‘Would you like to do an internship with us?’
‘Yes please!’.
*Your ticket from Rome to London has been booked* To many, this might seem an irrational and drastic decision. I mean, why leave Italy in the middle of summer to go and do a two-week internship in rainy London?
Everybody knows what the inevitable routine of a short internship is: you make coffee, you awkwardly eat lunch alone, and if you’re lucky, you get a task that’s slightly more challenging than alphabetising the company files. They all promise you ‘an insight’ in the industry, when in fact we all know that the most insight you will get is how much free fruit the employees get (in my experience, not much).
But you see, this wasn’t just a normal PR agency. This was Milk & Honey PR — a seven month old startup composed of a team of four, that in its few months of functionality had already a wide portfolio of big clients. I had a feeling about them, one that could not be ignored.
From the very first minute I knew that my time at the agency was not going to mold into the usual deathly routine and that my abrupt decision was right.
Welcome smiles and cake!
I was welcomed not only by three huge smiles (who all knew my name!) but also a cupcake on my desk and a team handbook. 30 minutes later I was attending the week’s briefing, and three hours later I was having my little packed lunch with the whole team in the sunshine.
In those two weeks I think I must have learnt what an average intern learns in six months. Being a small team and a growing agency, trying to kill time until the hour that marked the end of the working day was a thing of the past.
My opinion was listened to and valued as if I had been there since day one. I was given actual responsibility and enough space to start elaborating and executing strategies on my own. All the while, right beside me I had three lovely ladies that were always there to lend guidance and a laugh no matter how stupid my query… ‘errr how do I switch on this Mac?!’.
By the end of the two weeks I not only achieved what I thought was unthinkable: I got over my phone call phobia (trust me, that’s an achievement!) and secured our clients actual coverage in actual publications!
But aside from that I believe to have gained something even greater: three new friends and a belief in myself that I can actually do a good job. Two things that I deem to be invaluable.
Only a week has passed since I’ve been gone and it’s safe to say that I am having a bit of Milk & Honey withdrawal symptoms.
So why did this internship work?
It wasn’t a bunch of employees. It was a little family.
It wasn’t an office—but a little hive.
Bzzz.
