Supporting Women through Mentorship
January 2025 Mentorship Success Story
January is not only the start of a fresh new year; it’s also National Mentoring Month! While ACP celebrates the power of mentorship year-round, every January, we take time to acknowledge outstanding partnerships like that of Brette Ehrenpreis and Clara Martinez.
Martinez signed up for ACP in her seventh and final year of service in the U.S. Air Force. While she valued her time in the Air Force, her law enforcement role wasn’t a good fit, and she was already looking to the future by completing a Bachelor’s in Marketing Research. To improve her chances of success in this new career, she began working closely with Ehrenpreis on a multidimensional approach to professional development.
Ehrenpreis, a Global Director with Colgate-Palmolive, shares Martinez’s passion for understanding how customers tick. She is also committed to helping women succeed in the field and even started a peer mentoring program at her graduate alma mater, so she was ideally positioned to help Martinez identify her transferable skills and leverage her education.
“[Clara] was very open to feedback, and she ran with it to rapidly improve her storytelling” and personal branding, says Ehrenpreis, who was impressed with Martinez from their first call.
Brette Ehrenpreis
Global Director, Colgate-Palmolive
The pair laid a solid foundation by initially identifying Martinez’s values and motivations, then building on these in their subsequent monthly calls.
“At every meeting, we spoke about… areas I could improve that would better prepare me to integrate myself back into the civilian workforce,” says Martinez. “Brette spent much of her time helping better formulate my resume and giving me a civilian perspective [on whether] my point was getting across behind my military lingo.”
When she secured an interview for a dream position with her current company, Martinez was ready, thanks to Ehrenpreis’s support and the pair’s prep work. “I felt confident and well-prepared,” she says, but didn’t receive an offer that day.
Months later, Martinez got an unexpected call. It was a hiring manager from the same company, calling with not one but two job offers and asking Martinez to pick her preferred role.
“ACP and Brette were a huge reason for my success,” she says.
Because the pair had put in so much work polishing Martinez’s resume and interview skills and polished resume foregrounded her skills and experience, ultimately landing her a role as a Management Strategist. Ehrenpreis and Martinez have continued their monthly meetings as Martinez onboards with her new company, and they highlight the continued value of mentorship in supporting Martinez’s long-term professional growth.
“Clara is continuing to excel at her job,” Ehrenpreis observes, “while also networking and thinking about how she wants to shape her future career.”
By committing an hour a month, you can have a profound impact by signing up to mentor a Veteran or Military Spouse. Veterans and Spouses can apply today to get started with ACP and make 2025 a year of inspiration and growth!
