“By a show of hands, how many of us spend more time thinking about ‘I can’t do, I don’t have, I’m not good enough’ versus ‘what I can do, what I do have, and what I am good at’?” Deb Hult, an expert in relational leadership, asks a group of students.
Every student raises their hand. Hult had just gotten off the plane a few hours before she stepped into Warhawk Hall. Today, she was spending her time in Virginia, but by the very next week, she could be in Florida, Ohio or halfway across the globe.
Once a month from August through December, Hult and her son, Trever Hult, visit Madison to train students in the Madison Mentors program. This organization gives an upperclassman mentor to every freshman student who provides personal, peer guidance and helps welcome the 9th grade class into the school community. Before meeting with their small group of freshmen in their monthly “Connects,” the mentors learn from Hult, who teaches them how to better connect with their freshmen mentees and how she envisions student mentorship.
“People always say ‘why do you want to work with kids?’” Hult said. “Why do you not want to work with kids?…It’s my purpose.”
Becoming an orphan at the age of seven, Hult had faced many hardships in her childhood, including abuse and the deaths of five siblings.
“My upbringing was not the kind that you [would] want to tell everyone about,” Hult said. “I lived in foster homes; I was a runaway because I was just told I was stupid; I was abused.”
Yet, through the hardships, Hult became the only one of her eight siblings to graduate high school and go to college.
“I did not do that because I’m amazing,” Hult said. “I did that because…[I] just always knew that there was something more.”
Along with her innate drive, Hult’s Christian beliefs and the mentors in her life, including her teachers, coaches, teammates and siblings, guided her through the tough times of her childhood and pushed her to continue striving for a better version of her life.
“I have so much gratitude because I was able to graduate high school because I had teachers [and] coaches that said ‘hey you can do this, you can do this, hey Deb, don’t settle’,” Hult said.
Inspired by her own mentors, Hult now dedicates her time to teaching students the importance of mentorship and the power of positive connections.
“Deb and Trev are awesome,” mentor Kennedy Turner (’26) said. “They both told us how others have treated them with kindness and how it saved their lives. Similarly, by trying to treat our freshmen with kindness, we have the chance to make an impact on them as well…Their message and motivation definitely puts me in the right headspace for how I will approach my freshman group.”
During training, Hult focuses on helping students develop their self confidence, an attitude of gratitude and cultivate a positive mindset towards oneself and others. As she tells student mentors often, “you can’t give what you don’t have”.
Asha Jha (’26) has been in leadership training with Hult for the past two years. This year, she helps run the Madison Mentors program as a lead, serving as a model and guide for new mentors. For Jha, Hult’s lessons about having a positive mindset have been especially valuable.
“One of the most important things I’ve learned is that a leader’s behavior can shape the entire atmosphere of a room. When we enter with positivity, confidence and a smile, that energy spreads to others,” Jha said. “Most importantly, maintaining a positive mindset has improved my adaptability and resilience which are skills that will aid my professional success.”
As a cofounder of Core Trainings, Hult has provided leadership training to more than just Madison Mentors. She has traveled the world teaching relational leadership at athletic associations, women’s conferences and even the United Nations in Papua New Guinea. Hult’s speaking has impacted thousands across the globe, but her message isn’t about thousands, it is about connecting with the people right around you.
“Connections are what we live for,” Hult said. “At the end of the day, every single one of us is equipped to help the person we once were, and that’s why I love mentoring.”
