You Changed My Life, The Most Meaningful Words a Mentor Can Hear
Rasha Oudeh is a serial entrepreneur working across Switzerland and Germany, a board director, and an international expansion expert with over 25 years of experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She is the CEO of Global Match AG and Chairwoman of CEDEM AG. She holds an Executive MBA from Frankfurt School and the IMD Board Director Diploma.
“You changed my life.” For me, few words carry more meaning. After years of mentoring entrepreneurs, I have learned that intelligent, capable founders often need someone to help them connect the dots. Through personal stories and eight practical steps, I share how mentors can turn experience into useful guidance, make support more accessible, and help others move forward independently.
The moment I understood what remains
In 2020, I spent nearly twelve days in a critical care unit in Frankfurt with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). One night, as my breathing became difficult, I experienced what felt like a long corridor filled with faces. Among them were people who had worked with people I had taught and me.
In that moment, I felt less afraid. Something of my life would remain in theirs. I describe this experience in the introduction to my book, Leadership Without Sugarcoating: The Decision, the Price, and What Remains. It helps explain why mentoring has become such an important purpose in my life.
When someone tells me, “You changed my life,” I know they did the work. They made the decisions and carried the responsibility. Knowing that my guidance helped them find their direction is an achievement I carry with me.
I remember not knowing whom to ask
I grew up with very modest means in Ashrafiyeh, in an informally built part of Amman. I had dreams but little access to people who could explain entrepreneurship, money, or how to build a different future.
How did people start companies? How did they negotiate? How could someone with limited resources move forward without losing everything?
Many answers came through experience, including expensive mistakes. Today, I want those lessons to become useful to someone else. A founder should have the opportunity to ask difficult questions before committing savings, signing a partnership agreement, or spending months developing an untested idea.
Entrepreneurs need someone to connect the dots
The entrepreneurs I meet are often smart, resourceful, and knowledgeable about their ideas. They have observations and instincts. Sometimes, they struggle to see how everything fits together.
A founder may understand her product but overlook its delivery costs. She may recognise an opportunity without knowing how to test demand. She may sense that a partnership is wrong but struggle to explain why.
My role is to put those pieces in front of her and help her examine the connections. I listen, ask questions, challenge assumptions, and explain possible consequences. I want her to use her instincts with better information and stronger judgment. Sometimes, one conversation opens someone’s eyes to a connection they had not seen before.
Agnes: From tote bags in Jordan to investing in African founders
My first mentee was Agnes Aistleitner, an Austrian entrepreneur I met in Jordan. She was building Teenah, a small social enterprise helping women earn an income by sewing tote bags.
Agnes cofounded Teenah with Raneem Meqbel in Irbid, northern Jordan, creating work opportunities for Syrian refugee and Jordanian women. A practical product became a means of supporting more sustainable livelihoods.
Today, Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule is cofounder and managing partner of First Circle Capital, a venture capital firm investing in financial technology (fintech) founders across Africa. Seeing her journey from entrepreneurship in Jordan to supporting other founders as an investor is deeply rewarding. Her achievements belong to her. I am grateful to have contributed along the way.
She later wrote to me: “Rasha has been an incredibly important mentor and a dear friend to me throughout my career. She has a unique ability to simplify complexity and bring you back to what really matters: focus and execution.”
Focus and execution are exactly what I hope a founder takes from our conversations.
Duha: The mentee who became my teacher
Duha Saleh, a Jordanian physicist, researcher, and digital educator, introduced me to another world through Physics Fun. She helped me understand the gaps she saw in Arabic educational content online and her determination to make physics more accessible. She also authored الفيزياء بين البساطة والدهاء, Physics Between Simplicity and Ingenuity.
Today, I am supporting her next venture: an online shop offering educational games and learning tools related to physics. We examine how to translate her knowledge into a clear offer, identify customers, communicate the products’ value, and prepare the business for launch.
I bring commercial experience. She brings scientific knowledge and an understanding of her audience. I continue to learn from her.
Mentors need that curiosity. Experience does not mean we have finished learning.
Zein and Soleen: Opening another world through football
Zein Twal and Soleen Zoibi came to me with an idea for a women’s football academy in Jordan. We worked through the business questions together, and I shared the experience I could contribute. Their journey introduced me to women pursuing football seriously and creating opportunities for others through sport.
Their work through Finaa connects football with confidence, leadership, and community. It also expanded my understanding of a field I previously knew little about.
They understood their sport and its participants. I helped them examine the business around it. Effective mentoring begins with respecting the founder’s expertise while strengthening the areas they have not yet developed.
8 practical steps for mentors
Whether mentoring is free or paid, the conversation should produce something the entrepreneur can use. These are the steps I recommend.
1. Prepare before the meeting
Ask for a short description of the business, its stage, the target customer, available resources, and the three main challenges. If the business is operating, request basic figures: sales, prices, costs, and cash needs. A simple summary is enough to begin. Preparation gives you more time to examine decisions during the session.
