A good mentor isn't necessarily the person who gives you the right answer. Sometimes, they're the person who asks the question that helps you find it yourself, challenges an assumption, notices the progress you can't see, and gives you someone to call when you're stuck.

In this episode of the Rural Leaders podcast, Kristy Hollis and Cass Wilson share what they've learnt through their mentoring relationship, established through the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation's National Mentoring Initiative. Kristy Hollis is a naturopath, herbalist, entrepreneur, industry advocate and mentor, and the founder of Everlasting Health. She was the 2025 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award winner for the Northern Territory, with her work focused on improving rural and remote health. Cass Wilson is Executive Officer of the Rural Health Research Foundation, with a career spanning government, corporate and not-for-profit roles and a strong focus on regional communities, partnerships and leadership.

For Kristy, mentoring offered another perspective as she worked through business decisions, built her vision, and sought greater clarity and confidence. For Cass, it was an opportunity to share her leadership experience while also learning from Kristy's background, work and experiences. Over about nine months, their relationship grew into something more than a formal mentor-mentee arrangement.

Together, they explore how trust is built, why setting boundaries matters, the value of showing up consistently, and how mentoring can work without a rigid agenda for every conversation. They also unpack the difference between giving advice and asking curious questions, and why recognising someone's progress can be just as valuable as helping them solve a problem. At its heart, this is a conversation about mentorship as a two-way street, where both people learn, contribute and grow.

Key insights from the conversation:

• Mentoring works best when both people are clear about what they want from the relationship, including what they want to give and take from the experience.

• Trust is built through consistency. Showing up, making time, and prioritising the relationship helps show it matters.

• A mentor doesn't always need to provide the answer. Curious questions such as "Have you thought about this?" can help someone see a challenge differently and find their own way forward.

• Good mentoring can help you see your own progress. An outside perspective can recognise achievements that are easy to overlook when you're caught up in the day-to-day.

• Boundaries matter. Understanding each other's time, commitments and communication preferences can help create a relationship that works for both people.

• Mentoring doesn't have to be rigid. Cass and Kristy found that allowing conversations to respond to whatever was happening at the time helped the relationship feel authentic and genuine.

• The best mentoring relationships are reciprocal. Being a mentee doesn't mean simply receiving support. Taking an interest in your mentor, understanding their experience, and being a sounding board can make the relationship richer for both sides.

Applications are now open for the National Mentoring Initiative. For more information, visit https://rural-leaders.org.au/national-mentoring-initiative/

Listen to the full conversation with Kristy Hollis and Cass Wilson on the Rural Leaders podcast.

Our host: Oli Le Lievre is the host of Rural Leaders, an ARLP Course 28 alum, and the founder of Humans of Agriculture.

Guests: Kristy Hollis is a Naturopath, Herbalist, Reflexologist, and Founder of Women's Business: Nurture and Thrive.

Cass Wilson is the Executive Officer of the Rural Health Research Foundation and The Carolyn Vincent Chair