Send us Fan Mail Ever heard of Ludwig Beethoven? Probably so. But how about Joseph Haydn? He was Beethoven's mentor. Ever heard of Michelangelo? Yes? Well, how about Domenico Ghirlandaio? You guessed it, he was Michelangelo's earliest mentor when his most famous student was just 13. The world of art is filled with mentors, going back to Socrates, who mentored Plato in ancient Greece. In this episode, we will explore the role of mentorship in the arts world with Dr. Jayme Host, the dean of the...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to win a Presidential Award? Can you speak at Commencement and still admit your failures? How do you snag and keep that first job? David Byrd has the answers. At the College of Charleston’s Spring Commencement ceremony, David was a featured speaker as a recipient of the college’s Presidential Award for Scholarship, Leadership, and Service, the highest award given to undergraduates. He is an Honors College graduate who has received numerous other awards and r...

Send us Fan Mail You're about to make the transition from college to career, and you're probably getting more well-meaning advice than you can handle. Parents, grandparents, friends, coaches, and professors are all eager to pass along words of wisdom to you. But wouldn't you rather hear from people who have made that transition themselves? What do they have to share? In this episode, you will hear from three College of Charleston graduates—two from the class of ’22, Reganne Nowell and McKinle...

Send us Fan Mail Commencement. It means a beginning, but for some, it's a scary end to their time in college. In just a few days, the College of Charleston Class of 2026 will walk across the stage at the historic Cistern Yard and receive their diplomas. As they're about to launch into this new world, how should they be preparing? Lancie Affonso says they should be focusing on adaptability, soft skills, and storytelling. He has years of experience helping students prepare for the world beyond ...

Send us Fan Mail Do you need 12 internships to succeed after college? How can you make AI your friend? What is an "expander?" Does curiosity matter? How long should you stay at the same job? Dakota Kate Isaacs answers these questions and more on this episode. Isaacs, the head of brand strategy and narrative at Quince—the rapidly growing, affordable luxury clothing brand—recently received the 2026 Emerging Mentor award from the Martin Center for Mentorship. Isaacs graduated from the College of...

Send us Fan Mail Kelli Parsons has led global communications agencies as a CEO and corporate communications departments as a chief communications officer. But she is perhaps best known as a keen developer of talent. No fewer than twenty-five of the women and men she has personally mentored have gone on to become founders, agency CEOs, and Chief Communication Officers at major companies. She is the 2026 recipient of the Distinguished Mentor award from the Martin Center for Mentorship in Commun...

Send us Fan Mail For the past six months, one of last year’s Martin Scholars graduates, Blakesley Rhett, has been pursuing her dreams of becoming a journalist as a graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She recently posted on LinkedIn: "Six Lessons from Six Months in Grad School." I was so impressed by the post that I invited her to share her Six Lessons on “Mindful Mentoring.” https://charleston.edu/martin-center/

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season Three of "Mindful Mentoring." We kick off the new year with a special episode featuring our own Dr. Bethany Goodier, the director of the Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication at the College of Charleston. Beth delivered the Winter Commencement address at the College last month, presenting four life lessons to the graduates, their families, and friends in her inspiring speech. These life lessons are enduring and universal, whether you're a student abo...

Send us Fan Mail To celebrate our second year of the Mindful Mentoring podcast, we are re-releasing our first episode from two years ago. We had a very special guest for our inaugural Mindful Mentoring podcast. Dr. Andrew T. Hsu is the 23rd President of the College of Charleston. President Hsu has had a long and distinguished career, first as an aerospace engineer working on NASA programs, then moving to the academic world serving as a professor, a researcher, a dean, a provost, and now as ou...

Send us Fan Mail How can I find purpose in my career? That's the question my students and recent graduates ask me all the time. They want a job that provides them with more than just money. They want a sense of purpose, a job that is doing something to help people, the environment, or society in general. Ann Reinking Whitener has found that sense of purpose in her career. For the last nine years, she has worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF. She graduated from...