This post is the final of three in a PR series by our fall student intern, Danielle. Collectively, the Blogger Babes team praises Danielle for her kind-heartedness, great follow-up, and unparalleled professional communication skills. We’ll always think of her fondly as we grow and acknowledge the role she played—truly, Danielle has demonstrated the signs of a true leader by leaving a legacy in her wake.
We have no doubt that Danielle will be successful in pursuing her career interests in consumer and brand marketing. It has been just over a month since her last day, and I’m quite nostalgic right now thinking about our time together. I’m proud of Danielle’s closing piece, as I asked her for a summary of her experience with us and much to my surprise and awe, I am deeply humbled by all that she shares below. —Ponn
“Eager to learn, always willing to help out, organized, and thorough.” Internship after internship, that was the feedback I got from employers. Each time I was enthused about the positivity and excited to do more. I was dedicated to presenting my best and making others’ lives easier.
Prior to becoming Blogger Babes PR Assistant, many of my internships groomed me to become an excellent follower of directions, but I was eager to do more and be more. Meeting Ponn Sabra in the spring of 2015 gave me that opportunity. In an informational interview with Ponn over the phone after meeting her in a special, closed Fashion PR Facebook group, her enthusiasm and belief in me was instantly magnetic. After further conversation, Ponn offered me the opportunity to be part of the Blogger Babes team in order to fulfill academic credit for the fall semester. While I expected this opportunity to be more of me doing what I was told, that wasn’t the case at all.
Perhaps the most non-traditional boss I’ve ever had, Ponn gave me the freedom to decide what I wanted to focus my internship on. Though I was excited to get started, my type-A personality was taken aback by the lack of direction and slightly overwhelmed. What initially felt scary turned out to be the best lesson in voicing my ideas, thinking strategically, and holding myself accountable to my own expectations.
After doing thorough research on the Blogger Babes brand, I reported back to Ponn with things I’d be interested in working on. Together, we refined my ideas to come up with three focus areas for my internship:
- traditional PR
- branding, marketing, and imaging
- blogger and influencer relations
These categories ultimately meant I would be working on media relations, social media, and brand-blogger partnerships. Through the course of making a plan and setting goals and objectives, my anxiety about the level of responsibility turned into excitement about the endless possibilities. Sending endless pitch emails, trying to keep up with team correspondence, laying the groundwork for a major partnership, initiating new social media practices, implementing new organizational tools, and doing a bit of blogging wasn’t the easiest, but I felt proud of my deliverables. Often, both the idea and the result came from my head.
The biggest lesson working with the Blogger Babes team and our phenomenal 5k+ women bloggers has taught me: be fearless. Though I may not go jump off a cliff just yet, I feel more confident about owning, voicing, and taking action on my ideas, because they are likely good ones. As I return to internships in corporate PR, I am more inspired to “take up space,” as I call it. Stretch out, share thoughts, give feedback, ask questions, work together, get comfortable.
Oddly, through the tasks of cold-call pitching and more, I’ve learned to take a deep breath, remember that I have fierce potential to be great, and attack my to-do list with passion and smarts.
Many thanks to the inspirational bloggers that are living their passion each day!
Sincerely,
A young woman ready to pursue her dreams.
Have you ever done an internship in PR and/or blogging? What did it teach you? Tell us how you think PR or blogging has affected your outlook on life in the comments below!