“Mentorship is not cloning a Mini-Me, but supporting others in their journey to become the best they can be.”

Richard Riccardi
Writer, 52 Steps Forward
Co-founder, DFW CPG
Investor

.…on why mentoring is not about carbon-copying yourself, via LinkedIn.

“Emulation,” Richard Riccardi writes on 52 Steps Forward, “is rarely productive.” 

The self-described “curious observer, writer, and CPG advocate” has a resume that reads like a roadmap for success in both business and life. He’s a board member and advisor to early-stage consumer packaged goods brands, an investor in over 10 startups and venture capital funds, and co-founder of DFW CPG, a community supporting the CPG ecosystem in North Texas. For 25 years, he co-owned Food Source, a frozen entrée processor, until its acquisition.

But Riccardi’s holistic take on mentorship comes, in part, from a life full of unexpected twists. Like the time he stepped in as a surrogate father at a Hindu wedding in Delhi, or when he checked out 33 different houses of worship in one year—just to see what he could learn. And then there was the time he stood before the U.S. Supreme Court. (Not for any wrongdoing—he was being admitted to the bar.

Being a mentor isn’t about having all the answers, he says. Sometimes, “there are times you will be unable to help them find a solution, but you can provide relief.”

Often, that’s exactly what people—and entrepreneurs—need most.

His own goal? “Every day, I want to ask someone, ‘How can I be helpful?'”

Check out Riccardi’s “52 Steps Forward” blog, where he aims to provide weekly messages containing “practical, applicable content intended to provoke thought and action—without the usual life hacks or to-do lists.”

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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