Article by Ceri Wheeldon.

Nicola Horlick has long been known as the superwoman who ‘did it all’. Marriage, children, high flying career.   From corporate life, hedge fund manager to setting up a film music business, Nicola has never been afraid to reinvent herself or move outside her comfort zone. As Nicola says – to have just one career all your working life would become terribly boring, especially as we are all loving longer and working longer.

The one common denominator Nicola has had throughout her career , however, is that she has always had a mentor. In Nicola’s case her mentors have always been men, and have always been older with more business experience than she had.

For Nicola the having a mentor has been invaluable. For her having someone to bounce ideas off, and talk through the pros and cons of each one, has enabled her to focus on the ideas which have a greater chance of success. For every 10 ideas she has , following discussions with her mentors, she is likely to explore 3 further and bin the extra 7 . A mentor can identify areas you need to bring in outside health to support areas of weaknesses. In fact Nicola has had the same mentor in two separate businesses, with a working partnership based on mutual trust and respect.

Nicola now mentors entrepreneurs over 50 through PRIME

Nicola, for her part, is now acting as a mentor to entrepreneurs setting up businesses over 50 through the PRIME programme – (Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise) . But what about the rest of us? Who we do have as mentors, and are we able to mentor others?

It’s often hard to identify mentors if you are working on a home based business. For those who don’t have a mentor but are happy to offer support, and also ask for support from other women in business,  you have that option by participating in the new forum ‘mentors’   launched on FabAfterFifty in the groups section.

Not sure which platform to use to set up a business website? Wondering how much time you should  spend on social media?  Why not ask other Fabafterfifty members?

Ceri Wheeldon

Ceri is Founder and Editor of Fabafterfifty.co.uk She is a frequent speaker at events and in the media on topics related to women over 50 , including style and living agelessly. With 20+ years experience as a headhunter Ceri also now helps support those looking to extend their working lives.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: