My First Internship

It’s a personal story today.

As a young, bright-eyed and bushy tailed college grad, I did everything I could to work at The Richards Group. The way that I secured my summer internship was unconventional. The recruiters that came to UT-Austin to talk to us about media careers in the spring said summer internships were already filled, but he gave me the contact of the recruiter if I was interested in going for an informational interview.

I took him up on his offer when I knew I’d be up there. I contacted the recruiter telling her that I’d be in town (thinking: oh, she going to say they’re too busy or turn me down somehow). To my delight, she said, ‘come on down, we’d love to show you around.’ While I was there, she was also able to arrange a few impromptu interviews. Being me, who was always prepared, I was ready.

Long story short here, an opening came up. Someone had turned down the slot and there was my chance to be a media intern that summer. I panicked. I knew no one in Dallas. There wasn’t possibly anyone who would shelter me for a few months. But also being me, I started asking around and made a 3rd degree connection with a random stranger. For the first week of the internship, I had no housing; I was going back to an extended stay hotel. I told myself it was worth it. I will make it work.

This is all to say that we all have given sacrifices to chase our dreams. I am grateful for my experience at The Richards Group, the good and the bad. At the end of the day, they took a chance on me (which they didn’t have to). They saw my work ethic and grit, and they knew I had the drive to do what it took to get the job done. They saw something. Oh boy, did they challenge me the first year in this ad industry.

Although his remark is inexcusable and shouldn’t have been said, we shouldn’t let one moment define a person’s legacy. It was a costly blunder, yes. A costly blunder that will serve as an example for all the other advertising executives out there.

As I’ve said:

‘It’s not a company thing, it’s an industry thing.’

If we don’t continue to actively move the needle and put action behind our words, everyone loses — the agency employees caught in the crossfire, the clients who don’t have access to the brilliant talent, and the founder who built the company on his or her back. Nobody wins. Complacency is killer in any industry, but especially in a creative one.