My Favorite Moments With HSC: An Internship Like No Other
As a young, aspiring professional in the cut-throat, yet exhilarating field of public relations, it can be daunting to find your niche and assimilate yourself in the nitty gritty, industry landscape. Finding a reasonable internship where you don’t go home crying and feeling defeated at the end of the day is even more of a formidable task.
That being said, I am eternally grateful for my internship with Hannah Schneider Creative based in New York City. Through this interactive experience, under the mentorship of some fabulous, boss ladies, I garnered transferrable skills and significantly grew both as a person and as a professional. I was valued as an intern and treated like a true team member.
As the public relations assistant, I had a multitude of tasks ranging from formulating media lists, managing client’s social platforms, pitching editors and influencers and ultimately supporting our clients in their ventures.
This internship goes beyond the scope of making coffee runs and filing papers. Check out why interning with HSC is far from the quintessential “Devil Wears Prada” internship.
1. Developing Social Content
I was assigned to manage the social platforms for a few of our beauty clients and this was such a creative outlet for me. It enabled me to put my writing and social media skills to the test where I had to generate content, not only utilizing my creativity but also aligning with the vision and brand of our clients. My efforts were also expected to generate traffic and increase overall following.
2. Assisting with Photo Shoots
An integral part of building a successful social platform is generating interesting content using authentic visuals that are best representative of the brand. I got to play an active role in this by accompanying the team to shoots where I was either behind the camera or the subject. The food shoots for clients , Kingston Hall and Egg Shop were the best despite salivating over the entrees and drinks while resisting the urge to devour everything in sight.
3. Pitching to the Media
Each day, I would allocate up to 2 hours to pitch to a number of editors and influencers for my assigned clients. For beauty, I would pitch to outlets such as Vogue, Refinery as well as bloggers and beauty influencers prominent on Instagram and You tube. I really honed in on my communication/networking skills through my interactions with other professionals in the field. I learned the importance of developing professional yet meaningful relationships with the media.
4. Meetings on Meetings on Meetings
I was always a part of meetings with clients whether it be meeting with Stephanie Rad to create a social media calendar or meet with Kingston Hall to set up food for content shoots. One meeting in particular, I viewed as the pinnacle in this internship.
A surreal moment for me was getting to see a pitch come to fruition for client, Salt & Vine. Hannah and I met with Deputy Editor, Christine Quinlan to further discuss a potential feature in Food & Wine Magazine. Watching Hannah eloquently present Salt & Vine validated my interest for the field. Oh and we ended up securing the feature by the way because Hannah is a total boss at what she does!
5. The City as my Playground
Usually an introvert, I really broke out of my shell this summer and gradually immersed in the upbeat, collaborative culture of the city that truly never sleeps. With HSC being nestled right in the chic fashion district of SOHO, I met a variety of creative intellectuals and just all around dope people who have a passion for what they do. I never passed up an opportunity to network and observe someone and their craft. I realize how blessed I am for an opportunity to work in NYC so I made the conscious effort to leave my mark and treat everyday as an adventure.
