Discover Mutual Empowerment in Mentor-Mentee Relationships with Dr. Hui-Wu Curtis

Our careers are an ongoing journey, and mentorship is the roadmap that guides us. By following those who’ve walked before us and leaning into the tools our mentors provide, we equip ourselves with the wisdom to navigate the ever-complex corporate landscape. To empower mentees, we must tap into our empathy by reflecting on the lows and highs of our experiences—and offer them the insights we’d give ourselves to succeed. 

Dr. Hui Wu-Curtis, CEO of SupportU and CCWomen Hall of Fame inductee, embodies empowerment through authentic storytelling, bold leadership, and passionate peer advocacy.  She believes in “making the invisible, visible,” whether that be spotlighting an underrepresented professional or teaching mentees how to showcase their achievements. 

We will discuss how Wu-Curtis’ experiences as an executive and woman of color drive impactful mentor-mentee relationships.  

1. What inspired you to mentor other women professionals?

Early on in my leadership career, I never had any mentors. There was a defining moment when I was interested in moving into a supervisory position, and I remember my manager at the time being really discouraging. She said, “You don’t want to move into leadership because you’re just book smart.” As she dismissed my opportunities to climb higher, I thought, “I will never do this to another person.” 

Since then, I have moved on to other roles and stuck with my promise. I always opened up opportunities to look for internal talent, and as I grew as a leader, I started noticing the people who didn’t look like everybody else within the traditional corporate world. Namely, they weren’t white men or women. They were minorities and women of color. They didn’t have the right look or credentials. They were ignored for different types of training or projects. 

So, I specifically sought out those people to guide them, or they came to me because I was one of the few leaders who were also a minority. These relationships naturally transitioned to mentorship, and I helped them learn how to maneuver difficult corporate spaces better.

2. How has mentorship empowered you?

Empowerment goes both ways, right? Some of my mentees had been in their organization for a few years, so they definitely had the skill set to advance. They just needed a bit of polish—more confidence, advocacy, and allies. I helped them learn the tricks of the trade. 

Behind the scenes, I’d advocate for them and make sure they were getting in front of the right audiences. I’d encourage them to participate in certain meetings. The hard work was on them, but in return, their presentation of themselves shined on me as a leader and my ability to repeatedly produce such great talent. 

My efforts also helped increase diversity of thought and a more inclusive culture. People would talk about DEI but wouldn’t know how to execute it. Mentorship was a way for them to really see these values in action. It gave leaders access to true subject matter experts. Sometimes, the higher-ups didn’t necessarily engage in the day-to-day work, so they didn’t understand the processes and details [my mentees] did. They missed out on some fundamental key information. So, by integrating a better cross-section of representation of people, we all came up with better solutions. 

3. How can a woman practice effective and impactful mentorship?

There are organizations that provide structured mentor-mentee programs; get involved. There are also community-based programs, like Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders (ACEL), which I’m a part of. ACEL is specific to the Asian community because we’re all about helping young Asian leaders and cultivating the next generation of leadership for more executive-level positions.

The other piece of mentorship is having those informal connections within your own organization where you put yourself out there and start facilitating conversations. For example, if you notice talent, you go up to that individual and engage. You can say, “Hey, I see a lot of potential in you, and I’d love to start having more one-on-one discussions to empower you.” 

You can start with a monthly meet-up, gauge their progress, then slowly lead into more structure and allow the relationship to evolve into whatever you need it to be. A good mentor should help mentees understand people dynamics and develop their networks, especially within their own company. 

I also want to speak as someone in the AAPI community. We’re one of those privileged minority groups where we’re intelligent and hardworking. We assume if we put our heads down and work hard, we’ll get noticed. We’ll get promoted. But this isn’t true. 

I tell people to make the invisible, visible. Others will not fully notice your efforts, so you must be able to talk about your accomplishments and share them with your leadership team. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s about taking pride in your work.

Ready for your next mentor-mentee relationship?

An organic, people-centered community is the foundation of effective mentor-mentee relationships. As a professional platform for women in customer contact, CCWomen provides various networking opportunities—from in-person summits to virtual meet-ups—for optimal engagement, inspiration, and empowerment. 

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