Our recent intern Debbie shares a brilliant round of her time with The Park.
As I look back at my experience, being an intern for The Park was truly an enriching experience where I was inspired, empowered, and learned new things every day. There was never a dull moment, it was an experience I will always remember. Before starting this internship, I must admit, I was nervous, I had little knowledge of the marketing industry and a socially constructed view of being an ‘intern’ often associated with incompetence and uselessness. I dreaded entering this experience, would I become these stereotypes? And worse, would I be judged for being Gen Z? However, to my surprise, this was the opposite experience. From the moment I started until the end of my internship, I was treated as an employee and met with respect and warmth. Everyone took the time to teach me the important tools in the marketing world and encouraged me to vocalise my ideas.
The Park introduced me to the world of experiential marketing, I was able to see this industry from a lens of purpose and aspiration; Not from a typical capitalist motive but from a perspective where creative marketing agencies and brands want to encourage diversity and inclusion. Discovering this was like being a kid in a candy store- I was excited, curious, and fascinated to get straight into this and soak up every piece of information.
I worked alongside the Accounts team and was tasked with the position to support the team in helping source new suppliers and getting quotes. This was done after in-depth research and actively contacting suppliers via calls and emails as well as briefing the team on the outcome. Furthermore, I was assigned the responsibility to work on a live project with H&M. I approached this task by covering social media trends and competitor research as well as providing my own creative ideas to forge a template for how the event would possibly set out.
All through this process, my opinions were listened to and ideas were implemented therefore giving me responsibilities that made a real influence on the projects. Besides the work, I was fortunate to attend social and cultural events organised by The Park; this featured the Van Gogh London Exhibition, Parketing University, Park Away Day and MAD//Fest. This was an exciting experience to forge a closer bond with my colleagues and get involved in interactive activities that further grow my understanding of experiential marketing.
The biggest takeaway from this experience would be the people. At The Park, real responsibilities are given to the interns from the moment they start and I am fortunate to experience that management role, it has given me the confidence to take initiative and believe in my ideas to the point where I can present my ideas to the team. Without a doubt, the entire agency is the most friendly, energetic, hardworking and talented individuals that I have encountered; they have supported me through challenges that I have faced by their willingness to give advice and guidance to help me overcome the barriers. Most importantly, as a small team, everyone is valued as a key aspect of the agency; Diversity and inclusivity are the main initiatives that they prioritise to ensure that everyone feels seen and respected. From my viewpoint, this was a key factor when entering this internship. As a woman of colour, code-switching has become a key mechanism in the workplace environment, and for me, it is often difficult to feel that I would need to switch off who I am. Nevertheless, this was never the case for The Park agency, they have shown me a progressive stance through their initiatives and open discussions to understand the means of privilege and boundaries in the workplace environment.
Finally, I would like to commemorate 10,000 Black Interns. It is a network that supports and guides young black individuals who want to make a mark in the working world. Without this network, I wouldn’t have experienced this opportunity and for that, I am truly grateful for this exposure. My advice for anyone considering taking up an internship would be to do It! And be your authentic self! As cliché as it may sound, I’ve come to realise that your unique qualities are what companies need-something different, authentic and new. Most importantly, I would like to thank The Park team for giving me this opportunity and acknowledging my potential, I can now leave this experience with excitement that I am heading in the right direction.
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