The Mentor Handbook

I built Leverage after twenty years leading customer and people teams, watching the same story on repeat: capable people and small businesses working everything out alone, while the person who could save them a year of guessing was one honest conversation away.

Leverage exists to give that conversation a home, and to make sure it leads somewhere. You are the heart of it. Every mentor here is someone I've met personally, because the promise on our badge only means something if it's true.

If anything in this handbook is unclear, email me at hello@leveragementoring.com.au. I read everything.

Leverage is the home of mentoring: a private workspace where a mentee and mentor prepare for sessions, take notes together live, and leave with agreed actions that actually happen. Built for small and mid-sized businesses and the people growing inside them.

Three things make it different:

A home, not just a marketplace. Every pair gets a private space: session plans, live shared notes, actions that carry forward. The next session picks up where the last one ended.

Everything built in. Video calls, agendas, ice-breakers, resources and progress all live inside the workspace. Nothing to install, and sessions are never recorded.

Trust by design. Conversations stay private to the pair. Mentors are vetted personally. The badge is earned, not bought.

There are two ways a mentor ends up on Leverage, and it's worth knowing which describes you, because they work differently.

An invited mentor. Someone who trusts your judgement (a former colleague, a mentee, a friend) invited you into their private workspace. You join free, always. No fees, no subscription, no listing; their plan covers the shared space. You mentor that one person, on your own terms, with all the structure of the platform. Many mentors start here.

A Leverage mentor. You've been vetted, trained and listed on our marketplace with the Vetted badge. Members can find you, book a free intro call, and pay for sessions at your rate and your availability. This is where you earn: 30 or 60 minute sessions, paid automatically a few days after each one.

You can be both at once: listed on the marketplace while also mentoring someone who invited you personally. The rest of this handbook is written mainly for Leverage mentors, though the session guidance applies to everyone.

Founding mentors are simply the first cohort of Leverage mentors: the small, hand-picked group who join before the marketplace opens wide. Same vetting, same badge, same way of earning, plus the extras that come with being first.

• The Founding Mentor badge. Permanent recognition on your profile that you were here first.
• Founding rate. Preferential platform terms locked in for the founding cohort.
• A hand in shaping it. A direct line to Christine. Founding-mentor feedback changes the product, often within days.
• A permanent seat. First access to new features, first pick as the marketplace grows.

The cohort is deliberately small, and not everyone who applies gets a place. That's the point: the badge only means something because it's chosen.

Your path: a 30-minute conversation with Christine, then a personal invite lands in your inbox. Setup takes about 15 minutes across four steps.

Step 1: Profile. Lived experience is the qualification; no CV required. Photo, headline, your story, your rate. Struggling with the blank page? Tell Christine and we'll draft it for you from your intro conversation. You just edit. Lead with what you've done and who you help; specifics beat titles.

Step 2: Availability and rate. You choose what you charge and when you're available. Sessions run 30 or 60 minutes. No minimums, pause any time. Set slots you'll genuinely keep; reliability is the first thing mentees notice.

Step 3: Training guide. A short read on how we run sessions. It's the method behind the badge, so read it properly.

Step 4: Payouts (Stripe). Payouts run through Stripe; we never see or store your bank details. Three things worth knowing: the Stripe link takes around 10 seconds to open, the email Stripe asks for doesn't need to match your Leverage login, and after you submit, verification takes a few minutes. The step ticks complete automatically. Individual or company accounts both work.

Once you submit for review, Christine reviews personally, usually within a day, and you're live.

Your profile carries a short intro video, and it does more work than anything else on the page. Members watch it to decide whether you're their person, which means it replaces dozens of "get to know you" conversations you'd otherwise have one at a time.

Keep it simple:

• 60 to 90 seconds. Shorter than feels natural. It's a hello, not a keynote.
• Phone camera is fine. Good light (face a window), quiet room, look into the lens.
• A simple shape: who you are and what you've actually done, who you help best, what a session with you feels like, and a warm one-line invitation.
• Don't script it word for word. Notes, yes. Reading, no. The whole point is that they meet the real you.

Upload it to YouTube (an unlisted video works well) or Vimeo, and paste the link into your profile. You can re-record and swap it any time.

