Searching for a coach or mentor in Downtown Los Angeles? Blackburn Mentoring gives each client one dedicated mentor who meets in person in Los Angeles or by video. Downtown, that usually means young professionals and students working on career, money and routines. You set the goals, break them into weekly steps and have text and phone contact with your mentor between sessions.

Living and working downtown

Over the last twenty years Downtown has become a place people live, not just commute to. Lofts in the Arts District and the Historic Core, and newer towers in South Park and on Bunker Hill, are full of people in their twenties and thirties working in law, finance, government, design and tech. Several colleges and universities sit at the edges of Downtown, so students are part of the mix too.

What young professionals bring to a mentor

The first few years of a career. Learning how a workplace really runs, getting noticed and handling a hard manager (your first 90 days in a new job)
Long hours. Protecting sleep, exercise and relationships when billable or deadline-driven work keeps expanding (preventing burnout at work)
Money. Rent, loans and a savings plan, plus the habits that keep a good salary from vanishing
Big decisions. Graduate school, a career switch or a move (should I go to grad school)
Building a life. Friends, interests and routines outside work in a neighborhood that can feel anonymous

Our page on coaching for professionals covers this in more depth.

What a session looks like

A typical session is practical. You review last week’s commitments, talk about what got in the way and choose a few specific actions for the coming week, for example blocking two evenings for the gym, drafting a note to a mentor at work or setting up an automatic transfer to savings. The mentor checks in midweek by text and asks about the hard one. Over a couple of months those small loops change how the week feels.

Students downtown

Students at Downtown campuses often commute, work and live in a dense, busy area with a lot of distractions. A mentor helps them build a weekly plan, use office hours and line up internships early. Mentors do not tutor. More on mentoring for college students.

Meeting downtown or on video

Downtown has the best transit access in the region, with several Metro lines meeting at 7th Street and Union Station, and it is walkable in parts. Even so, many professionals here find a video session at 7 a.m. or over lunch is the only time that reliably stays free. Mentors meet in person in Los Angeles when a longer conversation helps, for example over a coffee or a walk.

Getting started

Fill out the assessment. The five-minute assessment covers who the mentoring is for and what you want to change.
Talk it through. Someone on our team reads it personally, then books a free intro call to cover goals, schedule and rates.
Get matched. You are paired with one mentor whose background and approach suit you.
Begin. Sessions run 60 minutes, weekly or several times a week, by video around the workday or in person in Los Angeles, on a monthly plan.

Downtown before dawn and after dark

Downtown keeps hours unlike anywhere else in the city. The Flower and Fashion districts are busy before sunrise with wholesale trade, the courts and government offices fill by eight, and game nights and concerts flood the streets around South Park. Weekends feel different again: Grand Park and Little Tokyo draw crowds, while some office blocks go almost silent. Chinatown, Boyle Heights and Echo Park sit right at the edges, and the 110, the 10 and the 101 all meet nearby.

Work downtown is not only law and finance. Government, garment and wholesale trade, hospitality, health care and startups all employ people here, many of them young. Families are fewer than in most neighborhoods, though their number is growing, and teenagers who live downtown grow up in a very adult setting. Students commute in from across the region, and young adults often rent their first apartment here because the building has a gym and the train is a block away.

Situations that come up often in Downtown Los Angeles

A young adult in wholesale or garment work whose day starts before dawn and who wants evening time for a class or a side business.
A student who commutes downtown by train and has long gaps between classes that could be put to better use.
Someone who moved into a loft for an office job, now works mostly from home and has almost no reason to leave the building.
A first-generation professional in a government or legal office learning the unwritten rules nobody explains.
A family raising a teenager downtown who wants a steady adult to help with routines and plans for after high school.

Downtown is about as central as it gets, so in-person sessions in Los Angeles are often the easy option, set at a convenient, appropriate place that works for both sides, with video on weeks when a deadline or trial takes over. Texts and phone calls keep the thread between meetings. Read about mentoring sessions by video and our wider mentoring and coaching in Los Angeles page.

Common questions

I work very long hours. Is mentoring realistic?

Yes. Thirty-minute sessions and short text check-ins are designed for busy schedules, and sessions can be early or at lunch.

Is this the same as an executive coach?

Not exactly. Mentoring covers career goals and also money, health, routines and relationships, with weekly accountability between sessions.

Can a mentor help me decide on graduate school?

A mentor helps you think it through, gather information and make a decision you can stand behind. Admissions advice belongs with the program or an admissions professional.

How do I know if it is working?

You and your mentor review progress against your goals regularly and adjust the plan. If something is not working, it changes.

Get started

Looking for a mentor or coach in Downtown Los Angeles? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.

Mentor and Coach in Downtown Los Angeles