My name is Claire Sheriff and I was a Marketing Intern for Nativa during the Spring 2021 semester. It’s so important to get an honest look into an internship and prior employees’ experiences in the role. Therefore, I’d love to tell you about my Nativa Marketing Internship experience!
How I Got My Start at Nativa
As a junior in college, the pressure was on to find an internship. I felt like my peers had it all figure out and I was falling behind. My biggest obstacle was my longing for something that actually matched my interests. I didn’t want to apply to anything that was available and cross my fingers. I wanted to apply to companies that fit my values and were going to benefit me just as much as I benefit them.
So, the search began. I perused countless job postings and applied to everything that seemed like a good fit. Then, I found Nativa! Partner Eric Diaz got back to me fairly quickly after I initially applied and we set up an interview. The multicultural aspect of the agency really intrigued me because I want to work in a marketing environment that has a global perspective. It’s also more important than it ever has been to be incorporate multicultural perspectives in your work. When my interview came around I could tell the company culture right away. Eric was very receptive to everything I had to say and he put an emphasis on the fact that he wants his interns to do the work that they are interested in. That was the biggest push for me to accept the position.
My Nativa Intern Experience
As I took on the Marketing Intern position at Nativa, I got a great grasp on what my Marketing major may bring me in the future. This was my first official internship past some social media work for a small business. I finally got to see the agency side of the marketing industry and it has been a great learning experience for me. The most important thing as a student/person that wants to go into marketing is deciding what route you want to take. Do you want to work at an agency with multiple clients or are you looking to work for one specific brand? Once you figure that out, it’s time to decide what you want to do: social media, data analytics, branding, etc.? That’s why internships give a great peek into what may be the best fit for you! At Nativa I got to work agency side in social media and analytics. There are also opportunities to work directly with the Nativa clients, you just have to ask! I decided that I’d be interested in social media and analytics in the future, but maybe less social media. I realized that since social media is such a large part of my personal life, I’d like to be able to log off at work, however, I’m still open to it!
Some Important Takeaways
My biggest takeaway from Nativa was the way we operated. Eric made it very clear as to what he expected from every intern each day. I’m currently working a second job at a start-up magazine where I’m in charge of operations as well as marketing. My time at Nativa and working with Eric allowed me to shadow how he ran things and apply that to my other role. This internship showed me how to delegate tasks and ask questions that need to be addressed without hesitation. I’ve also created the infrastructure for our publication so everybody is very clear on what their role is. If your employees have clear expectations set for them, they’ll exceed anything you could expect from them.
The Nativa environment promotes a place of work that hones in on your interests and utilizes them to make you as successful as possible in your role. I try to implement that in not only my work life but also in school and even in my personal life. If you allow people to focus on what they’re good at and promote growth, they’ll flourish! A great life lesson I’ve been able to take from the Nativa experience.
What’s Next After Nativa?
As a junior in college, I still have one more year to go! I’m finishing up my degree in Marketing and my 2 minors in Fashion and Digital Audiences. I have another internship with Target coming up. It’s going to be an interesting change to go from a small business to a large corporation. I’m excited to see which environment I prefer and what differences I encounter. I’m going to continue my role at the magazine and work towards a successful launch with them. I’ll graduate in May 2022 and then it’s time to play in the big leagues!
I hope to keep in touch with everybody that I’ve been able to work with here at Nativa. It’s been a great few months and I’ve done a lot of learning.
Be sure to check out the Nativa Blog for other past intern’s accounts of their experience here at Nativa!
