Mentoring and diverse perspectives emerged as the defining themes from Cannes and MAD//Fest, highlighting what's needed to grow and retain industry talent. Now the challenge is ensuring the time, funding and commitment exist to keep that momentum alive, President Bloom's President, Nafissa Norris.

I thought I’d just about recovered from Cannes and then MAD//Fest hit.  

While Cannes was 10,000+ steps before lunch. Swollen, mozzie-bitten ankles. A permanently croaky voice. Crunchy hair. A daily diet of electrolytes. Wristband tan lines. MAD//Fest wasn’t too much different.  Switch the Cote Du Azur for the Costa del Shoreditch, but the charming sweaty glow, the sheer masses of ad curious humanity and a plethora of excellent sessions remain.

Both were incredible weeks of connection, learning and championing of our industry. At Cannes one of my highlights was being part of the Empower Café, where I had the privilege of appearing on stage twice. Firstly, as part of a panel organised by the PRCA REEB, where I spoke about the power of volunteering, not only to give back but also to progress and grow your own career. Something that is very true of my own career. I’d never have had these opportunities without the confidence, knowledge, skills and connections I have made online.

My second Cannes appearance was with our head of Marketing Hilary Gray, alongside Jason Warner, MD of SBS, Yolande Battell, representing MEFA and Amira Williams, representing the Taylor Bennet Foundation.

We dived deep into the power and necessity of mentoring. Mentorship is needed more than ever, but it is under threat as people are expected to do more with less and feel they do not have time to give, while some companies that have previously sponsored mentoring schemes are withdrawing. We discussed how mentoring can evolve to meet these challenges, and I kicked off by sharing how mentoring saved my squiggly career after I was made redundant while on maternity leave during Covid. It helped me to refocus, pivot and grow, and without it I would not be Bloom President or have had the confidence to step into leadership roles.

Making the time to mentor was the next hot topic, along with the question of how much time it really takes. Yolande spoke about the importance of leaning in for a real human connection, while also being strict with time, setting clear goals and expectations with your mentee, and making sure sessions do not devolve into an everlasting catch up. Amira supported this, explaining that mentoring has helped her set boundaries and stop being such a yes person, which in turn has given her more time.

Amira also spoke about one of the less obvious benefits of mentoring, which is that it helps you build community and even make friends. For people from backgrounds that are less represented in the industry like mine, this is a really underestimated asset: having someone you can talk to who instinctively gets it. Jason made a similar point from a different perspective, talking about how as an MD it can be lonely, and that meeting Yolande, his first formal mentor, helped him look at what he had already achieved and place his challenges in that context, rather than staying tunnel visioned on the next thing.

We closed the session by asking what people can do to help mentoring, which is after all one of the ways we retain, grow and inspire our current and future talent. One clarion call was to get the hard-to-reach people in the room, with Yolande calling on those attending to bring decision makers along to sessions like this.

That call to bring those who don’t normally flock to such sessions was echoed in our workshop at MAD//Fest on Thursday, run by our former President Sophie O’Brien and former Vice President Kelly Chandaria.  The session was all about the power of listening to different perspectives. The workshop showed off the power of the Perspective Exchange by pairing up attendees who haven’t met before to share their perspectives. We get deep quickly, asking challenging questions which give everyone a better understanding of how gendered and intersectional identity experiences can shape confidence, career progression, leadership, and creative contribution within the advertising industry.

In the same vein, I ask you to share this column with those who are skeptical and, if you are a decision maker or have sway with them, talk to them about sponsoring organisations like Bloom UK, MEFA, Taylor Bennett, Outvertising, NABS, WACL, BelEve and others who do the hard work of setting up mentoring schemes, supporting the individuals who make up the industry and sharing perspectives that benefit the industry as a whole.

Big shout out to our sponsors Publicis and Stackadapt and all the other organisations that help us with their time and resources.