I was 22 years old, wearing a camp T-shirt covered in Sharpie signatures, when I learned another woman had nominated me to be her boss.

I hadn’t applied for a job. I hadn’t updated a résumé. I hadn’t even stepped fully inside the YMCA building that summer. Our camp had been held at the high school, and we had only been back in the Y for five days.

But behind the scenes, someone had been advocating for me.

Her name was Cassie.

Cassie was seven years older than me. She had more experience, more tenure, and every reason to step into the open leadership role herself. Instead, she nominated me for the School-Age Childcare Coordinator position, a role that would eventually make me her supervisor.

At 22, I didn’t yet understand the difference between mentorship and sponsorship.

Mentorship is guidance.
Sponsorship is advocacy.

Mentors advise you. Sponsors put your name on the line.

Cassie didn’t just tell me I had potential. She acted on it.

Research consistently shows that sponsorship is one of the most critical – and least accessible –  accelerators for women’s advancement. While women often receive mentorship, they are less likely to receive sponsorship compared to their male peers, limiting leadership mobility and long-term career growth. Cassie gave me both before I even knew to ask.

That afternoon, instead of saying goodbye to campers, I was told to report to Lindsey’s office for an interview. Cassie took my t-shirt and Sharpies and assured me she’d get the kids to sign my shirt. I was to go to my interview pronto.

An interview I didn’t know I had.

Confused and a little nervous, I walked into Lindsey’s office and introduced myself. For the next two hours, she outlined the role, the responsibility, and the opportunity in front of me. She walked me through what it would require to oversee before- and after-school care and elevate the summer camp program the following year.

But what stayed with me wasn’t the job description.

It was the belief.

Lindsey and Cassie both saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. And unlike a traditional interview, the conversation felt less like evaluation and more like invitation, an invitation to grow into a leader.

That day, two women invested in my future.

One advocated for me in a room I wasn’t in.
The other committed to developing me once I walked through the door.

I didn’t know it then, but that combination – sponsorship and mentorship – would shape not only my career, but my leadership philosophy for decades to come.

From “Amber the Hammer” to Empathetic Leader

For the next three years, Lindsey mentored me closely.

In my early days, staff nicknamed me “Amber the Hammer.” I was rigid. Intense. Focused on expectations but not always polished in how I delivered them.

Lindsey never dulled my ambition. She refined it.

She showed me how to lead with empathy instead of authority alone. She taught me how to set a strategy, clarify goals, and communicate the “why” and “where” behind the “what.” She gave me practical frameworks for performance management and goal setting. I still use these tools today, updated for modern workplaces.

Meanwhile, Cassie and I were building something powerful, too.

We worked side-by-side. We mentored each other. We challenged each other. We had hard conversations. Over six years, we sharpened one another’s thinking and strengthened one another’s resolve.

Female peer mentorship is just as transformative as top-down mentorship. Studies on women’s leadership networks show that collaborative professional relationships improve resilience, reduce stress, and strengthen leadership identity, key factors in positive mental health outcomes.

Cassie wasn’t just someone who nominated me once. She became my partner in growth.

Climbing Higher and Learning Hard Truths

When Lindsey eventually moved on, I applied for her role.

I didn’t get it.

Once again, Lindsey stepped in. She didn’t soften the blow, but she strengthened me. She coached me on what I would need to reach the next level. She told me something that has stayed with me ever since: I would need to be twice as prepared as any man applying for the same role.

She wasn’t discouraging me. She was preparing me.

Data continues to show that women face higher performance standards and systemic barriers in leadership pipelines. Knowing that didn’t make me smaller. It made me sharper.

And I kept going.

From Volunteer to CEO

Six years after walking into that building as a volunteer, I became the CEO of that small YMCA.

And when I did, I knew exactly who I wanted beside me.

Cassie.

The same woman who had once nominated me to be her supervisor became my right-hand leader. I made her my #2, not out of obligation, but out of deep trust.

She was the person I trusted most to ask the questions I would ask and make the decisions I would make when I wasn’t in the room. We had grown together. We had mentored one another. We understood each other’s leadership instincts.

That kind of partnership doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through years of mutual investment.

Mentorship That Extends Beyond the Office

Lindsey’s mentorship didn’t end when I left that YMCA. Over the last decade, life has unfolded: babies, grief, illness, weddings, birthdays, career changes, opening and closing businesses, and moving to other states.

We still text. We still check in. We still encourage each other.

Strong relational bonds between women are consistently linked to improved mental health, lower stress levels, and greater resilience across life stages. Mentorship at its best is not transactional: it’s transformational.

Cassie and I share that same enduring connection. Our professional relationship evolved into one of my deepest friendships.

These women didn’t just shape my career. They shaped my life.

Paying It Forward

For more than a decade, I’ve mentored young female leaders myself.

And here’s what I know: mentoring the next generation strengthens my own mental health just as much as it supports theirs. Research on generativity and leadership development shows that mentoring increases purpose, reinforces identity, and enhances psychological well-being.

When I mentor young women, I carry forward the lessons Lindsey and Cassie taught me:

Advocate for women in rooms they aren’t in.
Refine ambition with empathy.
Prepare relentlessly.
Lead with strategy and heart.
And never underestimate the power of investing in another woman’s potential.

At 22, I walked into an office holding a handful of Sharpies.

I walked out with a future.

When women mentor, sponsor, and champion one another, leadership expands – and so does the well-being of everyone they influence.

That investment compounds.

And I am living proof.

Find more by Amber here.