“Sink or swim, which will you choose?”
This is something my Dad has always said to me. It pretty much applies to every aspect in life.
We are all given different opportunities in life, but then it becomes our responsibility to figure out how to tackle them. I believe you don’t truly learn until you’re thrown into the situation: this is where you learn skills first hand that can’t be taught anywhere else.
This was my mentality when I started my summer here at WEVO about ten weeks ago.
So let’s rewind.
It was the middle of May and I had just finished my junior year at St. Lawrence University, majoring in Business and Communications. I had been actively searching for an internship, because that’s what everyone is supposed to do before their senior year right? Like most of my friends and fellow classmates, no one is 100% sure what they want to do for the rest of their life. Everyone is just trying to figure it out.
I had been in contact with WEVO, traveled to Boston for the interview, and was originally denied. I felt defeated. As if this opportunity was given to me and I immediately sunk.
A couple days passed by, then I received an email from WEVO. They actually did need an intern to help with the business development and marketing team. I was ecstatic to be given this opportunity. They warned me that it might start to feel tedious, but it is work that would immensely help their company. I was so determined and driven to make a difference in this and honored that they had given me this opportunity. With this mentality I was very excited to wake up, go to work, and take on anything they threw at me.
On the first day of my internship I was very eager to learn as much as I could. I listened to WEVO presentations, watched numerous tutorials, and played around with all of the platforms I would be using everyday at my new job.
I had little to no experience using Hubspot or LinkedIn Sales Navigator, let alone creating complex Excel spreadsheets. This was an opportunity that I knew I had to swim. And I had to figure it out and swim FAST.
My first task was to cleanse their ABM list, as well as find next contacts for an event they wanted to plan in August. I eagerly took on this task and developed a process to do so.
This consisted of:
- Exploring LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Utilizing advanced search filters to find contacts and their companies
- Researching these companies to confirm they would fall under our target audience
- Finding contact information for each individual
- Transferring information to a spreadsheet
One… by… one…
I thought I was going to be strictly finding contacts for the rest of the summer. Thoughts started to run through my head such as, Is this what it’s like to be an intern? Am I just like any other intern? Is this the work others don’t want to do? What am I learning here?
Then a spark went off. After expanding their targeted list of contacts by about 3x, I was now given an opportunity to do something with all of the information I had collected. All of the contacts I had researched and added to our database were the exact ones we wanted to invite to their August event. This was just the first step into all the amazing experiences that were about to come.
I was introduced to an incredible event coordinator and she and I would work closely with for the next seven weeks. Over this span of time we had built an amazing relationship as she helped me learn the ropes. Then, I was off-creating eVites, paper invites, event landing pages, sending multiple emails and confirming RSVPS, as well as scheduling and taking part in many of the important meetings that were needed to pull off this event. From researching venues and visiting them, to finally creating content such as the program, swag, survey, and slides that were all to be on display at the event! I was even given the opportunity to attend this event, with only a few of our execs. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see first hand the work I put in to make all of this happen, to come full circle and actually be there-in person. It was such a gratifying experience to see my hard work come together. My 3 weeks of finding contacts and looking at little LinkedIn heads, to actually seeing them in person at and event was so surreal.
It was intriguing to learn all of these new skills and the ins and outs of WEVO. It was actually mind-blowing to learn and understand how WEVO tests and optimizes company websites BEFORE going live. Why isn’t everyone doing this?
When you become a part of the WEVO team, your presence has a significant impact. Not only on the individuals you work with, but the company as a whole. No matter how big, small, (or tedious) a task is, everyone is always driven to give it their all. WEVO is made up of amazing, hardworking people who I was fortunate enough to work with this summer. The past two months have been one of the most significant learning experiences I have ever had.
And remember, if you’re ever given an opportunity like mine, be thankful, make the most of it, and always decide to swim.
