Little Girl Big Dream offers up mentor smorgasbord

Representatives from Dick Smith and Estée Lauder are among the mentors who will help young female entrepreneurs develop their ideas as part of the Little Girl Big Dream mentoring program.

Little Girl Big Dream, founded by Sarah Liu, will commence in January as a 10-month mentoring program offered to aspiring female entrepreneurs under the age of 35.

“Coming from a corporate background, I have always been disappointed with the lack of support and resources available… for young women to accelerate and advance in their careers,” Liu says.

“I took it upon myself to develop a program tailored for young female entrepreneurs and corporate professionals.”

“Starting your own business is a daunting task and very often a lonely journey, so one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself and your business is to acquire a successful and inspiring mentor.”

“Different to traditional mentoring models, our program offers all aspects of mentoring… to ensure the mentees achieve measurable progress and attain their goals.”

Liu has already secured an impressive lineup of mentors for the program, including the general manager of Dick Smith, and Ghazaleh Lyari, founder of cupcake company Ghermez Cupcakes.

Other mentors include the vice president of consumer products company Unilever, the national marketing manager of Estée Lauder, and the CEO of brand agency The Messenger Group.

“Many of them have been speakers at our networking conferences before so there is an existing relationship with most of them,” Liu explains.

The program consists of five modules:

1. One-on-one mentoring.

The mentor and mentee will spend two hours together every month.

The mentor will support the mentee in developing a roadmap to achieve their milestones, offering guidance on the challenges they may be facing as well as providing feedback.

2. A day in the dream job.

A situational mentoring opportunity where the mentor will take the mentee into their workplace and allow the mentee to shadow them for a day.  

The mentee will get the chance to learn firsthand how the mentor presents, negotiates, handles conflict, manages their team, makes business decisions, etc.

3. Peer mentoring.

There are monthly catch-up sessions amongst the mentees where they will share experiences with their respective mentors.

This includes assessing their own development, and participating in structured discussions and debates on selected topics.

4. Dress for success.

This module offers specific personal styling and makeup coaching for each mentee.  

Colour specialists and stylists will assist the mentees in identifying styles that are suited to their personality, skin tone, professional level and the industry they work in.

5. Group mentoring sessions and public presentation.

Mentees will get the opportunity to attend quarterly networking conferences with industry-leading speakers, and host interviews and Q&A sessions at these public events.  

According to Liu, the program will only take a maximum of 10 participants, so women are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible.

“Participants are requested to complete [an] application form and go through two interview sessions as part of the selection process,” she says.