with friends. That's when she had her eureka-moment, why not start a direct-selling business that allowed women to not only sell products, but still shop for themselves? She told her husband Scott about the idea, and he gave her his full support. With the help of her husband, she started Thirty-One in the basement of her own home: from sewing to shipping the products. She has said in interviews that their plan wasn't to make money, but to make a dream come true.

Thanks to the support of her family and friends, she sent out the first Thirty-One catalog in Fall 2003 and began hosting home parties. Before she knew it, the business relocated to Ohio to a huge office space for tons of in-office employees and is changing the lives of women and girls everyday!

Cindy is such a great example of constantly pursuing to reach your dream and beyond! Girl Talk is so inspired by Thirty-One and we can't wait to see what the future holds for them!

What dream do you have that is worth pursuing? Tell us about it!