2. Agree on a specific achievement
Ask: “What should be clearer or completed by the end of our conversation?” The answer could be a pricing decision, a defined customer, a plan for testing a product, or questions for a potential partner.
Set a realistic outcome. In one, two, or three focused hours, you can often clarify a concept and identify priorities. Implementation takes continued work.
3. Examine the connections across the business
Look beyond the question the founder brings. A marketing problem may begin with an unclear offer. A sales problem may involve pricing or distribution. A funding request may reveal gaps in financial planning.
My background in information technology (IT) and programming, alongside experience in branding, sales, trading, and exports, helps me connect these areas. As I discuss in International Expansion Is Not a Sales Strategy, opportunities require preparation and execution. Founders need to understand what their plans will demand across the whole business.
4. Leave the founder with three actions
End with a short written plan. Give each action an owner, a deadline, and a clear result.
For example:
Interview five potential customers and record their objections.
Calculate the full cost of delivering one product or service.
Test one offer before committing to a larger launch.
At the next meeting, review what happened and what the founder learned. Adjust the plan when the evidence changes.
5. Make pricing flexible and expectations clear
Paid mentoring and coaching can overlap through questioning, reflection, accountability, and action planning. Explain what your service includes and where its limits lie.
Where appropriate, consider a shorter session, reduced scope, instalments, or a limited number of places at a reduced fee. Agree on the fee, preparation, follow-up, and additional work before starting. Flexibility should help someone access useful support while keeping the arrangement sustainable.
My mentoring through Amali Switzerland is entirely free. I also offer paid mentoring by the hour or by project to entrepreneurs who can afford it, and put earnings from that work back into Amali.
6. Bring in expertise you cannot provide
You do not need to answer every question yourself. When a founder needs an accountant, lawyer, developer, or another specialist, help define the task before making an introduction.
Specify the expected deliverable, who will engage the expert, and whether there is a cost. Share background information only with the founder’s permission.
For example: “We need an accountant to review these costs and help establish a monthly cash flow forecast.” You can help the founder prepare questions and understand the specialist’s proposal. Be transparent about any referral benefit you receive.
7. Measure progress through evidence
Ask what changed after the session. Has the founder tested demand, corrected a price, understood cash needs, or made a more informed partnership decision?
Revenue is one measure. Avoiding an unnecessary expense or identifying a weak assumption can also be meaningful progress. Ask the founder to explain what they now understand and what they can do independently.
8. Protect trust and expect commitment
Keep business information confidential. Ask permission before sharing someone’s story or making introductions.
Explain difficult feedback clearly and respectfully. Leave room for the founder to question your advice.
Expect preparation and follow-through. If actions repeatedly remain unfinished, discuss the obstacle and reset expectations. Continuing to schedule meetings will have limited value until you understand what is preventing progress.
Generosity needs commitment on both sides
I have offered considerable time freely. Some people used it thoughtfully and remained deeply appreciative. Others accepted support without preparation, action, or even a word of thanks.
Those experiences taught me to establish clearer expectations. I want to give generously, and I want the person receiving support to take their ambition seriously. Commitment makes the time useful for both of us.
Through Amali, I want more women to access practical business knowledge and experienced guidance, particularly those who would otherwise struggle to reach it. I see this need in parts of the Middle East and Africa. I also work with European entrepreneurs who need help connecting different aspects of their businesses. Technology, competition, and changing customer expectations create new questions everywhere.
What I want to leave behind
In Why I Wrote Leadership Without Sugarcoating, I reflect on the decisions behind achievements, including mistakes and their consequences. Mentoring gives those lessons another purpose: helping someone think through the decision in front of them.
When I say I want to “die empty,” I mean that I want to share what I have learned while I can still make it useful. I hope more experienced businesspeople will do the same. Begin with one founder. Listen carefully. Agree on a useful outcome. Help them take an informed step, then review what happened.
One day, they may tell you, “You changed my life.” You will know how much work they did themselves. You will also know that something you learned became valuable in someone else’s hands.
For me, that is an achievement worth working towards. To explore mentoring or contribute your experience, visit Amali Switzerland or contact me.
Read more from Rasha Oudeh
Rasha Oudeh, Entrepreneur & International Expansion Expert
Rasha Oudeh is a serial entrepreneur and international expansion expert who has built, grown, and successfully exited businesses. As CEO of Global Match AG, she supports companies with market entry, cross-border execution, strategic partnerships, and introductions to investment opportunities between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She is also Chairwoman of CEDEM AG, where she pursues her passion for women’s health and preventive healthcare. Beyond business, she leads Amali Switzerland, a nonprofit entrepreneurship initiative. She is the author of the forthcoming book Leadership Without Sugarcoating and holds an Executive MBA from Frankfurt School and the IMD Board Director Diploma.
