Spotlight on Melissa Parcels: Giving Back Through Her Experience

Starting her entrepreneurship journey as a mentee at Futurpreneur Canada, Melissa Parcels gained a lot from the program and really valued her time with her mentor. From having such a positive experience and seeing the impact a mentor had on the development of her business, Solo, a full-service independent dental hygiene clinic and spa, she decided to become a mentor with Futurpreneur herself.

Melissa just celebrated the five year anniversary of her dental clinic which is based in Alberta and was nominated for a 2018 Top Choice Award, an award chosen by the public. Now that her dental clinic is doing so well in the community, Melissa knew she wanted to pay it forward to other entrepreneurs. “If you can help someone that was once in your shoes, than you should,” she said. Melissa started mentoring with Futurpreneur as she wanted to invest her time into helping young entrepreneurs grow financially, mentally and personally. “Owning a business is a very personal thing, you are your brand and I am very good at harnessing the goodness in people to push them in the forward direction.”

We caught up with Melissa to chat a bit more with her about her mentoring journey. Here’s what she had to say…

How has your background and past experience helped you be a great mentor?

My past experience taking business courses, and reading business materials is always helpful. It typically is the “business” part that is tricky for people such as when to hire, taxes, when to in-corporate, how to market your business, etc. It is not often their craft they need assistance with it’s the business. I have tried a lot of strategies and listen to people’s successes and failures enabling me to be consistently successful instead of the other direction. I help them “fix their focus” and fuel them for task specific executions. I have a great ability to be centered, focused and results driven which helps mentees get inspired and on track. I am a doer, motivator and push people to grow, that’s my secret weapon even if I know nothing about their industry.

What has been your biggest milestone/achievement as a mentor?

I have mentored only a few entrepreneurs and it is still very early with my current mentee so the milestones reached are early start-up related goals. I would say having my mentee come with a milky vision and not much direction and leaving after our first few meetings more clear, focused and determined. Having them hire their first employee was a great milestone to share with her.

Why do you feel mentorship is important to young entrepreneurs?

Like mentioned before, helping people that are starting out or in the shoes you once were in is vital to the growth of our younger generation. They need the advice and lessons we have learned to help them in their journey. You are supposed to do all the good you can, as often as you can, as much as you can for as long as you can-and that I plan to do. Once you start helping, inspiring and improving people’s lives and businesses that kindness is addictive. I am so proud to be someone that people know as a women that helps other women grow. We need more of that!

Why would you suggest to other people the Futurpreneur mentorship program?

I suggest Futurpreneur to everyone, seriously, Chris (a business development manager in Alberta) said he should put me on the payroll. I am so proud of what it did for me and my experience with the program that I decided to mentor. I love the core values of what Futurpreneur stands for. I am so very proud to be a part of it. I share with all my patients whom of which are mostly entrepreneurs themselves.

What’s your one piece of advice for entrepreneurs?

My one piece of advice is to spend small but think big. Minimize your salary in sacrifice of the health of your new business in the first year. Make sure you do not need big purchases like cars, or a house because you will need four plus years of financials for the bank.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Remember you are your brand and nothing represents you better than you. Know your core values and revisit them from time to time to make sure your still in love with your business. On my wall in my waiting area is in big scroll letters “Be daring be daring. Always be daring. For there is no big dream unless you dream big.” And that’s at the heart of what I do.

Written by: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Specialist, Futurpreneur Canada