A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Retirement. . .
Two and a half years ago, I retired from a 38-year career in information technology, 26 of those years in the payments industry.
About 5 months into my retirement, a former customer contacted me. They were hiring a person new to the payments industry to fill a Manager of Card Payments (operations) role. They asked me if I would consider “coming out of retirement” to train and *mentor their new hire.
This customer had a culture and team that I greatly appreciated. The chance to mentor someone so they could become a valuable contributor was an offer I couldn’t pass by.
I said, “Yes”, and, in January 2023, MentoredByMarkT was born.
For the first several months of 2023, my customized training focused on providing this new employee a solid foundation in the payments space – building into her the knowledge and experience I had gained over 26 years in payments. As she grew in her role, I transitioned from her teacher to her coach.
By early 2024, she was functioning independently in her role, and I was providing second level support as she and her staff took on new challenges and projects with the entrepreneurial team she is a part of. Late 2024, during one of our monthly touch-base calls, she told me her employer had just promoted her to a more senior role with expanded responsibilities!
This is what mentoring can accomplish.
In August 2023, based on the success of that first engagement, this client asked me if I would consider mentoring more of their staff – an offer I gladly accepted!
As we roll into 2024, #MentoredByMarkT is moving from “beta” to “production”. I am available to take on more clients. Please feel free to message me through LinkedIn or email me at MarkT@MentoredByMarkT.com to discuss how I can help you and your team.
MarkT
*I love to teach and mentor. Throughout my career, I have looked for people I could provide a foundation to, so that they could build greater success. Mentoring allows me to come alongside a person to help them develop their potential and then celebrate as their career trajectory takes off. What I treasured most at my retirement celebration were the many notes of thanks from people I had the privilege of mentoring over the years. However, passion doesn't retire, so I am now open for opportunities to mentor.