Go Inward if you want an Outward Result

Episode 21 ft. Alexis Wilson | Founder/CEO of "The Menternship"

Apr 5, 2021

Pol and Pals is a podcast where I, Ponyboy Pol, interview my creative Pals to learn how they became who they are TODAY... to inspire you for TOMORROW.
Tune in LIVE on Youtube | Every Other Thursday | 8 PM EST

Happy New Weeks Pals🐴🙋🏿‍♂️ and Happy Easter Monday to all those who celebrate😇🐰

I received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine last week, but you probably don’t believe me because I didn’t post a picture of my vaccination card.

I got it the morning of this episode’s LIVE interview, and I’ll be honest that there was a part of me that wondered if anything would happen that would make me have to cancel. But fortunately, no side effects 🙌🏿..

Preview:

Watch/Listen Now
Who Is: Alexis Wilson
The Menternship
Pal Quote
My Takeaways
Raffle Winner
Coming Soon…

Watch/Listen Now

On Episode 21, I have a #CreativeConversation with my Pal, Alexis Wilson, a social entrepreneur, brand builder, and advocate for women's empowerment. She is the founder/CEO of "The Menternship": a personal and professional development program for young Black and Brown women that blends the tenets of mentorship and an internship.
She is also the founder of "Exalt Management": a management company dedicated to helping purpose-driven athletes, entertainers, and businesses level up from the inside, out.

Tune in for a #CreativeConversation to learn how Alexis started The Menternship, what it means to empower women, and why you should “Go Inward”.

WHO IS: Alexis Wilson?

Alexis is a Detroit native who is currently enjoying palm trees and decent weather all year round ever since she moved to the City of Angels. A big move for her despite not having any family out there, but Alexis explains that it was a decision motivated by God. Remind y’all of anyone👀?

Despite being a founder of personal/professional development program and a management company, Alexis’ dream since her childhood was to be in the fashion industry. From making her own homecoming dresses to being the president of a fashion organization at the University of Michigan, she felt strongly that she was meant to do fashion and nobody could tell her otherwise🙂. But throughout her college experience, Alexis felt that God was subtly trying to give her hints that her vision for herself was less than what he had in mind for her.

After being humbled by her freshman year academic probation, overcoming a bout of severe depression, and coming to terms with the fact that she wouldn’t be fulfilling her childhood dream, Alexis had to look inward and figure out if she was living in alignment with what she felt her purpose was in life. This “inner”standing of herself is what motivated her to pursue her current ventures.

The Menternship

The idea for “The Menternship” came to Alexis while she was in one of her senior year Communication classes. It was a result of seeing the need for a resource that she wish was provided to her and specifically customized for people like her. A resource that prioritizes character development, mindset, and inner workings while also focusing on business exposure via learning about branding, how to start a business, and navigating the professional space.

This is done via a nine-week program where three college undergraduate black and brown women a.k.a “Menterns” are selected to be immersed in high-influence industries amongst leading minds in media, entertainment, sports and fashion.

The Menterns receive a comprehensive introduction to brand strategy, creative marketing and business operations through hands-on project support, educational lectures and round table discussions while simultaneously participating in high-performance training and one-on-one mentoring.

The nine-week program ends in an all-expense-paid, one-week business trek from Los Angeles to Detroit, MI, where Menterns are exposed to the innovative wave of social entrepreneurship in the Motor City.

Alexis was first able to sell the vision of The Menternship while participating in a leadership program where she won a $10k grant. Part of the leadership program included a final presentation to a wide array of notable companies. As the time approached for this presentation, Alexis realized that in order to provide the ideal business exposure that she wanted for The Menternship, she would need to partner with actual businesses. She reached out to an alumni friend that currently worked at L'Oreal Paris and asked if they could somehow get her pitch/idea for The Menternship to whoever would be most willing to help. Lo and behold, her message got passed up to the top and L’Oreal Paris agreed to be one of her first partners.

The Menternship has now gone on to be supported by other Impact Partners such as The Oprah Winfrey Network, The Detroit Pistons, BET, and more…

Pal Quote

My Takeaways

Because my interviews are focused on my guests telling their story, I try to give them as much Talking Time as possible. “My Takeaways” is a space for me to share my thoughts on the interview:

Believing in Faith

One thing that stood out to me during this interview was whenever I asked Alexis a question, her response usually included some version of “Because of God…”
Listening back, I wish I would’ve asked more questions on exactly how her faith in God became so strong. And not to question her faith, but to more understand the foundation of her belief because that same faith is what helped her make such big life decisions such as pivoting away from a childhood dream, starting a management company, and moving across the country by herself.

I was raised in a household of two very religious Christian parents and that’s shaped a lot of how I view the world, but I definitely wouldn’t call myself the most religious person. In fact, my dad just called me about a week ago (Schmurda dance) to ask for an update on if I’ve found a consistent church to be a part of yet. At times, I feel like I relate more to the Agnostic mindset but other times I experience moments that I truly feel are God-like and hard for me to explain. But growing up, one thing I’ve always appreciated about church is the reset feeling it provided prior to the start of a new week. Depending on who gave the sermon that Sunday, I usually would hear or read something that charged me up for the week ahead.

When it comes to faith or religion, I’ve realized that no matter what you believe or don’t believe in, we all need SOMETHING to keep us grounded, motivated, or inspired. There’s something refreshing about having a place (physically or mentally) that you can go to be refreshed. Whether this is church, meditation, therapy, or all the above, I think the most important thing that we should all evaluate from time to time is:

what keeps me grounded?
what motivates or inspires me?
what do I do when things aren’t going my way?

I would love to hear back from some pals on your thoughts on how you approach the above and you can do so by replying to this email.

Raffle Winner

Congrats to Priscilla E. for winning the FREE Exaltation Session! I’ll be in contact soon with more info.

Coming Soon…

NEXT EPISODE… On the next episode of Pol and Pals (Apr. 15th @ 8 PM EST), my guest and I will be discussing how to plan for adventure/outdoor trips, finding purpose after losing a loved one, and biking across the country!
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