In this YouTube video, Evan Carmichael answers a viewer’s question about how a young, cash‑strapped entrepreneur can find a mentor without paying them. He explains that mentors are valuable because they can dramatically shorten the path to success, but they expect value for their time—impact, respect, and commitment. Carmichael outlines three concrete steps: (1) start with a low‑stakes coffee meeting to show respect, do research, and make the ask easy; (2) bring genuine passion and, crucially, execute on the advice given, turning the mentor’s guidance into visible results; and (3) seek out formal mentorship programs offered by schools, governments, nonprofits, or companies, especially those targeting young people. He emphasizes that mentorship is a two‑way relationship where the mentee must demonstrate readiness and give back. The video ends with a call to subscribe, join his newsletter, and become part of the “Believe Team.” A brief testimonial from Jason J. Rosz Fonsica praises Carmichael’s newsletter.
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Do all mentors want to get paid? So I got a great question from one of my YouTube viewers, love you guys, Daniel, who wrote in to say, how should I proceed to find a mentor? Most mentors want to be paid for coaching, and if I was like 15 years old, don't have money, how do we do it? So this is a great question, and mentors are a fantastic resource for you to shortcut your path to success. Whatever your goal is, whatever you want to accomplish, whatever hurdles you're facing right now in your life, in your business, finding somebody who's already busted through those and have reached the goal that you want to reach and having them coach and mentor you along will dramatically cut down the time you're going to take to get to where you want to be, the number of mistakes you're going to make. It's just overall a great thing that you want to try out. And mentors can come in the form of, of real-life people who you're connecting with and having coffee with, to people who you learn from, from books and videos and movies and people you've never met. But one thing that's really important when we're talking about people that you're meeting live, face-to-face, people that you look up to, that you respect, you want their opinions, you want their coaching, you want their advice— they don't necessarily want money, but they want value for their time. And what I mean by that is everybody wants to feel like they're having an impact, right? Especially as you get older, you want to feel like you're doing something to make the world a better place. And mentoring is a great way to do it. The challenge is a lot of mentees, they're honestly not ready. They're not ready to put in the work and the time and the commitment to make it valuable. So you gotta make sure that you're bringing value to the relationship, that you're making that mentor feel like they're giving back. So I have 3 bits of advice for you. Number 1 is start with coffee. People make the mistake of emailing or calling up somebody that they've never met that they look up to and say, will you be my mentor? You have to understand that a mentorship is a serious relationship. Maybe we're not getting married, but it's as serious as dating. At least you should take it that seriously, because a good mentor, they'll take it that seriously. So you don't just jump into a relationship with somebody having never met them, right? That shows your level of ignorance. That shows that you're not really committed to this, because I would never jump into something, neither should you, if you don't really know that person. So start small and start with coffee. Say, "I'm starting this new business," or whatever your goal is, "and I respect everything you've done," and show some examples to show that you've actually done some research on them, "and I'd love to be able to pick your brain over coffee. It's on me. If you have half an hour, 20 minutes, any day next week, any day next month, whenever it is, I'll show up. I'll be there with a smile on my face, ready to absorb all of your knowledge and wisdom." Okay, show me some passion, show me some excitement, show me that you actually know who I am, and ask for a coffee. Start off the relationship small, make it easy to say yes, and then start giving value. So one, start with coffee. Number two is bring passion and execution, and this is honestly where so many people fall down. Okay, the value— you may be asking, what value do I bring to a mentor? This is a two-way street, and you have to understand that the value that you bring to a mentor is them being able to impart knowledge on you and you being able to go take action on it, right? They want to see your face light up with the idea. That's great. That gives the instant gratification that brings the passion out. But the execution— actually go out and do what I tell you to do. You're there asking for their advice. If you want an ongoing relationship, you need to go out and actually take action. A mentor doesn't want to be just constantly coaching and being motivational and say, "Yeah, you can do it. Go, you can do it. I believe in you. Rah, rah, rah." They want to see you're actually doing work. They want to be able to give you practical things and say, "Go out and do X, Y, Z," and you go out and do it. And you do it faster than they thought they were going to take. You got to get out there and do it for them. That gives them the sense that you care and they're giving back. That's the value that you bring. They should see you. They should look at you and the energy that you bring, and that energy revitalizes them, makes them feel passionate about it again, and they look at you and they see a younger version of themselves. That's what you want them to see. That's the value that you bring. So remember to always bring the passion and then and then go out and execute. And the execution may be hard. It's not going to just be some simple strategy. It's going to be hard. It's going to push your comfort zone. It's going to make you do things that you're not comfortable with, that you may have never done before, that you're scared of. But that's what you need to do to grow. That's what you need to do to get to that place that you want to be. And if you're not willing to do that, then don't go out and get a mentor because they're going to drop you before you can drop them. Passion and execution. And number 3 is join a program. You could do a lot of great research on your own and reach out to people and ask questions. Even this is a start, right? You're asking me a question, I'm responding and trying to help you out. What's the value that I get? I like knowing that I'm helping entrepreneurs. You know, are you going to go out and execute on this? I hope you will. A lot of people won't. That makes a difference between the ones who become successful and the ones who don't. They have the courage to step outside their comfort zone and execute. So you can do it on your own like you're doing now Or you can also look for programs, especially for young people. There's a lot more mentorship opportunities. So look at, you know, whatever school you're at, look at whatever government programs there are, look at if there's any companies that are offering mentorship programs. There's a lot of these programs and nonprofits that have been set up to specifically guide young people through their career path and giving them advice and connections to mentors and specific programs. So if you want to become an entrepreneur, there's a program for that. If you want to become a lawyer, there's a program for that, right? So they have specific programs that can help you as well. Do your research to find them and, and apply and get in and see if it's for you. It's a great supplement to you going out and reaching out to mentors directly on your own. So in summary, how to find the mentors? It's not just about giving them money, but you gotta number 1, start with coffee. Number 2, bring passion and execution. Number 3, join a program. And believe. For those of you watching, like the video. You can subscribe to the channel to see more videos just like this. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you soon. And don't forget, for my best information, join my newsletter and get on the Believe Team today.
Hi, I'm Jason J. Rosz Fonsica of RoszOnline.com, and I want to say Evan Carmichael's newsletter is consistent fun, inspiring, and it's the only newsletter I prioritize and look forward to, period.
