The Career Mentor Podcast with Fexingo: Finding Mentors, Sponsors, and Career Advisors

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a specific, often overlooked career challenge: how to seek mentorship after a major professional setback — a layoff, a failed promotion, or a project that went badly. They anchor the discussion on the story of a mid-career marketing manager who, after being passed over for a director role, rebuilt her network using a structured 'mentorship sprint' approach....

Episode 31 of The Career Mentor Podcast tackles a paradox: once you become a manager, your own need for mentorship doesn't disappear — but the dynamics change. Lucas and Luna explore why many new managers stop seeking guidance, and how to find mentors who understand your new context. They focus on the 'peer mentor' approach — connecting with other managers at similar levels outside your chain of c...

Feeling stuck in your current role is frustrating, but the right mentor can help you break through. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how to identify and approach a mentor when you're not sure what's next — without seeming desperate or unfocused. They discuss the concept of 'micro-mentorships', share a real example of a marketing manager who turned a 15-minute coffee chat into a career pivot...

Lucas and Luna explore the crucial difference between a mentor who gives advice and a sponsor who puts their reputation on the line for you. Using the case of a mid-career marketing manager who got a VP-level role through her sponsor at Procter & Gamble, they break down the three specific actions you need to take to turn a mentor into a sponsor: demonstrating readiness, asking for advocacy, and de...

Episode 28 of The Career Mentor Podcast tackles a specific and practical challenge: finding a mentor who currently holds the role you aspire to. Lucas and Luna discuss why this is different from a general career mentor — the focus is on tactical, role-specific guidance. They walk through a concrete case: a mid-career marketer targeting a VP of Brand role at a consumer goods company, and how she id...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of constructive friction in mentorship — finding a mentor who pushes back, challenges assumptions, and creates productive discomfort. They examine a real case: a mid-career product manager at HubSpot who credits her toughest mentor for her biggest promotion. Lucas explains the difference between a 'yes-mentor' and a '...

Episode 26 of The Career Mentor Podcast tackles the toughest phase of mentorship: the beginning. Lucas and Luna explore why traditional 'ask someone to be your mentor' advice fails for early-career professionals and offers a better approach: the three-touch strategy. They break down how to build a mentoring relationship through low-stakes interactions, using examples like a junior analyst who land...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna tackle a common but rarely discussed barrier to mentorship: money. Many professionals assume mentorship requires buying coffee, paying for courses, or joining expensive networking groups. But the best mentor relationships often start with zero dollars. Lucas shares the story of how he cold-emailed a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal — no connections, no budge...

Remote work has transformed how we build professional relationships, and finding a mentor in a distributed environment comes with unique challenges. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore practical strategies for identifying and connecting with potential mentors when you rarely see colleagues in person. They discuss the importance of asynchronous communication, leveraging internal platforms like...

High achievers often struggle to find mentors who can actually help them. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore why top performers tend to attract fans instead of honest advisors, and how to break that pattern. They discuss a real-world case: a former Google product manager who felt stuck despite a stellar track record. Lucas shares research from Harvard Business Review showing that high perform...

Episode 22 of The Career Mentor Podcast tackles a situation every professional dreads: your mentor takes a new job, retires, or otherwise leaves their current role. Lucas and Luna walk through a specific case — a mid-career marketer whose VP mentor jumped to a competitor — and break down the three moves you should make in the first week: how to ask for an honest handoff, how to keep the relationsh...

Switching industries or functions makes traditional mentor-finding playbooks useless. Lucas and Luna break down a specific strategy: using informational interviews to identify 'bridge mentors' — people who crossed into your target field before you. They walk through a real example of a marketing manager pivoting to product management at Spotify, showing exactly how to identify, approach, and build...

Lucas and Luna tackle a quiet but widespread career challenge: finding mentors when networking feels draining. Lucas opens with a 2018 study showing introverts are 40% less likely to seek mentorship despite equal desire. They break down three specific strategies: the one-question email approach (inspired by a junior analyst who cold-emailed a managing director at BlackRock), structured low-stakes...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna tackle a problem many professionals face: finding a mentor when your entire network is inside your own industry. They break down why cross-industry mentors can offer fresh perspective, how to identify the right people, and what to actually ask them. Lucas shares a specific example of a marketing executive who sought mentorship from a sup...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna tackle an uncomfortable but essential career skill: how to end a mentor relationship when it's no longer serving you. Using a real case of a junior marketer who stayed too long with a mentor who had plateaued, they walk through the signals it's time to move on, how to have the conversation without burning the bridge, and why good endings...

Lucas and Luna tackle a question that stops many careers cold: how do you ask a senior leader you don't know well to become your mentor? They break down a specific strategy used by a product manager at Microsoft who secured mentorship from a vice president by sending a 30-second video message instead of a long email. Lucas explains why high-level executives often say yes to a surprising request: a...

Lucas and Luna explore the art of reaching out for career advice from people you don't know. They break down a Stanford study showing that people are 46% more likely to agree to a small favor than you expect—and how that applies to cold LinkedIn messages. Lucas shares a specific template he used to land a coffee chat with a VP at Microsoft, including the exact subject line and ask. They discuss wh...

Episode 15 of The Career Mentor Podcast tackles a challenge many ambitious professionals face: how to build a mentor network that spans multiple industries, not just your current one. Lucas and Luna explore why a diverse mentor portfolio makes you more adaptable, resilient, and promotable. They walk through a concrete framework using the example of a marketing professional who wanted to break into...

Lucas and Luna explore a career strategy that rarely gets talked about: staying at a job specifically because of a mentor you trust, or leaving because you've lost one. They anchor the conversation in the story of Sarah Chen, a mid-career product manager who turned down a 30 percent raise at a larger company because her current mentor was the best she'd ever had. Lucas breaks down what makes a 'me...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the power of reverse mentoring — the practice of learning from someone less experienced and often younger than you. They unpack the research showing how reverse mentoring boosts retention, closes skill gaps in digital fluency and DEI awareness, and creates more inclusive leadership. Lucas shares a specific case: how a managing di...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the rare but powerful transition from mentor to lifelong career advisor. They use the example of former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, who cultivated a small group of senior advisors he consulted for decades, and contrast it with the story of a mid-career marketing executive who maintained a single mentor relationship for 15 y...

Lucas and Luna explore the growing trend of reverse mentoring — where younger or junior employees mentor senior leaders on topics like technology, social media, and emerging market trends. They discuss a real case from a Fortune 500 company where a 24-year-old product analyst mentored the CEO on Gen Z consumer behavior, leading to a major product pivot. The hosts break down why reverse mentoring w...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how mentorship expectations differ between Gen Z, Millennials, and Boomers. Drawing on a 2025 Deloitte survey showing 68% of Gen Z workers prefer informal mentoring versus 42% of Boomers, they discuss why structured mentorship programs often fail and how reverse mentoring is bridging the gap. The hosts share practical advice for...

In this episode of The Career Mentor Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the art of reaching out to strangers on LinkedIn for career advice. They break down the exact structure of a cold message that actually gets a response, drawing on a real example of a marketing coordinator who landed a 30-minute call with a VP of Product at Mailchimp. The hosts discuss why most cold LinkedIn messages fail (hint:...

Episode 8 of The Career Mentor Podcast: Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a personal board of advisors — a small, curated group of mentors and sponsors who cover different aspects of your career. Instead of relying on one all-knowing mentor, you assemble three to five people who each bring a specific strength: a truth-teller, a door-opener, a skill-builder, a perspective-bringer. Lucas breaks...