Mentoring, Interns and Non-Competes

Open letter  to the wedding pro who’s worried about her interns
Your question about interns, and more specifically, non-compete agreements is an interesting topic. Here’s what I’m thinking.

It’s Important to Mentor

First, I admire you for taking on interns.  Not everyone does it and it’s a shame that more experienced wedding pros  aren’t willing to share their knowledge, experience and ethics with the new generation.   I never really did understand the whole ‘get inside and pull up the drawbridge’ thing in law school or corporate life.  And, I like it less in the wedding community.   I find it ironic to hear experienced wedding planners (and wedding photographers) complain about the bad behaviors of newbies.  Then, turn around and say they wouldn’t mentor.  Does that make sense to you?   Isn’t there a causal link somewhere between how much guidance a newbie wedding planner  gets and how that newbie interacts?   Just saying.

Bottom line: mentor more. No matter where you are, you have something to offer to someone who needs it.    Selfishly, I mentor new talent because

1) I love my profession and have 18 years invested in it.  Its just common sense to want to protect that investment.  After all, none of us walk around with a name tag that says newbie or veteran, right?  When one of our team screws up, it’s a mark on all of us.

2) because I want to leave some ‘me’ in the world.  A legacy of sorts.  I’ve figured out a useful thing or three and it seems wasteful not to tell others.

3) I learn a ton.  And, it reignites my curiosity and interest in people and words.  Newbies have great energy! I think that’s why I’ll never stop teaching.

I hope you won’t let this or other experiences keep your from having interns in the future.That being all wonderful, hiring an intern is work!  You know that already, huh.    It take courage and planning to bring someone else into your perfectly manicured chaos.  I applaud you!

The Intern Experience

Creating a great intern experience is  all about the balance.  You have to balance your wedding business needs against creating a nurturing, informative learning experience for your intern.

I’m not gonna lie.  It’s hard.  I remember trying to find something enriching for my intern to do when all I really wanted was for her to do was organize my files.   Finally, I decided to stop worrying (it’s a waste of good imagination)  and just asked her.  We sat down and talked about her expectations and my needs.  Ultimately, we got to a nice mix of necessary office work and learning projects work for her.  My main goal was to help her develop her world-view and style.  It was fun; we had a lot of rich conversations.

Maybe you and your next intern could discuss the top 3 things you want to feel when the internship is over? Usually, this is a task question, I know. But probing the emotional side really opens the question up and expands the types of task/projects.  Like who knows what’s gonna make someone feel accomplished until they try it, right?

My friend Lauren over at Urban Interns- a fab resource  for part-time assistants and interns you should know about anyway- has some great articles on internships and creating your own program.

Non-Competes

Can I ask you: where does your desire from a non-compete come from?

I’m guessing without knowing (always dangerous lol) that you’re worried about losing business to those interns.  Kind of a scarcity mindset, if you’ve heard of that before.  That nagging fear is probably what your intern senses and is one of the reasons she wants out.

I understand where you’re coming from, especially in this economy.   But I gotta say this:  I don’t believe in competition. Yes,  there are other wedding planners and your interns will join their ranks.  But, are they you?

Do they have your style, sense of taste, sensitivity, or creativity?  I’m guessing not. You’re a thought leader, someone who has unique ideas,  preferences, talents and skills.  There may be others in the crowd but you’re ahead of the back and can see the horizon.  If you don’t see yourself as a leader, well, you know what the view from the back of the pack is, right?

You have a great opportunity to turn your interns into partners and referrals sources for you.  Really, they’re already trained by you so no worries about the quality of their work.  And, if you’ve done your job of offering a valuable work experience then you have a sense of community with your interns, too.  Special Events Magazine just reported that  smaller companies are teaming up more.

Anyway, I won’t to give you legal advice, but I can point you towards some resources for a non-compete agreement if you really want it.  They are more trouble than they’re worth in my opinion.  You can grab more knowledge here and grab a sample document here.

Negotiate Better with Ease

Either way,  brush up on your negotiation skills.  Definitely come to my preview call on the worst three negotiating mistakes.  It’s a good place to start- just click the button.  Good luck and keep me posted!