Earlier this summer we welcomed our 2017 Career Clarity Summer Intern, Caroline, to the team! She is working in our Public Relations department alongside PR masterminds Ginger Daril and Matt Ramsey, gaining hands-on experience in the marketing world. Here's what she had to say about her first weeks with the Sells Agency.
Hi everyone! My name is Caroline Minor and I am the newest addition to the Sells Agency team (woo hoo!). I was born and raised here in Little Rock, but only truly fell in love with the city after I moved back home for the summer following my freshman year of college. That summer, I realized that Little Rock has everything I could possibly need – job opportunities in my field of study, a thriving (and expanding) urban district, and, last but not least, Big Orange.
This fall, I will be starting my junior year at the University of Arkansas. I plan to graduate with a major in Journalism Ad/PR – the same major I declared my freshman year. I found my passion in high school, and I haven’t considered another major since then. That either means I haven’t done enough exploring, or that I’m exactly where I need to be. I think it’s the latter.
I found this internship through a previous employer who knows Mike Sells very well and suggested that I apply. His exact words were: “They’re a great group of people.” Nothing truer has been said. They are professional, but so easy going. Serious, but high-energy. Their work is important to them and they take it seriously, but they know the value of laughter in the workplace.
On my first day, I arrived fifteen minutes early, eager to get going. When I walked in, the office was right in the middle of the daily traffic meeting, talking about projects and upcoming due dates. The room was surprisingly energetic for it being so early. I could tell that these people love what they do and where they do it.
After the traffic meeting, I spent some time with Ginger and Matt and got settled into my office (I have an office!). Ginger handed me a schedule for the day. I had thirty minute meetings with Landrey, Christa, Megan, Heather, and Drew, who all gave me the low-down on what it’s like to work for Sells Agency. They explained each of their specific roles in the agency and I had the opportunity to ask them questions. These day-one conversations got me oriented in the office, which made me feel a little bit less like that-new-intern-girl. I started my internship with a good understanding of the dynamics of a marketing agency, which was one of the things I was most interested in learning about going into this experience.
Since my first day, I’ve had some memorable experiences. On day three, I joined Matt and Ginger for a PRSA meeting where the chair of the National Board of Directors, Jane Dvorak, spoke about the role PR plays in driving organizations. This was an AMAZING experience. I was in awe – there I was, barely a junior in college, sitting in a room with some of the top names in public relations in Little Rock. So far, that has been one of the highlights of the past two weeks.
The second highlight of my internship has been watching the many ways PR directors influence and interact with the media. I’ve gotten to tag along with Matt as he visits local TV stations to prepare clients for their on-air interviews and I’ve sent pitches to newspaper editors from all around Arkansas. If you know me, and you know how much of a journalism nerd I am, you can probably imagine how much I loved these two tasks.
I am so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to explore PR with Sells Agency, and I cannot thank the team enough for being so welcoming. I’m only 14 days in, but so far, PR is looking like a pretty good career path to me. Over the next month, I’ll be posting more blogs like this one to share my thoughts and experiences as I learn the ins and outs of PR from the very best.