Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Doug Lawrence. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Doug, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I started my mentoring practice in the fall of 2009. I saw there was a niche in the market for providing mentor training and mentor certification. In the beginning I trained a lot of people and saw the benefits of doing so in the way that I was doing. I ended up partnering with an organization in the US to provide mentor certification based on knowledge. The biggest challenge that I encountered was being able to extend my reach quickly and to a global audience. In conversations with the mentoring community I heard that they wanted more than a certification based on knowledge. They now wanted to progress to a certification based on competence. I found a new partner that understood what we needed to do. We embarked on a journey to provide mentor certification based on competence and nested within ISO standards.

My practice has moved in another direction based on a global need for mentoring to be a part of the support structure for mental health. This touches on mental health and grief and is based on mentoring being a part of the support structure for mental health.

If I were to reflect back I would have made the move to blend mentoring and mental health sooner. What I have experience so far is the global need for helping people with their healing journey for grief and mental health.

My journey is all about championing the need for mentoring as a part of the support structure. I have done over 130 podcasts on the topics of mentoring, mental health and grief.

Doug, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC® and is focused on all things mentoring as a solution provider. Doug Lawrence is an International Certified Mentor and holds two Mentor Certifications; Certificate of Practice – Mentor and the Certificate of Practice – Journey Mentor from the International Mentoring Community. Doug is the only one to hold the Certificate of Practice – Journey Mentor in the world today. Serving as a Staff Sargent in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for 25 years, Doug retired in 1999. He then volunteered as a mentor with the Sir Richard Branson Entrepreneur Program in the Caribbean and with the American Corporate Partners in the United States working with military personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life.
He has over 30 years of mentoring and leadership experience and is recognized as a thought leader in the mentoring space. Doug authored the book entitled, “The Gift of Mentoring” and his second book entitled, “You Are Not Alone” became an Amazon #1 Best Seller in North America and the UK and is a Bronze medal recipient in the Global Book Awards. Doug is an International Best – Selling Author.
“The Silent Pandemic” once again shares some meaningful lived experiences that Doug has so openly shared with many. This book speaks to how grief can be a part of your mental health challenges. It touches on how cancer can be viewed as a pandemic with it being the number 1 cause of death in the world today. With each death comes more grief, pain and suffering and a further impact on one’s mental health.
Doug has worked with organizations to establish mentoring programs/mentoring cultures and provides one on one professional mentoring with people at all levels in an organization on an international basis.
Doug was instrumental in developing a curriculum to train people on how to become effective mentors. Doug has been involved in the certification of mentors since 2009 when he first partnered with an organization to provide mentor certification based on knowledge. Doug has now partnered with an expert in certification to provide a certification for mentors based on competence.
Doug’s Practice of Mentoring continues to grow and has resulted in his accumulation of 3,400 hours of mentoring (in person and virtual), 235 hours of speaking opportunities and 672 hours teaching others how to effectively mentor. Doug has been the guest on over 130 podcasts in the past year on the topics of mentoring, mental health and grief.
He has worked with researchers to examine the role of mentoring as a support for those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His experience in law enforcement coupled with working with people as a mentor who are suffering from PTSD has afforded him a unique view of mentoring and PTSD. His personal story is one that is compelling and it fuels his passion about wanting to help others.
Doug lost his wife, Debra to cancer in 2021 and has been dealing with grief since then. His lived experience has provided him with a very unique look at grief and the realization that grief does indeed have a major impact on your mental health. Doug has been involved in various types of therapy as part of his healing journey. He has become a support for so many others all the while dealing with his own grief and healing journey.
Doug is a firm believer that mentoring begins with a person’s personal growth thereby helping to remove any obstacles or barriers to their professional growth and career development. As Doug has found, some of those barriers can be mental health and mental well-being challenges.
“The Silent Pandemic” came from research and lived experience that Doug has acquired. He realized the all too often stigma of people being afraid to ask for help, afraid to step out of the closet and say, “I need help”. Dealing with grief can be a physically and mentally draining experience. To have to deal with that alone makes it all that much harder. Sometimes all that we need is someone to just listen and hear what we are saying and to be non-judgmental. Being afraid to extend a hand to say, “it’s okay I will go with you on this journey.” When you are able to find that person who is willing to sit and listen to your story and the pain you are going through you feel supported and cared for.
Through all of this Doug’s passion is contagious. He is committed to helping organizations and people be successful no matter the challenges that they are facing. He has dedicated his life to the mentoring of others and helping them with their healing journey.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Most definitely. I consider myself as a healer and have for as long as I remember. I focus on that as my calling and opportunities will come my way. I have developed my ability to tell my story in a compelling way that draws my readers in and that is important to me. I have the lived experience to share which is a part of my healing experience.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My lived experience as a mentor helped build my reputation. I have had many referrals where people have come to me to help them with implementing their mentor program and to provide the training that is needed.

That lived experience has continued on into the next chapter of my being of service to include mental health and grief. As a retired police officer I experience PTSD and had to deal with that and the impact on my mental health and mental well-being. I have also had to deal with the lived experience of the loss of my wife, Debra in February of 2021. I am dealing with my own healing journey but I am also working with others to help them with their journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.talentc.ca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doug.lawrence.1610/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/douglawrence-mentor
• Twitter: @DougLawrenceJM
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4YC1GkfHrQtFYgYrf8baQ