What happens when a Global Marketing Manager for Scotch whisky steps out of her day job to mentor a social enterprise tackling period poverty?

In this episode, Andrea talks with Julie Pender, Global Marketing Manager in Pernod Ricard’s Global Travel Retail team. Julie works on Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s Finest. She mentored Bare Earth CIC on the Regenerous mentoring programme, alongside her colleague Sally.

Julie expected to wear her expert hat. Instead, she found herself acting as a coach and helping the team focus on “one step forward”. Along the way she discovered that part of her value was opening doors to other people. She talks about hitting a plateau, building confidence in her transferable skills, and learning to deliver through people. She also explains why the colleagues she mentored alongside turned out to have “hidden depths”.

If you’re thinking about mentoring, or wondering what skills-based volunteering can do for your people and your organisation, this one’s for you.

• Mentoring isn’t consulting. It’s a light-touch sounding board where you hold space, ask questions and keep people accountable.
• Your network is part of your knowledge. Julie brought in colleagues from across Pernod Ricard with specialist expertise.
• Plateaus are part of the process. Moving from adviser to coach was the point where things started to move.
• Clarity beats ambition. Bare Earth CIC’s biggest gain was focus: park the other ideas and pick one step forward.
• It’s a different kind of development. A new intellectual challenge builds confidence that your skills transfer.
• Silos come down. Julie and Sally would otherwise only have chatted in the canteen queue. Instead they swapped skills they now use in their own jobs.
• You don’t have to commit fully to get involved. Joining the showcase as a feedback panel mentor is a lighter way in.

The timestamps come from the transcript. If you add an intro, music or ads in the final edit, they’ll shift.

• 00:05 – Welcome to The Edge of Transformation
• 00:28 – Julie’s role: global travel retail, Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s and Scuderia Ferrari HP
• 01:19 – Loving your job and the “duvet flip”
• 01:42 – Meeting Bare Earth CIC and their mission to end period poverty
• 03:45 – First impressions: big ambitions and a small team
• 04:31 – What surprised her: light-touch consultancy and unlocking access to others
• 06:51 – Hitting a plateau and shifting from expert to coach
• 07:25 – Why discomfort is part of the learning
• 08:04 – How it compares to traditional training: a new intellectual challenge
• 09:50 – Breaking down silos: from canteen chat to skill swap
• 11:48 – Advice for would-be mentors: get uncomfortable
• 14:04 – What Bare Earth CIC got out of it: clarity
• 15:05 – Line manager buy-in and learning to deliver through people
• 18:13 – How the Regenerous mentoring sprint works
• 19:40 – Why Julie would join as a social entrepreneur one day
• 20:30 – Who Regenerous is looking for this year
• 21:04 – Mentor return rates and the art of matchmaking