It’s six a.m on the west coast.
I’m sitting at the kitchen table sipping my coffee, as I’ve done almost every morning for the past few weeks, and I can’t help but wonder why I’m awake and what sane person would do this every day.
As I sip my “always-way-too-hot” cuppa joe, my brain starts to function, I begin to come back to life, and then I realize how much of a morning person this job has made me.
I was nervous and worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up at Arment Dietrich.
Flashback to January, my dad wanted me to do some work on his website.
He put me in touch with Laura Petrolino, and wanted us to somehow fix the issues he was having getting his blogs uploaded to iTunes.
After explaining to him incessantly that I am not a tech person, nor do I understand anything about computers, I gave up on the job and told him it couldn’t be done.
My Internship with Arment Dietrich
Fast forward three months, and my dad informs me that I have an internship opportunity with Arment Dietrich, and that I need to contact Laura once again.
From our initial contact, I was sure she thought I was a total dweeb and not capable of following through.
I reluctantly, and self-doubtingly, sent her my sample work.
Just a little more than a month later, I was thrown into this incredible company’s hands.
Before this internship started, I didn’t know what a virtual company was, or that working remotely meant that people from all over the world, in different time zones, could work together.
What I found most incredible about Gini Dietrich and her team, was the fact that they had created a community and were able to accomplish anything together, even though they weren’t all together in an office every day.
Since I began my internship in June, I already feel like a more capable individual.
An Incredible Experience
This job has kept me on my toes and made me accountable for my actions, two things I hadn’t really experienced before, as I’ve only worked retail at a “mom and pop” outdoor store in my hometown.
Just having been through my first year at college, I can tell how much I’ve grown and changed over the summer.
This internship was proof to myself that I am capable of doing good work and that I shouldn’t doubt myself as much as I do.
I felt engaged, interested, and inspired, especially considering this is a predominantly female company—that talented, extraordinary women are out there doing incredible work.
My boss for the summer was Corina Manea, whom I was shocked to find out resides in Madrid, of all places.
I was confused (and impressed) that she was able to work for a company that works on an east coast time schedule, until she told me, “Don’t worry, I never sleep.”
As a mentor, Corina taught me countless things that I can take with me into any future job or internship.
She’s given me advice, feedback, and encouragement, something I’m sure most sophomores in college aren’t receiving at their first real job.
Of all the things I’ve learned in this position—from the time you should post on Instagram or Twitter to get the most views, to the analytical side of social media—the number one thing I gained from this experience is confidence.
Confidence to know that my work has meaning, and is at a professional level.
Confidence to ask any question (whether or not I think that question is dumb), confidence in my writing, and enough of that confidence to apply to be a writer for an online student journal.
After a year of being turned down left and right at school for things I felt passionately about, this internship has led me to believe that I am good enough for “real world” work.
Overall, this summer has been one for the books, and I just want to thank Gini and her team for giving me this incredible opportunity, and for being the best people whom I was lucky enough to work with during my first real job.
image credit: Paris Fox
