Mentorship is having a moment again. Programs are being announced, structures are being formalized, and metrics are being discussed. All of that has value. But at its best, mentorship has never been about systems. It has always been about people.
That’s why Moroch Partners’ recent announcement of the Jack Phifer Mentorship Program stopped me in my tracks, in the best way.
I’ve known Jack Phifer for a long time. Long enough to know that this honor isn’t just deserved; it’s fitting.
Jack and I were roommates at Florida State University. He was a year ahead of me, already modeling something I wouldn’t fully recognize until much later: a seriousness about the craft, a generosity with his thinking, and a quiet confidence that didn’t need to announce itself. When I followed his footsteps to the University of Illinois, where both of us were awarded James Webb Young scholarships, I began to see how mentorship often works. You don’t always sit down and say, “Let me mentor you.” Sometimes you simply live your life in a way that gives others a path to follow.
Jack went on to a storied career at Leo Burnett and later at Moroch. I headed to New York City, working at Compton Advertising, Cunningham & Walsh, and beyond. Different paths, same calling. Today, we’re both still active in the business, and both deeply committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation.
That’s the part worth lingering on.
True mentorship isn’t about control or cloning. It’s not about creating replicas of ourselves. It’s about stewardship. Recognizing that what was given to us was never meant to stop with us. The best mentors don’t just open doors; they teach others how to walk through them with humility, courage, and discernment.
They ask better questions than they give answers.
They listen more than they lecture.
They care about who you are becoming, not just what you can produce.
Jack embodies that posture. He has always understood that advertising, at its best, is about people. And so is mentorship.
Programs like the one Moroch has announced matter because they name what has too often been invisible. They say to younger men and women in the business: You matter enough for us to invest our time, our wisdom, and our attention. And they say to seasoned leaders: Your legacy is not your title; it’s the people you shape.
Mentorship is an art because it requires patience, humility, and presence. It can’t be rushed. It can’t be automated. And it can’t be faked.
Honoring Jack Phifer with a mentorship program isn’t just a celebration of a well lived career. It’s a reminder to all of us, especially those of us who have been around a while, that the most enduring work we do may never appear in a portfolio, a pitch deck, or an award show.
It will show up instead in people who are better prepared, better grounded, and better equipped because someone chose to walk with them for a while.
That’s the art. And Jack has been practicing it for a long time.
Worth thinking about.
Joe Bouch
CEO, 78Madison
78Madison is a full-service marketing communications firm (advertising agency) located in Orlando Florida (Winter Springs). Want to chat about some marketing you need done, give us a shout. jbouch@78madison.com