Marketing Happy Hour - How to Find a Mentor | Matthew Miller of Orlando Informer

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, Matthew. Long time coming. Welcome to the show. Good morning. How are you this morning? I am doing very well. And I just told you off record, and I normally don't like to timestamp these episodes, but you were my first recording of 2024. So this is very exciting. Thanks for being here. Hey, I feel honored to be the first. I just hope your New Year's resolution wasn't like get better as you go throughout the year, you know, so that's why I'm first, but just kidding. Glad to be here.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Awesome, Matthew. Well, as we do every single time we record, we have to ask, you know, what is in your glass this morning? I know it's only about 9 a.m. right now, but what are you sipping on today? Well, it's 9 a.m. And as you know, I personally don't drink, but this morning, I have the 23 flavors of a delicious Dr. Pepper. I got it here with me, and as you can see, it's in a frozen mug, which my wife got me for Christmas. Like,

Starting point is 00:00:59 if you go to, like, the Cracker Barrel, and they bring you out the ice mug, so it's a great one. We love that. Shout out to Gabby for that gift. That's a great one. I am not surprised that you have Dr. Pepper. Just a little background. I know Matthew and his family quite well, known each other for a couple years and without a doubt, almost always has a Dr. Pepper with him. So I am not shocked at all. Let's go ahead and get into it. I'm excited to learn from you today. And this session or this recording, I should say, is inspired by a talk that I saw you give a couple months ago at a conference called IAPA in Orlando. So excited to dive into that.

Starting point is 00:01:37 But before we do, just share if you don't mind a little bit about your background and how you got to where you are today. Sure. Well, my name is Matthew Miller and grew up in the panhandle of Florida, a little bit about your background and how you got to where you are today. Sure. Well, my name is Matthew Miller and grew up in the hand handle of Florida, a little town called Weewahitchka. Shout out to all my friends from WeWah who hopefully are listening to this. Always grew up wanting to be a roller coaster designer. First grade, came down to Orlando, went to all the parks, just got the, you know, the bug bit me. And it's one of those things where I think when you're a young person, you have these crazy dreams. And as you get older, you kind of realize maybe things

Starting point is 00:02:07 aren't possible. Maybe I should, you know, change my career aspirations. And I don't know what it was, but mine never changed. And literally since the first grade, I knew that I wanted to be in the theme park industry. I knew I wanted to be part of bringing these attractions to life and middle school, high school, that's what I did. So I started out as an intern with a couple of small design firms. I got to work on the christening of the Disney Dream cruise ship. That was really cool. We did some nightclub stuff out in Atlanta, Bahamas. That was really neat. And then from there, I went to work at Universal Orlando. And at first, I started as an IT project manager, just working on some small technology projects and

Starting point is 00:02:45 that later grew to getting to help deliver attractions and not just new rides and attractions in Orlando but Beijing, Hollywood, Osaka just across the globe and now what I do is I help run a company called Orlando Informer and we love helping people plan their vacations to the theme park we love helping people save money on theirations to the theme park. We love helping people save money on their trips to the theme parks. And we also love bringing together just incredible experiences. And that's what I love is that I'm still in the theme park industry, but I also get to deliver experiences and it's a lot of fun. So that's what I do. Amazing. Yes. And if you follow me on any platform, really, you've probably seen Orlando Informer once or twice before. It's a great way to experience the Universal Park. So highly

Starting point is 00:03:29 recommend. But thank you for that, Matthew. Well, it sounds like, you know, you've been around the block once or twice and kind of fit into these different niches and areas of the industry and jumped around a little bit and being able to kind of scale and essentially go up the ladder in a way. And I'm sure you could agree that mentorship has been a piece of that, of many pieces, right? And so I want to kind of dive into mentorship specifically. I think it's such a huge piece to your career, having people alongside you to kind of guide you in the right direction, give you advice, et cetera. So overall, we hear that term all the time. It's thrown around. But to you, what does finding the perfect match of a mentor mean? And how can someone identify a

