This past summer I was hired by the agency, Charleston|Orwig as their social media manager intern in Austin, Texas. They are housed in Wisconsin with over 60 employees, but have their social media office located in Texas.
Charleston|Orwig is agricultural client based agency with their focus on the food system. They serve clients with projects such as integrated marketing plans to reputation management.
The Austin office was made up of three people, including myself. There was constant meetings via Skype and phone with other teams, such as the creative team.
Some of my duties as the social media manager included constant control of the agency’s social media handles, creating and designing posts, recording monthly analytics and creating an online campaign for Charleston|Orwig’s social media.
On a day-to-day basis, I reported to the office at 8:30 a.m. (after siting in morning traffic for 45 minutes to travel 9 miles). When there my routine included morning meetings, updating social media accounts, scheduling posts, blog writing and staying in the know of the latest news and information.
Working in a small office where you didn’t the opportunity to get up and walk down the hall to a meeting or to someone else’s office, I found myself quite restless. I took walks and even sat my laptop on boxes so I was able to stand. It’s something you don’t consider until you work in a one-room office space.
I have had past experience in agricultural writing, farm broadcasting and photography. I wanted to seek agency experience to understand the marketing side of companies. So why did a girl who had the comforts of Kansas ranch life give up her summer for bad traffic and a city known for its weirdness? Because I find it important to learn about personal strength and self-interest.
Where ever life may take you, I encourage everyone at some point and time to try sometime outside of their comfort box. If anything, this internship has prepared me for future employment and taught survival skills. They don’t offer college classes on how to check your oil and being financially independent.