Businessman Ric Lewis and David ‘Sideman’ Whitely have teamed up for a new podcast, “The Mentor”, in which Ric will help three young rising stars from underrepresented communities and under-resourced backgrounds achieve their personal and business dreams.
Ric will personally mentor the budding entrepreneurs over 12 weeks, drawing on his +30-year career in business and giving them £5,000 each in backing or seed funding to kick-start their ambitions.
Sideman is the voice of the series, weaving together the stories with humour and warmth, and undertaking his own journey with Ric.
The three rising stars featured are Lois, a 17-year-old from Warrington, Solomon, a 15-year-old from Manchester and Toni, a 21-year-old Cambridge graduate. Lois wants to be the first in her family to go to university, Solomon wants to start his own clothing line to bring recognition to his city and Toni wants to make the best possible choices as he enters the world of work.
Voted the most influential black person in Britain in the 2019 Powerlist, Ric is Executive Chairman of real estate investment management firm Tristan Capital Partners. He is also founder of The Black Heart Foundation, a charity that provides scholarships to young people otherwise unable to afford higher or further education.
Manchester audio-on-demand company Crowd Network, in partnership with The Black Heart Foundation, is developing the podcast. All profits from the first series will go to The Black Heart Foundation and Crowd Network plan to take on board and train a Black Heart Scholar, who will work on subsequent seasons of The Mentor.
Ric Lewis said: “When the team told me about their plans for the show it resonated with me instantly. Creating a podcast that is entertaining, rewards ambition but has a big heart and invests real time in people feels fresh and relevant given the challenges we face in our society today.
“The Mentor is a purposeful antidote to shows like The Apprentice, focussed on thoughtfully coaching a group of outstanding young people through crunch points in their lives, as we help them speed on their path to bigger, better and remarkable.”
Sideman said: “I’m happy that Ric hollered at me to work with him on this amazing concept. What Ric is doing with his Black Heart Foundation is phenomenal. The current climate has increased my interest in working with young people to bring about change and opportunities, so this is a perfect fit for me.”
Mike Carr, CEO at Crowd Network said: “The Mentor is a podcast that will blaze a trail in the industry. It is incredibly entertaining, but its message of social change is so important and one we feel we have a duty to communicate.
“It is a privilege to be working with The Black Heart Foundation who do so much good for our society. When we launched as a company, we committed to addressing the lack of diversity in the creative industries and giving opportunities to those from underprivileged backgrounds. This podcast is just one of the ways we are looking to have a positive impact in that space.”
The Mentor launches today (13 October) with episodes released every Tuesday through Acast and available to download on all major podcast platforms.
