IMPORTANCE OF MENTORSHIP

Las Fotos Auction is a simple act of supporting all opportunities to assist in mentorships of young girls and especially drawn to this organization as it is promoting their love of photography.

The empowerment of women has always been first and foremost in my life. This was exemplified during my 40-year ownership of Nouvelle Eve. Nouvelle Eve was a women’s clothing store, whereby choice employed women exclusively. It was important to me to create a safe environment for women to progress within a business. As a result, many of the employees supported themselves while finishing their degrees, and others found their passions and path to their careers or business while others advanced their positions. After receiving the hands-on retail training, several women chose to start their boutiques. Ultimately, one of the managers decided to buy Nouvelle Eve, which thrives today.

In the ’90s, some employees decided to mentor six young girls in coordination with the Omaha public school system. It was indeed a labor of love. All of us were naive to the mentoring process. Yet, we all found that the best way to help these girls was to create opportunities for growth and companionship to express themselves. This included activities such as dance, gymnastics, art, summer camps, and field trips. All of the activities were chosen with our young mentees.

My relationship with my mentee still strongly exists to this day.

It has been a blessing to observe this young woman’s progress from her bumpy start in life to see her embrace and explore the opportunities that life has to offer. She graduated from college and is now contemplating a graduate degree in business. She is gainfully employed and supports her thriving 9-year-old daughter. I have marveled at her ability to thrive in the face of trying times over that past year. Her resilience through covid times has been impressive, managing the homeschooling of her daughter and maintaining her job in her home office.

I am eternally proud of her and grateful to be a part of her life still.

(So donating to Las Fotos Auction is a simple act of supporting all opportunities to assist in mentorships of young girls and especially drawn to this organization as it is promoting their love of photography.)