Families, students and young professionals in Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett and across the river and state lines can work with a Blackburn mentor by video. Each person meets one dedicated mentor weekly or more often, scheduled in Central time, with text and phone contact between sessions. Our team is in Los Angeles, so Memphis mentoring is fully online; in-person sessions are available only in Los Angeles.
A river city that moves the country’s packages
Memphis sits on bluffs above the Mississippi where Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi meet. Its economy is built on logistics: a global air cargo hub, rail lines, river barges, interstates and miles of distribution warehouses. Health care and medical research are the other pillar, anchored by a world-known children’s research hospital and large hospital systems. Music, food and a deep civil rights history give the city its identity. Families live from Midtown and East Memphis to Germantown and Collierville, and many commute in from DeSoto County, Mississippi, or West Memphis, Arkansas.
Night shifts and family schedules
A logistics city runs around the clock, and plenty of Memphis households have a parent working nights, early mornings or rotating shifts. That can leave a teenager on their own in the evening, or a young adult on an overnight sort struggling to build a daytime routine. Mentors work with that reality:
- Schedule the intro call around a parent’s shift so they can join when it matters.
- Help a student build an after-school routine that does not depend on an adult being home.
- Help a young adult on a night schedule protect sleep, eat reasonably and still make progress on bigger goals.
A mentor does not supervise or provide childcare. The goal is a plan the student owns.
Memphis by the numbers
Census figures for the three-state Memphis metro, and what to take from them:
- Fewer than 1 in 10 workers (9.92 percent) work from home (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024, via Data USA). Most parents are on site, on the road or on a shift, so evening and midday session times matter.
- A median age of 36.8 (ACS 2024, via Data USA). This is a young metro with a lot of people starting careers, and many of those careers begin on a warehouse floor or in a hospital support role.
- Median household income of $66,401 and median property value of $245,900 (ACS 2024, via Data USA). Housing costs well under the Nashville metro’s $409,600, so a first apartment is a realistic goal for a young adult with a steady job and a plan.
- About 54,200 university students live in the metro (ACS 2024, via Data USA). Many stay close and live at home, and a mentor helps a commuting student treat college as a full commitment rather than something squeezed between shifts.
- An average commute of 24.3 minutes (ACS 2024, via Data USA) in a spread-out, car-dependent metro. A student without a license or a ride can find the whole week organized around who can drive, and video removes at least one trip.
Source for metro figures: Data USA, Memphis metro profile.
The Memphis year and its two career ladders
Most Tennessee schools go back in early to mid-August (WeAreTeachers, citing MDR data for the 2026 to 27 school year, Tennessee state level), so July is the time to set up a mentor before the year begins. Summers are long, hot and humid, which makes outdoor jobs genuinely draining. Spring is storm season, and winters are mostly mild, with the occasional ice storm that shuts things down for a day or two. Thanksgiving and winter break bring college students home.
Two big employment ladders define early careers here. The logistics world offers entry jobs that can grow into supervision, commercial driving or maintenance roles, and the medical district supports a long list of health care positions, from technicians to nursing. Midtown, Cooper-Young and South Main keep the city’s music heritage alive, which draws young players, producers and engineers who juggle creative work with a paycheck. A teen might live in Southaven, play ball in Germantown and work a summer job in Cordova, crossing a state line without thinking about it.
Situations that come up often in Memphis
- A senior in DeSoto County weighs staying in Mississippi against crossing the line for school or work.
- A young adult who started on a distribution center floor wants a concrete path toward a supervisor role or a commercial license.
- A student drawn to health care compares shorter support roles with longer degree programs before committing years to one.
- A young producer in Midtown builds a portfolio at night while holding down a day job.
Memphis families most often ask whether we serve North Mississippi and East Arkansas, whether sessions fit around overnight shifts, and whether a mentor can help a teen with motivation and attendance or a young adult with job readiness. For that last one, see job search coaching for young adults.
Session times from Memphis
Memphis is two hours ahead of Los Angeles. The difference never changes, since Central and Pacific time both move their clocks on the same nights.
| Slot | Memphis (Central) | Mentor (Pacific) |
|---|---|---|
| After school | 4:00 pm | 2:00 pm |
| After school | 5:00 pm | 3:00 pm |
| After work | 6:30 pm | 4:30 pm |
| Before a night shift | 8:00 pm | 6:00 pm |
For a young adult who works overnight, a midday or early-afternoon slot is often easiest, and early-morning and weekend sessions are available too. We sort out the best time on the intro call.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor is one consistent person who helps set goals, breaks them into weekly steps and checks in between sessions. For high school students, a parent or guardian is always involved and gets regular progress updates; see mentoring for high school students. Our online mentoring page explains how video mentoring works, and our guide to getting into health care without a degree is a useful read.
Nearby and related
- Online mentoring and coaching in Tennessee
- Online mentoring in Nashville
- Online mentoring in Birmingham, Alabama
- Online mentoring in New Orleans
- Online mentoring in Little Rock
- Online mentoring in Jackson, Mississippi
Common questions
What time are sessions for Memphis families?
Sessions are scheduled in Central time. A 4 pm after-school session is 2 pm for the mentor, and a 6:30 pm session after work is 4:30 pm in California. Midday, early-morning and weekend slots are available for shift workers.
Do you serve DeSoto County, Mississippi and West Memphis, Arkansas?
Yes. Mentoring is by video, so families in North Mississippi and eastern Arkansas work with a mentor the same way as families in Shelby County. Sessions are scheduled in Central time.
Can sessions be scheduled around shift work?
Yes. Many Memphis clients or their parents work overnight or rotating shifts. Mentors can meet midday, early in the morning or on weekends, and a session can move when a schedule changes.
Is mentoring in person or by video in Memphis?
By video. Our team is in Los Angeles, and in-person sessions happen only there. Text and phone contact between sessions keeps the plan going during the week.
My child is home alone after school while I work. Can a mentor help?
A mentor helps the student build and follow their own after-school plan, with check-ins between sessions. A mentor does not supervise or provide childcare.
Get started
Would a conversation about a student or young adult in Memphis help? 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.
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Free, by video, 20 minutes, with a member of our team. Weekdays 9 to 5 Pacific.