Charmaine Solomon, a licensed professional counselor and mentor in the 4word Mentor Program, shares highlights from her time as a mentor in the 4word Mentor Program and explains how mentorship can help you stand strong in your faith at work.

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You can listen to this conversation with Charmaine on our podcast, Work, Love, Pray! Listen below or click here to find your preferred listening platform.

Do you think mentorship can be a helpful tool for someone who wants to bring their faith to work more?

As a Christian woman in the workplace, you really need to surround yourself with a community of faith-based people.The 4word Mentor Program is a wonderful to build that kind of community! I have kept in touch with all my mentees and to be honest, the mentor/mentee relationship is so reciprocal, because as a mentor, I’ve learned so much from my mentees. I’ve been blessed to be able to mentor a young Christian Indian woman, as well as a South African woman. We’ve learned so much from each other.

In the 4word Mentor Program, the mentor/mentee relationship is a great way to hold each other accountable. If you’re a mentor telling your mentee to remember to pray before they start their day or when they have a decision to make, you are also reminding yourself to do the same thing!

I think it’s so easy to get sidetracked and distracted in our world. The 4word Mentor Program provides an opportunity for two women to come together and create an amazing connection because your commonality is God. As a mentor, I’m able to connect with my mentees at such a deep level because even though we are just getting to know each other, we are able to see each other deeply and establish such a deep connection because we have this commonality of our faith. It’s so easy to connect and work together because we don’t even have to explain what we’re thinking. There’s no need to explain the Holy Spirit, or to come to an understanding that we’re both accountable to God.

The 2024 fall session of the 4word Mentor Program is accepting sign-ups until Friday, August 30. What would you say to someone who might be interested in signing up but isn’t sure what to expect?

First of all, I would say, ‘Sign up!’ You have so much to gain. Trina Lee, the 4word Mentor Program manager, does a wonderful job in hand-picking a perfect mentor match for each mentee. God has someone for you and Trina is very diligent in following His leading with mentor/mentee pairing. I’ve been amazed at how well she connects like-minded people based on the goals that each mentee would love to achieve in the program.

During a mentorship, you walk a journey with another person to whom you can talk about the most intimate challenges that you have. 4word mentors have so much experience, and they want to give that hard-earned information to you. There’s no professional jealousy; instead, mentors want to pour into their mentees and give them every piece of advice or information that they can, because in doing so, the world is becoming a better place.

Sign up. Go on this mentorship journey. You will be amazed at the lifelong friendship you’ll have at the end. You will learn so much in a constant exchange of information with your mentor in a very safe and confidential place. You can share whatever your struggles are without feeling judged or being afraid that someone’s going to say something to your manager. The 4word Mentor Program experience is two women coming together in a safe and non-judgmental environment and just sharing their journeys together.

What has been your favorite moment as a mentor and why do you continue to enjoy being a mentor with 4word?

I have loved to watch the growth in all of my mentees. At the beginning of the mentorship, we sit down and talk about some of the mentee’s challenges, and then together, we are able to do some practical things to move toward the mentee’s goals for the 10 weeks of the session. I’ve loved getting to see how much my mentees have grown in their confidence, in how much they are relying on the Holy Spirit to give them the advice and wisdom that they need.

When I mentored a South African woman, it hit me how much we get stuck in politics, because we’ve forgotten that God is the ruler of the universe. It’s so good to be connected to other faith-based leaders all over the world to be reminded that God is at work in the world. It was so good to be able to connect with someone internationally and be reminded that God rules the universe. He doesn’t just own America; He owns the universe. What a blessing to see that God is working all over the world. That was one of my favorite things moments of being a 4word mentor.

In her role as a wife of a corporate executive, mother of a blended family of four children, one with special needs, Charmaine has a unique and personal understanding of the complexities of personal and family dynamics. Born and raised in South Africa, Charmaine has worked and studied in South Africa, England, and the USA. Charmaine’s education, personal and professional experiences on three different continents, brings a richness of cross-cultural diversity, international, HR corporate business and counseling experience.   Charmaine relates well to diverse groups and has fostered relationships within the Plano community.

Charmaine completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Dallas and her master’s degree in counseling at Amberton University. Charmaine completed clinical hours working with non-profit organizations like the Children’s Advocacy Center and CASA providing counseling and play therapy services to at-risk children, youth, and their families. Charmaine approach is person centered and solution focused, that allows her to collaborate and help clients navigate through life’s challenges. Charmaine enjoys investing in others through coaching and mentoring.

Charmaine is a founding member of My Possibilities – A continuing education adult college like program for adults with IDD. Charmaine’s involvement in the creation of My Possibilities is very personal to her, as she has an adult son with IDD. Initially Charmaine served as a board member, and for the past 10 years she has served as Founder and Chairperson of the Board. Currently Charmane serves as Founder and Chair Emeritus, with her primary focus on setting the strategic direction of the organization, special projects that are growth driven, donor relationships and management, fundraising and expanding the Board of Directors to include a wide range of skillset and diversity to help strengthen the My Possibilities leadership team.  

Charmaine is a proud graduate of Leadership Plano – Class 39, and is very excited to have recently been appointed as Director of Leadership Plano.