Training day for the first pilot program of Women Mentor Atlanta had been a goal of the steering committee for months. Everything that we had worked on and discussed in detail was finally scheduled for Saturday October 3, 2015 in the offices of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The only thing we did not plan for were the storms that hit Atlanta the night before and had knocked out the power in the building. We were expecting 45 people to arrive at 9:00am. No power, which meant no lights, no elevator and the space was on the 9th floor, no gates opening for the parking deck, no air conditioning, no power for the visual presentations.

With some quick thinking and a little ingenuity, PLAN B. Several people stood outside redirecting the cars to the back entrance of the parking that was open. There was a communal meeting room on the lobby level that had a generator so there was minimal lighting. We ordered coffee delivered and a few brave souls were willing to get their “steps” in to get drinks from the Chronicle’s office while we set up the food outside of the meeting room. EVERYONE was flexible, and some literally more than others as there were not enough chairs, people were sitting on the floor.

Ed and Enid welcomed everyone and Ed told the group why he was so personally invested in mentoring young women, a great tribute to his mother. Alicia Philipp told a story about how she attributes her success much to her first mentor in Atlanta. Pam Beckerman led us in an exercise for each of us to get in touch with ourselves and in turn our mentors/mentees to begin the relationship process. Michele Mobley and Hodge Golson spoke about personality traits and how these could interact in the relationships, something to give everyone in the room some perspective in moving forward. We all worked in our personalized workbooks and discussed our goals for the program and the mentor/mentee relationships.

Separately, mentors and mentees were given the opportunity, in a safe environment, to discuss their expectations and concerns moving forward with their partners. This information was later evaluated and created some changes for moving forward with the matching process and future training sessions.

We more than managed, we worked through the obstacles and created an intimate setting that worked and certainly makes for a good story about our first training program – one that no one who participated will be able to forget. In retrospect, the power being out added more value to the morning and shed some light for everyone that we may not have been able to see otherwise.