Anna Pham participated in her internship in the summer of 2020 at MuddHouse Media in Boston.
Tell us about your experience. What were your responsibilities?
In the summer of 2020, I had the pleasure of working as an intern at MuddHouse Media, a podcast startup company created by incredibly talented people! We had shows that included Tanya Holland, Kevin Youkilis, and more—Adam Sandler even starred in one of the episodes! Going into this remote internship role, my goal was to assist with whatever was needed. I also wanted to gain the company’s trust, and to do that I needed to show I was a reliable person. My responsibilities changed every week but that was one of my favorite things about this internship. I consistently worked on social media management. This included creating the content calendar, updating Google My Business, and monitoring Twitter Ads and LinkedIn. In addition, I assisted in the production of writing press releases, designed graphics, and sat in and gave insight during meetings.
As an individual who wants to eventually start their own company one day, it was really inspiring getting to watch and shadow the Chief Marketing Officer and see how she helped manage her role in the startup. Throughout my time with MuddHouse, she became a mentor to me. Our conversations became more than just seeing if the work was completed she often checked in on me to make sure I was doing okay during the pandemic.
I can also say with certainty that this internship was also a great experience because of the wonderful intern team. While this wasn’t my first internship, this was my first remote/virtual internship experience which came with its own challenges like balancing work and home life. Since the company was located in Boston and I was in California, communication with the team was vital.
All in all, I can say with confidence that I wouldn’t be who I am today without this experience. I grew tremendously this past summer and learned what it meant to be a part of a company and embody its mission and values.
How did you get the opportunity? What resources at BU or elsewhere did you use?
They say networking gets you places… and that was ultimately how I got this internship! During the spring of that year, I was in a Media Business Entrepreneurship class. I met several great people in that course and one of them, Daniel, reached out to me during the early spring months to check in and see how I was doing. At this time, BU just went fully remote because of the pandemic. As a result, we started chatting and just checking in on each other. One day, he messaged me asking if I was looking for an internship for the summer. He said he had a friend who worked with someone (who then became the CMO for MuddHouse Media) and that they were looking for interns to help with social media and content creation. At first, I was hesitant to take the role because I didn’t know if I wanted to do social media management and if this experience would benefit me. After finding out that it was a startup, I jumped on the experience! Knowing me and my desire for newness, I figured a startup would be a great place to start since I had never worked with one before. Daniel then connected me with his friend and we got to talking then she forwarded my resume to the CMO for MuddHouse and I was offered the internship position! Remember, the power of connection is truly powerful—even in your classes!
What was the best thing about the experience? What was the worst?
My favorite part of the internship was being able to pitch my ideas on how to make the company better! This included drafting an internship/company structure and even making a company internship guidebook. During the last weeks of the internship, I was able to interview candidates for new roles and even train them during an orientation which I co-led. If there was one thing I could change about my experience, I’d go back and try to get to know each person individually. Whether that’s a phone call or a quick email note, I’d probably spend some time networking with people a little more! Ask them how they got to where they are now and what brought them to the company!
What was the most memorable moment of your experience?
I have two most memorable experiences… The first was when Kris, the CEO, called me to check in on how I was doing. That meant a lot to me. Our conversation was just about how we were feeling, my classes, the hot summer weather—it had nothing to do with MuddHouse Media or work. Knowing how busy he was with running the startup and being on calls all day, it meant a lot that he would take time out of his day to call me. I learned that it’s truly the small actions that sometimes make the biggest impact. Another one of the most memorable parts of my internship experience was being a part of a brainstorming session with everyone on the MuddHouse Media team. At the time, we were brainstorming names and over ten people were on a conference phone call. I remember there was a lot of laughing and just throwing out names and hashtags. I left that meeting feeling as though I got to know a lot of people on the team a bit more!
What advice would you give to another student about making the most of an internship, job, or other career-related experience?
- Network with the people you’re working with! And by networking, I mean just getting to know them as a friend—you don’t need to ask them for anything in particular! With remote experiences, it’s important to break that divide and understand that behind the screen, we’re all just individuals trying to do our best during these uncertain times.
- Don’t be afraid to pitch ideas! When you pitch your ideas, you’ll be passionate about it. Whether that’s a suggestion to how the company is running or perhaps a way to more effectively promote a service, pitching your ideas will encourage you to work creatively to find ways to reach your goal. If you’re like me, you’ll know when you’re passionate about something when you spend hours working on it!
- Make the job fit for you. If a social media job isn’t something you intend to do, you can find other ways to move around in your internship. Shadow other people to see what else the company does. Maybe you can find other things to help with and even spark a new interest of yours!
- Take care of yourself. Chances are, a lot of our experiences now will be remote. That being said, make sure you take care of your mental and physical health too. Take some time off the computer!
- Journal about your experience. I kept a journal throughout my time this summer and it’s a great opportunity to reflect on your time with the company once you’re done! It’s also another pro tip for when you’re applying to other jobs or even adding to your resume. It’ll be a reminder of the areas you grew in.
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