About this Podcast:

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Coaching is transactional—you pay someone to help you achieve a specific goal.

Mentorship is transformational—it’s about giving without expecting anything in return.

This distinction really resonated with me because, through my own experiences in addiction recovery, I’ve seen firsthand how mentorship is about connection. As Deborah put it, humans are wired to help each other. Mentoring isn’t just beneficial for the mentee—it has life-changing rewards for the mentor too. In fact, studies show that people who actively engage in service and mentoring live longer, happier lives.

We also talked about the concept of generativity, a stage in life where people naturally want to give back. She used examples from A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life to illustrate how giving leads to true fulfillment, and how organizations like SCORE (score.org) and The Mentor Project (mentorproject.org) provide structured ways for people to mentor.

One of my favorite moments in our discussion was when I shared the LDS missionary experience—where 18-year-old men dedicate two years to unpaid service worldwide. It turns out there’s almost no formal research on the long-term effects of early civic engagement on mentorship, but it’s clear that giving at a young age primes you for a lifetime of service.

If you’ve ever thought about mentoring, this episode will inspire you to just start. You don’t need an official title—just a willingness to help someone else grow. And in doing so, you’ll grow too.