Starting point is 00:04:19 mentor who aligns with their career goals and values? Well, I think it's a great question. And also, let me start by just telling you why I'm so passionate about this. So, you know, I really wanted to be in this industry. It was all I ever wanted to do. And there were times when I was in college and coming out of college where I just felt desperate. I felt like I had the skills needed to be successful. I felt like I had the drive to be successful. And I was so hungry to get my foot in the door. And I just didn't know where to get started. And actually, I have a spot in Orlando that I literally still go to, to where when I didn't have a mentor, I used to would sit, there's a Jimmy John's right next to it. And I would sit underneath a sandwich

Starting point is 00:05:00 and just like cry my eyes out. And it's right across the street from the parks. And I was like, man, if somebody would just give me a chance, anybody, if I just had a mentor. So that's why I'm real passionate about it because I don't want other students, young professionals, even people that are wanting to switch careers to feel as desperate as I did when I was first getting started. So just personal note, that's why it means so much to me. But when you're looking for the perfect mentor, I think that there are a couple of things that you really want to keep in mind. First of all, the perfect match is different from it for everybody. And that's because we're all different. We all have different personalities and we all have different things that we're trying to

Starting point is 00:05:41 accomplish in our goals, right? In our careers, excuse me. If I'm a manager trying to be an executive, that manager is going to look a lot different for me, that mentor, it's going to look a lot different for me than it is for someone that's maybe an intern, excuse me, I can't speak this morning, an intern that's wanting to become a manager. So, you know, what I'm looking for is going to define that perfect match. Also, just the type of person I am. If I'm a highly technical individual, I'm probably not going to want somebody that's going to be solely focused on soft skills and vice versa. If I'm looking to improve my soft skills, if I go and find a mentor that is highly technical, so I really need to know who I am and what it is that I'm hoping to get out of the match

Starting point is 00:06:23 to really find my perfect match. Amazing. Well, so we've got that kind of settled, you know, what to look for, how to determine who's right for you. But then there's that step of actually initiating those conversations or saying, you know, this person in my life would be a really great mentor to me. And so initiating that conversation or that kind of step to them becoming your mentor is that next phase in this process, I would say. And I'm thinking about some of the mentors in my life. A lot of them came kind of unconventionally. I think I wasn't setting out to say this person is going to be my mentor and I'm going to make this happen and start that conversation and see what they say, et cetera. I think they've just kind of come about

Starting point is 00:07:09 through building relationships. And so maybe that's one way to do it. But what would you say if you did have a person in your life that you said, I want them to come alongside me and help me and I want to build a relationship with them? That's obviously two-sided as well. How do you initiate that conversation or even initiate that relationship as a mentor? Well, I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, you know, kind of unofficially you've gotten connected with others. In my mind, there's really two types of mentors. There's the official and the unofficial. So let's start with the official. And by the way, when I say official and official, I don't mean like one real and one's not, but let's start with the official. If you're a young professional, especially if you're working in a corporate environment,

Starting point is 00:07:52 my first advice is use the tools that are already given to you. There's a great chance that your organization probably already has one, if not multiple mentorship, you know, programs or opportunities. So the first thing I would do is find out what is offered where I work. And it may be that there isn't anything, but start there. You know, go talk to someone in HR, talk to your manager. You may find that there is a program that happens once a year. You may find that there's a program that's just on a rolling ongoing basis, or you may find that there's multiple programs for multiple career levels. So I would start there. The second thing I would do is if I'm working in an organization and maybe I'm having a hard time finding someone, like I know I want

Starting point is 00:08:35 a mentor. I don't really know a lot of people and I go and taught HR and maybe unfortunately, my organization doesn't have those types of programs. Then the next thing I would do is actually go online. There are several great mentorship programs. I'm not going to name any specifically here only because there are some that are free, that are some that come with a budget, and I wouldn't want somebody to feel left out, you know, depending on what they're looking for. But just go online and type in mentorship program, and you are going to find a ton of them that are going to come up.

