"Don’t take your voice for granted. Speak up"…and other killer Life Lessons from the inspirational Miriam González Durántez, Nicola Mendelsohn and Charlie Webster

Words: Alexandra Jones, Lizzie Pook. Photography: Adrian Lourie/Evening Standard/Eyevine

Who do you go to for advice? We’ve all been there floored by indecision at a momentous metaphorical crossroads. At those times, good advice – the kind that makes you re-evaluate the job offer you thought you’d spill blood for, or realise that worrying about things you can’t control is a waste of mental energy – is more valuable than you’d ever imagine. And the person offering that advice, infinitely more valuable still.

According to a recent LinkedIn survey, 83% of 1,000 female respondents agreed that having a mentor to offer the conversational equivalent of a guiding hand, was crucial to their lives and careers, but nearly a fifth admitted to never having had one. And that’s where Stylist’s Life Lessons comes in, our event series where three inspiring women offer up the single most important lesson they’ve learned in their lives.

The theme of the evening was mentors – who had them, who didn’t and how to get one. Charlie, who resigned as a patron of Sheffield United FC after they allowed convicted rapist Ched Evans to return to training, began with a call to action: if you don’t have someone who inspires you, then it is your job to inspire others. Then Facebook VP Nicola offered the best piece of advice we’ve ever heard about the power of whistling. And finally, Miriam talked about finding inspiration in Kung Fu Panda. If only we could get each of them on speed dial…

At our third (and biggest) Life Lessons event, held on Tuesday 31 March in Soho’s Ham Yard Hotel, sports journalist and women’s rights campaigner Charlie Webster, Facebook vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Nicola Mendelsohn, and international trade lawyer and founder of mentoring charity Inspiring Women, Miriam González Durántez (who also happens to be married to deputy PM Nick Clegg) took to the stage to speak. And judging by the sold-out crowd, Stylist readers were as eager to hear what they had to say as we were.

Life Lessons Part 3: Nicola Mendelsohn, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez & Charlie Webster on what every woman should know