Mentee Launch
On the hottest day of the year so far, we gathered for the start of the 2023 Mentoring Programme.
Along with the seven mentees, including myself, we had the Chair of Trustees, Steve Cox, Trustee & Executive Producer for Faith in Media, Rebecca (Bex) Chapman and Head of Operations, Jocelyn-Anne Harvey. Thankfully it was an air-conditioned conference room! We began by swapping yarns about our respective commutes - I won the contest of distance with my overnight bus from Scotland, a fact that would have given me a surge of pride had I been able to feel anything except sheer exhaustion.
Our first speaker of the day was Sheridan Voysey, who came armed with his own travel tale, which he used to illustrate his talk, the Four Elements of Compelling Storytelling. He demonstrated the four principles in an interactive way, getting us all to write and critique short, ten-minute stories.
Next was Faith Child, who taught us about Presenting with Confidence, covering everything from how to stand and what to wear, to the basics of crafting an elevator pitch. Again, this session was interactive, as we all had to pitch an idea to him and receive feedback on our communication and presentation. Having a low-stakes environment to practice pitching ideas was as helpful as it was nerve-wracking!
The Saturday evening, we heard from a panel of industry professionals – Charmaine Noble-McLean, Kellie Redmond, Warren Nettleford, and Richard Haley – and had a chance to ask questions about what it practically looked like to work in an often-hostile industry as a Christian. None of them sugar-coated the challenges they faced, but it was an encouraging testament to God’s steadfastness that they were all able to give us examples of ways in which He sustained and guided them even through difficult career moves.
To finish the evening off, we chatted to Max Avard and Rachel Redeemed, two graduates from the Mentorship program, who gave us advice on how best to take advantage of the next six months. Two such nuggets of wisdom were to put ourselves for opportunities, even if we didn’t understand what God would do with them, and to thoroughly avail ourselves of our mentors. If my mentor is reading this, I apologise in advance for any emails I send at unconventional hours!
On the Sunday morning, we had a service in St Katharine’s chapel, where Kemi Bamgbose gave a talk on the book of Esther, and the lessons we could learn – like Esther, we need to use our God-given position to further His kingdom.
Yolanthe Fawehinmi talked to us about cultivating a Journalistic Mindset and had us inspect a newspaper and pitch stories for the next day’s edition. The exercise became an excellent chance for group discussion about how stories are constructed and chosen, although our editor was very lenient and accepted all the proposed articles without question.
The last sessions were spent as a group, talking about what the six-month program would involve, and encouraging each other in our aspirations. Jocelyn-Anne gave us each a notecard with a Bible verse on it, Steve prayed for us, and we headed off back into the September sunshine, excited for the next few months.
“In a constantly changing and challenging media world, where Christians can feel alone, we want to help our mentees flourish in their faith while they progress their media careers. It was great to have such a diverse range of professionals share not just their expertise with our brilliant new cohort of mentees, but also share their experiences of being a Christian in the media.”
Blog Author
Rachel de Blieck
Rachel is entering her third year at the University of Glasgow, studying English Literature and Film and TV studies. When not at uni, she works on one of her many craft projects on the go, sings or plays the trumpet.
Rachel’s a Christians in Media Mentoring Programme mentee who’s currently interested in screenwriting, writing and broadcasting opportunities.
