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In this episode Thomas Kim tells his story of and gives advice for leading in crisis and explains why a culture of mentorship is good for your business. Thomas is the founder and CEO of Everclean Car Wash.

Mentorship is important to Thomas because his dad left when he was seven. He’s grateful that scenario didn’t leave a gaping hole in his life because he always had men in his life that would take him under their wing and investing their time in him for reasons he didn’t understand at the time. Those mentoring experiences lead him to create a life and a company where mentorship is integral.

This also led Thomas to have what he calls a “triad of relationships” in his life. This means he tries to have a mentor, be a mentor to someone else and surrounds himself with peers that will challenge him, encourage him and help him grow as a person and as business owner.

Advice About How To Find a Mentor

The first piece of advice Thomas shares is to ask and ask about a specific problem or area of your life that you want help with. To engage with a mentor Thomas suggests asking this question: “Can I meet with you for 30 minutes from time to time just to ask you some questions and get some advice?” The second piece of advice he shares to potential mentees is once you find a mentor to drive the relationship. By that he means that he tells potential mentees “I’m going to give you my time, but I want YOU to come with the agenda for the conversation.”

Listen In!

In this episode we also discuss:

  • What NOT to do when attempting to start a mentoring relationship.
  • More details about how to successfully engage with potential mentors.
  • How Thomas has built mentorship into the day-to-day operations of his company.
  • Why including a mentorship program in your company will enhance your company culture and increase performance with your employees.
  • The steps you need to take is to create a mentoring program for your company.
  • How to successfully lead a company during personal and professional crises.
  • …and more golden nuggets of advice!

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About The Guest

Thomas Kim is an entrepreneur and investor with a focus on real estate and small businesses with high growth strategies. He’s the Founder and CEO of Everclean, a modern, branded car wash. Its social mission is to enrich lives through opportunity and holistic mentorship. He and his wife, Evelyn, make their home in the Chicago suburbs. They have one daughter, Mackenzie, who is in heaven, and prior, Thomas raised three teenage foster children. Hobbies include any sport under the sun (except long-distance running), foreign travel, motorcycles, and high-fiber breakfasts. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.