Starting point is 00:09:06 You can put in the level that you're looking for. You can put in the the industry that you're in, all those sort of different details. And what that's going to do is, one, that's going to help you find someone that maybe you couldn't find on your own. But also the reason why I always send people that are looking for a mentor in this manner, there's a good chance if you're feeling this strongly about a mentor, you probably never have had that type of relationship before. And I think that when you set out to do it, especially for the first time, it's really good to have guidelines to be in. Somebody that can say, this is the structure, this is what we would say, this is like the meeting times, this is how we'd suggest that you do it. Because I think that if you've never had a mentor before, sometimes you can go into it almost like it's the buddy system. And maybe the goals that you wanted, you know, don't come out of it. Or maybe you realize,

Starting point is 00:09:55 you know, this is a drinking buddy. This isn't really the type of mentor that I was looking for. Not to say drinking buddies can't be mentors. But you know, maybe the type of person that you land isn't you at the end, you realize, well, gosh, I kind of missed the mark. And I think that if you've never done it before, having someone that can help you with those guidelines is a really, really great way to start. Well, on that too, what do you feel like is the difference between a mentor and a network connection per se? I'm sure there's some differences there in the way that those relationships set up. And as you've said before, mentorship doesn't look the same for everyone, but do you feel like there are some differences between just a connection and actually

Starting point is 00:10:35 having that person as a mentor? Absolutely. Absolutely. I would say that the number one difference between a mentor and a network connection is the depth of the relationship. It doesn't mean that you like or love your mentor more. There's just more to that relationship than, you know, a network connection. Normally with a mentor, we are going to be meeting at a regular basis. There are going to be times that I'm things that I'm going to share with this mentor that maybe I don't share with others. There's going to be things that that mentor is going to share with me. I'm going to give them permission to say, hey, you know what, if you see me doing something I shouldn't be doing, I want you to tell me about it. If you see things that, you know, might be keeping me from getting promoted, I want you to

Starting point is 00:11:14 tell me about it. You know, and oftentimes a mentor is someone that not only is saying, hey, I want the best for you, but they are actively looking to help you. You know, hey, this job opening may be coming up sooner. Hey, I would really suggest that, you know, you go and talk to this other individual. Whereas a networking partner or individual, you can get some of those things, right? Like maybe we meet at a convention and we become friends and we're texting and you're like, hey, you really should go meet my friend Bob. Or, hey, did you know that this company is hiring? So I'm not trying to take away from network connections. I think they are very valuable and you need those as well. But in my mind, you just can't get the same depth of a

Starting point is 00:11:55 relationship as you can with a mentor. Absolutely. Well, you've already clued us into a couple of things on this question I'm about to ask you. But once that mentorship is established, how do you think mentees can maximize the benefits and ensure it's mutually rewarding in that relationship? So one of the biggest issues that I see a potential mentee make, you know, the concerns that they're having, they're nervous, they don't know where to get started. One of the biggest problems they have is I feel that when they go to approach someone that they want as a mentor, or when they are starting out, maybe they've already been selected in the program, or this mentor has agreed, the mentee without meaning to suddenly causes a lot of new

Starting point is 00:12:40 work for the mentor. They'll say, hey, when do you want to meet? Hey, where do you want to meet? Hey, how often should we meet? Hey, you know, can I come see you at 3 p.m.? That sort of thing. I think you have to realize as a mentee, it is an honor and it is a privilege to have a mentor. And your first job should be to eliminate as many job stress tasks as you can for the person that is mentoring you. It takes a special type of person that wants to be a mentor. You know, a lot of people say they want to be a mentor, but then you kind of get in the relationship and maybe it's just not their thing. So to find somebody that says, listen, I want to do it. They're the type of individual that wants to really, you know, pour into your life. Then when you do get a chance to meet with them, you know, let's,

