Internship Ideas: Jared at "DNA"

Hello everyone!  I hope your holiday break is off to a good start!  Me, I’m still grading, but I wanted to take a short break from reading literature reviews to blog about sophomore Communication Studies major Jared Ralys and his internship.  Here we go…

Q: Where are you interning?

Jared: “The name of the company I am interning for is DNA (Designers and Artists), which is a Fashion PR company.  We are currently in collaboration with a new boutique in SoMa called The Common, doing in-house PR for the store, but we also have clients in NY and LA that we represent.”

Q: How did you find the internship?

Jared: “I found this internship on a website called FreeFashionInternships, which has hundreds of awesome internships in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.”

Q: Why did you choose to intern at DNA?

Jared: “I chose to intern for DNA because they have a long list of amazing clients that they represent, so as I’m doing PR for them, I’m getting to meet tons of big important people in the fashion industry.  It also allows me to gain experience in both sides of PR, in-house and agency PR.  In-house is when you work for just one brand or designer, and agency PR is when you rep multiple brands.  On top of that, it’s a smaller company so I’m not just getting coffee for my bosses, but actually working with them.”

Q: Why do you do on a regular basis at your internship?

Jared: “I work usually 4-5 days a week, and what I do each day varies.  My tasks include pitching stories to media and bloggers, contacting editors of magazines, sending samples to magazines for photo shoots, contacting celebrity stylists to loan them clothes for their clients to wear, including Willow Smith, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Ashley Tisdale, and Kim Kardashian, helping produce pop-up shops, working shows and events that we have, and occasional styling, etc.  By doing all of this, our clients that we represent will hopefully get a lot of press and media coverage which helps boost their sales.”

Q: What have you learned from your internship?

Jared: “I’ve learned a lot in the short amount of time that I’ve been working at DNA.  One big thing that I’ve learned is that PR is all about details.  Everything has to be perfect because these are designers/companies reputations that we are handling and mistakes can really hurt them.  I’ve also learned a lot about event production, the behind the scenes of a fashion show or event.  I’ve learned a lot of the ins and outs of the fashion industry and what it takes to work in it.  It’s definitely challenging and exhausting and requires long days and a lot of work, not as glamorous as it seems, but it is very rewarding at the end of the day to see the clients we rep on the pages of a magazine or receiving great press after a show that we’ve worked so hard on.”

Q: What advice do you have for other students looking for an internship?

Jared: “Definitely go for it.  I was really scared at first to even apply because I thought they would never hire me, but in the end, it worked out and it’s definitely worth it.  Even if you don’t get hired the first time, you learn from that what they are looking for and what to expect in the next interview.  I was also scared of how I was going to balance school, a job, and an internship, but if you find an internship doing something you love, it’s worth the crazy schedule.  It’s a great way to gain experience and get your name out there to put yourself ahead of other people who don’t have experience.  And yes, sometimes you will have to get coffee for your boss or sweep the floor, but it all pays off in the end.”

I chose to profile Jared because I knew from hearing about his experiences that he is really enjoying his internship at DNA.  As he mentioned, he was hesitant at first to apply, but he took the attitude that even if it didn’t work out, he would gain experience by going through the application process that could help him for future internships.  It ended up working out perfectly, so his lesson to “go for it!” is a good one.  Jared also took great initiative looking for and securing an internship on his own as a sophomore.  Congratulations, Jared!

Jared and his roommate

I know most of you are already at your holiday destination and you may already be missing school (okay, maybe not already).  But, do you know a cure for the “I’m missing USF” blues?  The blog!  That’s right… classes may not be in session, but my blog is!  So keep up with it while you are home eating Christmas cookies.  Oh, and Santa, if you’re listening, I don’t want spam for Christmas.  Neither kind, really.  Not food spam or comment spam.  Just yummy food and real comments from my students, alums, and coworkers.  Okay? 

Speaking of… (do you see how appropriate the title of this blog is?)… Christmas cookies, I will be taking a few days break from the blog to bake Christmas cookies and celebrate the holidays with my family.  But don’t worry, I won’t be gone for long.  Here’s what you have to look forward to on the blog over the January break:

Alumni Spotlights (that’s right, more than one!), more Internship Ideas, Academic Trivia (including a story about USF’s former mascot), and, wait for it, a new section called “Class Notes!”  Consider them to be my Christmas presents to you!  Happy Holidays!  Oh, and good luck to our Lady Dons tonight as they take on #8 Stanford.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if they won?  Go Dons!