Coming soon

Some members will want a brief word before booking, and that's fine. A free 15-minute intro call is available on request: they ask, and you choose whether to offer it. Declining is allowed and respected. If you do take one, here's the shape that works:

• Minutes 0 to 2: set the frame. Warm welcome. "Tell me what's going on, I'll share how I'd approach it, and if we're both keen, we book a session."
• Minutes 2 to 9: their situation. Mostly listen. Aim to give one genuinely useful observation; that single nugget is what converts curiosity into commitment.
• Minutes 9 to 12: how it works. What a full session looks like, how you like to work, what the workspace does. If you offer a discount code for people you know, this is the natural moment.
• Minutes 12 to 15: close before the clock does. "If this felt useful, book a session and come with the X question; I'll come prepared." Be straight about fit, both ways. A graceful no protects your time and their money.

Afterwards, thirty seconds in the app: mark "Happy to mentor" or "Not the right fit". Members never see your reason, just a kind, neutral message.

You're notified by email and in the app, with the member, date, time and what you earn, plus a calendar invite that drops it straight into your diary. The member gets the same. Reminders go out 24 hours and 1 hour before, and the video room opens inside the shared space 15 minutes early.

The member fills in Session prep before you meet: what they want to work on and what would make it useful. You never walk in cold.

Cancellations: more than 48 hours out, members receive a full refund; 24 to 48 hours, a session credit; inside 24 hours, the session stands. If you need to cancel, the member is always refunded in full. Quick responses to bookings are half the magic of this working.

Open lightly. An ice-breaker question is there if you want it, and the member's prep tells you exactly where to start.

Think together, live. The shared canvas: both of you type at the same time, and notes save automatically. Video runs right beside it. Nothing to install, never recorded.

Agree what happens next. Capture one or two actions with owners and dates. Actions carry forward automatically, so nothing falls through the cracks.

Complete the session. One click locks in the recap. The next session opens with what you agreed. That continuity is why results compound, and why mentees rebook.

85% of every session fee is yours. Leverage keeps 15% to run the platform. Your rate, your terms; change it any time (existing bookings keep the price paid).

Paid automatically. Money lands in your bank about 4 business days after each completed session, via Stripe. No invoicing, no chasing.

The guarantee never touches you. Members get a first-session guarantee. If one is refunded, the platform wears it. It never comes out of your payout.

Generosity, built in. Offer discount codes to people you know, donate some or all of your income to a charity you choose (it shows on your profile), or offer a free community session. All optional, all your call.

Tax stays simple. Your income is yours to declare and GST is your own affair; if you're GST registered, set your rate inclusive. Talk to your accountant about your situation.

The badge is a leadership signal: you were chosen to guide others, and you give your experience forward. Display it where your professional world can see it.

• Headline. Add "Vetted Mentor @ Leverage Mentoring" alongside your role.
• Experience entry. Add a position: Mentor, Leverage Mentoring, with two lines on who you help, linking your profile page.
• Featured section. Pin your Leverage profile link so anyone visiting can book you directly.
• About section. One sentence: "I mentor founders and leaders through Leverage, passing on what I learned the hard way."

Two ready-to-edit announcement posts are in your launch kit email. Edit freely; your voice beats our template. Tag Leverage Mentoring and we'll amplify every post.

Your own network is your first bookings, and sharing is how the platform grows.

• Share your link. Your public profile has its own URL; put it in your email signature.
• Tell the person, not the crowd. The highest-converting share is one message: "I've started mentoring, and you're exactly who I had in mind. The first 15 minutes is free." Send it to three people this week.
• Point businesses at Teams. Know an SME owner wearing five hats? Send them leveragementoring.com.au/for-teams.

• Something broken or unclear? Email hello@leveragementoring.com.au. Christine reads everything, usually same day.
• Want your profile improved? Send nothing; we'll draft it for you and you edit.
• Payouts question? Your Stripe Express dashboard shows every payout and lets you update bank details any time.
• Need to step away? Pause your availability whenever life happens. Your profile stays, your badge stays.
• An awkward mentee situation? Tell us early. You never have to manage a difficult dynamic alone.
• Have an idea? Founding mentors shape the product. If a session made you think "this would be better if...", say so.