Starting point is 00:13:28 let's make sure that we make their life as easy as possible as well. Yeah. Great advice. Well, going back to one of the earlier questions kind of around approaching someone, right. And I would love to open this up even to network connections. I think a lot of times professionals, especially younger professionals who are getting their feet wet in their career, they're getting going, getting moving. They're sometimes afraid or worried about reaching out to people, whether it's online or within their organization to build some of those different network connections and just learn from other people. So I'm curious, do you have any advice for those professionals who are a little bit shy or hesitant about approaching new people and sparking relationships? to be in the same spot as you, right? We all had to start at zero. So even the president of the company at one time was in a temporary role, was at an internship, whatever the case was,

Starting point is 00:14:29 even if not at your company, some other company. So this idea of, you know, I'm really struggling, I don't know where to begin, you can often feel like you're the only one feeling that way. And you're not. A lot of people are feeling that way. What's funny, even the executives are probably still feeling that way if they're new to an executive role. So, you know, please do not feel that way. If you want to reach out to someone, a couple of things that I would suggest. One is don't worry about being shy, right? Like you may think, oh my gosh, I'm only an engineer. How in the world could I go talk to this manager? You know, I don't know what the dynamics are, you know, the organization of whoever's listening to this, where you work at, but especially if you have an open door policy,

Starting point is 00:15:08 you know, say, hey, I'd love to buy you lunch. Hey, you know, you're talking to them at the water cooler. The other thing I would say is don't lead with, I want you to be my mentor. I think that especially if you're doing this on your own and outside of a program, get to know the individual, right? Like maybe if there's someone that you think would be a great mentor, try to work on a project with them or try to work on a project with people that work under them. Try to spend more time around this individual. Watch them from a distance. I talk a lot about networking events. You know, there's someone that you want to be a mentor. Watch how they treat other people, right? They treat people

Starting point is 00:15:43 with kindness. How do they handle themselves when nobody's watching and that sort of thing. And I think that as you get to know individuals better, you can kind of get into their inner circle and you have a better chance of them saying yes to you being a mentor. Now, if you cold called somebody, cold emailed, cold DM them and, you know, Instagram or wherever, I'm not saying that they'll always say no, but I think you have a much better chance if you start to build a relationship with them. Yeah, really great. Thank you for that, Matthew. Well, outside of mentorship, do you have any other key elements that you would recommend that enable a professional to step into their dream career? You know, I know you would agree that there's a lot of different

Starting point is 00:16:25 areas, but anything specifically that you would call out that you would say to those listening, hey, not only pursue mentorship and find someone to help guide you along in your career, but there's a couple of other elements that I recommend either focusing on or just honing in as you further your career. Yeah, so the first thing I would say is go to the bookstore and try to find as many books about the topic or the career, you know, the field industry or field that you want to be in. And here's the thing. Don't all, you don't have to buy all the books.

Starting point is 00:16:55 I'm not saying don't buy a book. I've got a library full of books. But a trick is if they've taken the time to write a book, especially about your industry, more than likely they're really into this and they know what they're talking about. So what I like to do is I like to go to the bookstore book, especially about your industry, more than likely they're really into this and they know what they're talking about. So what I like to do is I like to go to the bookstore, find books in the industry, and then I make a list of all the authors. Might be 20, might be 30.

Starting point is 00:17:13 And I take that list home. I look them up on social media. I look up to see if they have a Wikipedia, a personal website. And then from there, you never know what they have. Like, you know, obviously, we know Lee Cockrell really well. And he's one that, you know, wrote a book, right, about his time at Disney. He's got his own personal phone number, email address in the book. And then if you go down that rabbit trail, you'll learn Lee has other things such as masterminds that we both have been a part of or online communities. And I think there's a whole realm of education where you can help yourself be more self-taught,

Starting point is 00:17:47 even outside of college, from individuals that are already in the field that you want to be in. And I think often we don't think, you know, oh, gosh, I didn't know that was out there. I can tell you when I started, I did not know what a mastermind was. I did not know what an online community is. And now I think, gosh, how much further along in my career could I be if I would have known about that sooner? So I would seek those out. Oh, yeah, that's so good. And Lee is one of those people that I kind of alluded to earlier that has become a mentor over the years

