Welcome back to the Light Talk podcast. I'm Martin Klaassen and great to have you joining me again. Today. I'll be reading a short and insightful blog post that captures my recent experiences in the lighting design field. If you've been curious about the world of lighting design, I think you'll enjoy this quick glimpse into my daily encounters that inspire me. Don't forget to visit my website, lighttalkspace, for more educational content, including my in-depth blogs, vlogs and podcasts.

Now let's light up your day with today's episode, blog 47, pay it forward. Paying it forward is really what we do when we mentor other people, specifically the younger generation. You can't possibly make all the mistakes yourself to learn from, so you can and should learn from others as well. Therefore, sharing your expertise and experiences as a mentor are an important contribution to your mentee's development specifically and therefore, by extension, also to the greater lighting industry and the build environment in general. While you may never know exactly what or which part of those experiences helped or impacted the path that your mentee chooses in life, the pure act of sharing and the knowledge that you contributed is gratifying. Rather than keeping it to yourself, paying it forward by sharing as a mentor should be a no-brainer. It has always been for me.

I have mentored many people over my career, mostly people around me, my team, to which I give and have given leadership, but also others that I have trained or those that I have come across in the industry or those who have sought me out to give them guidance. When asked to participate in the Silhouette Awards, an industry mentorship program created by my dear friend Katia Colovea and Yves Gaut, I did not have to think for a second. Of course I was going to do it. My mentee this year was Cristina Martinez, a talented young woman keen to make a difference in this world with her work in lighting, but wanting some guidance and reflectance of the best direction to achieve that. The beautiful side effect of successful mentorships like this is that it creates a deep friendship and bonding. Today, I still keep mentoring people. That insatiable drive in me to pay it forward remains, and my blogs, blogs and books are an important and immediate expression of that desire to share my knowledge, vision and experience.

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Light Talk. I hope you enjoyed this quick peek into my world as a lighting designer. If you found value in today's blog reading, be sure to subscribe and share it with others who might appreciate it. Your support helps For more insights, discussions and resources. Don't forget to check out lighttalkspace. Join me next time for my next insight.