How it Helps

Entrepreneurs Succeed with Business Mentorship

A Brighter Future

Mexican Entrepreneurs Yolanda and Jesus had dreamed of starting a business together since college. For years they chased their dream, hand-crafting bookmarks and jewelry in their spare time. Slowly, Colección Serpentina gained a following and grew. Then, in 2017, a devastating earthquake hit Mexico City, causing extensive damage in the shop’s neighborhood. In the disaster’s wake, their customer base disappeared. Yolanda and Jesus didn’t know what to do. Looking for help, they signed up for MicroMentor and accepted an invitation to a local mentoring event, and a new world of resources was opened up to them. Yolanda and Jesus met mentors who helped them improve their small business skills, got help with their website, and began successfully selling their products online. Now, pushed along by Yolanda and Jesus’ dreams, resilience, and with MicroMentor’s help, Colección Serpentina is successful again. Today the company provides more than 25 jobs in Mexico City to mostly low-income women, the online store has boosted sales, and their products are treasured for their unique design and Mexican style. “MicroMentor helped us on many levels, and we are very excited for the future of Colección Serpentina,” said Jesus. “It definitely looks brighter.”

Yolanda y Jesús: ColecciónSerpentina
Murni Mo

Social Enterprise on Track with Corporate Mentor

After living through the Nepal earthquake, Murni Mo—an entrepreneur from Singapore—pioneered Audenki, a product that streams live social media coverage to aid in disaster response. Although Murni had the industry knowledge, she had never run a business. She found MicroMentor, and started mentoring with Michael, a Channel Marketing Expert with HPE in California. Muni says, “I always get an almost-instant answer from Michael. He’s non-judgemental, and fair. He will provide feedback, but let me make the decision. It’s motivating to know that I need to give him updates.”

Exchange of Local Knowledge Grows Solar in Nigeria

Ezekiel is an agriculturist in Southern Nigeria. He had always dreamed of being an entrepreneur but didn't know where to start. On MicroMentor, he found Mobolanle, a CEO and certified small business trainer also from Nigeria. “We started talking and she encouraged me a lot, told me that I should not give up, gave me inspiration.” They navigated the start-up bureaucracy together, and since 2017, Ezekiel's business, Deejoft Global Holdings, has provided solar product to villages with limited power infrastructure. Today he has 30 employees and after a recent IT training, he hopes to further expand his business into the tech sector.

Ezekiel Owolabi
Carrie Boan

Paying it Forward

Carrie is a Certified Brain Health Expert and Youth Sports Safety Consultant who was struggling with marketing. After reaching out to several mentors on MicroMentor, she was able to drastically improve her website, and finally feels confident in her brand. “Before working with Mr. Dilks, I felt lost and was struggling. Now that I have confidence in my website and what I am offering, clients come to me instead of me begging for them.” She now speaks at conferences and gives workshops on the power of mentoring. “MicroMentor really opened my eyes to what mentorship, both being a mentor and being mentored, meant.”