Starting point is 00:18:15 and was not expected at all. I too picked up his book. I read it. I was like, you know, I need to reach out to this guy and thank him for writing such a helpful book. And long story short, years later, he became a mentor of mine. And so obviously that was not intentional of me, but that just goes to show you that if you are intentional about building relationships and just reaching out, even thanking people for creating resources for you, you never know where those relationships could lead. That's right. And so fun story for you, you never know where those relationships could lead. That's right. And so fun story for you, gentleman won't say his name, but somebody that I know that I think a lot of, he recently met a colleague of mine and they got together and they were having lunch.

Starting point is 00:18:54 And three weeks later at my friend's house, my colleague's house, a handwritten note showed up and it was like, Hey, meant the world, you know, that we spent time together. Thank you so much. And it's been like a month later. and that individual is still talking about the thank you card that they got. So little things like that. I think we all know that it's, you know, it's important to say thank you and, you know, to have manners and all that kind of stuff. But especially in the corporate world and your professional life, it can go so far.

Starting point is 00:19:21 So, so far. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think to, you know, check in with those people on a regular basis, even if you're not meeting, you know, very often once a quarter, whatever, ask them how life is going, how their family is, you know, I think some of those, the best relationships, especially in the mentorship sense, and even just in network connections in general, are those connections that go a little bit deeper than the professional

Starting point is 00:19:44 sense. And so be super intentional about learning about that individual and making it more two-sided versus you just seeking out those benefits that's right and i also want to say just because someone can't be or isn't your mentor now it doesn't mean they won't be your mentor later that's something i learned the hard way as well. I would meet individuals and I thought, gosh, this is an incredible person. But, you know, they're six levels ahead of me. And, you know, I'm looking for someone that's closer to my level. And then a couple of promotions later, I'm thinking, oh, gosh, I should go back and meet that other individual.

Starting point is 00:20:18 Now they would be the perfect mentor for me. So always be building, you know, that army of connections, that army of potential mentors, because you never know when you're going to need them. Absolutely. Well, we didn't dive into this, but I have to throw Matthew into under the bus here for a second, but Matthew, you know, shares on a number of different topics when it comes to career and just finding your dream job and stepping into that. And I would say asking for what you want, or, you know, raising your hand for opportunities is something that you have shared, uh, with me and my family and just different people in our, in our circle that has led to some of the newer opportunities that you're in today.

Starting point is 00:20:58 And so if you want to hear Matthew's earlier story of his career and how he kind of stepped into this position in the theme park industry. Highly recommend reaching out to him because it's a very fun story. But on that, Matthew, what's the best way to get in contact with you? How can people reach out or even just build a connection with you too, if they want? Yeah. So if you just Google Matthew Miller theme parks, you'll see a lot of my content come up, a lot of ways to connect, reach out to me. But if you want to connect on social media, it's WeWa Miller. That's W-E-W-A Miller and WeWa short for WeWa Hitchcock. So WeWa Miller, and you can connect with me on social media or anywhere on Google. Amazing. And how about Orlando Informer? Got to give a shout out

Starting point is 00:21:40 for them. What's the best way to get in touch with you guys? Absolutely. Please follow Orlando Informer across all channels at Orlando Informer. And we also have some incredible Facebook communities as well. So if you search for, you know, universal community by Orlando Informer, you know, Walt Disney World, that sort of thing, you can join hundreds of thousands of theme park fans talking about their latest adventures to the parks. And we'd love to see you there. Amazing, Matthew. Well, thank you so much for sharing today. This has been a great conversation. Really appreciate you passing along your knowledge to us. And I appreciate you having me. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Marketing Happy Hour podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe,

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Marketing Happy Hour - How to Find a Mentor | Matthew Miller of Orlando Informer

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