In this motivational video, Adrienne Barker, MAS, Vice President and certified mentor with Volusia Flagler SCORE, calls on volunteers and mentors to remain active during the COVID‑19 pandemic. She acknowledges challenges such as the pandemic’s impact on small businesses and the introduction of a new computer system (Engage), but emphasizes that the program is manageable and essential. Barker shares her personal motivation for mentoring, noting that each session teaches her something new and reinforces her sense of responsibility. She offers practical time‑saving tips, recommending Calendly and Outlook calendar integration to streamline scheduling with clients. Barker also stresses the importance of entering mentoring notes into the Engage system for continuity across chapters. For those unable to mentor directly, she suggests alternative volunteer roles like newsletter work, outreach, and fundraising. Throughout, she conveys a persuasive, supportive tone, urging mentors not to quit now, highlighting the unique value of providing free, high‑quality business guidance through SCORE.
Chapters
Hello, it's Adrienne Barker. I'm with Volusia Flagler SCORE. I'm your Vice President, and I'm also a very proud certified mentor. I've been mentoring for over 4 years. I have a message to all our Volusia Flagler volunteers and mentors. We need you. We need you now more than we've needed you before, and we understand that we have some challenges, that we've had COVID-19, which is the reason why we need you more. And we've had a new computer system program that may not be easy for everyone, but it's not too difficult to learn. It just means you've got to pay attention and kind of just follow the rules. But they made it pretty simple. All of us at SCORE, all of us that mentor, we're lifelong learners. We know the pleasure that we get with SCORE. I just want to say why I score, because I know in my heart that I'm doing something good, but I also know I'm going to learn. So I want to be honest with you. Do I receive the information about someone needing a mentor? And have I ever said to myself, I just can't anymore, I can't do another mentoring session? Absolutely. But I've never clicked the 'I can't do it,' only because I know other people are busy too. And if it came to me, I'm responsible for doing it. And I also know something else, that every time I mentor, I learn more than I did before I mentored. And every time I wish that I didn't have to do it anymore, the pleasure is even more when I talk to someone. So I'm imploring you to not give up now, not give up during COVID-19 when we have so many people that are having troubles in their business. And now more than ever, they need to sift through all the information, all the loans. There's so many things that they need to know. So please, if you've been considering leaving us, please think twice. We don't ask you for a strong time commitment. If you could continue mentoring 1 or 2 people, that would be great. The old saying, busy people get the work done. Well, that is true, and we know that for a fact. Busy people get the work done. So please consider keeping on with our SCORE. Consider mentoring. Now, a couple tips that I do to help save time. I do have the program Calendly. So when a SCORE client is assigned to me, I can immediately say hello and I can send them my Outlook calendar. That saves a lot of time back and forth. What that allows me to do is immediately send them my email. They've got my information, they sign up, we both got it on our calendars and I'm able to move right in and speak. So if you have processes, something like this that will help you to create the time, that's great. Yes, it's the Engage system. Is it as difficult as CORE? No, but you do have to go in just like any other program because you're not just you and your mentor, it's everyone else nationally, chapter by chapter. And that mentor may move to another place and they're gonna want that information that you as a mentor gave to them. So put the information in the system. It's not that difficult. Mentor what you can. If you can't mentor, become a volunteer. We need help with our newsletter, we need help with outreach, we need fundraising help, we need help getting more mentors. And it's time that we really ask you to stay with us. Stay with us. Don't stop the fight now. Don't stop now during COVID-19 when we need you. Maybe next year will be a better year for you to step aside, but right now, Volusia Flagler mentors, we're asking you to stick with it. Keep it up because you know what? What we're doing is something that really nobody else could say, that we're offering free mentoring services through an amazing program that SCORE gives us. So it's why I SCORE and I'm a proud certified SCORE mentor. Please stay with us. We need you. Thank you.
