My name is Haley Velez, and I am a senior at Hood College. I am an integrated marketing communications major, with a minor in graphic design. For my major, I needed to complete a marketing/communications internship.
My friend Alissa told me about her internship at Cowork Frederick in the fall and it sounded like the perfect fit for me. I came in for a Thanksgiving potluck event to meet everyone and see.
Julia and the members were so welcoming, and I was able to meet people from all different backgrounds and career fields. This stuck out to me because I would not have that kind of opportunity with many other internships, and I knew I could learn a lot. So, I applied for the Marketing Content Creator internship position. I got the position for the spring semester, and I’m so glad I did. As my internship ends, I can look back at everything I have learned and happily share that I not only learned skills that will help me in my future jobs, but in my life in general as well.
My job as the Marketing Content Creator was to create content used to market Cowork Frederick to the public. I spent my first couple of weeks learning about coworking and everything that Cowork Frederick stands for. Coworking is so much more than people coming together to work. These people choose to become part of a community not just to work, but to connect with, support, and encourage each other. These people could work anywhere they want but they choose to work at Cowork together. They come together to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Understanding the audience your client is marketing to is very important. Once I completed my research about Cowork and their marketing efforts I put together a presentation of my ideas for improvements for Julia, Ainsley, and my fellow intern, Will. After my presentation, Julia gave me a lot of helpful feedback that I can use for presentations moving forward. I also learned the importance of incorporating the client’s branding into presentations. From there I began brainstorming and creating content for the campaign I had suggested.
The focus of the campaign was to showcase the new expansion. After gathering a variety of photos, videos, and quotes that can be used for many purposes, I designed a social media campaign in Canva. The campaign showcases members’ favorite things in the new space. I also created and drew designs for the sidewalk sign almost every week. One of my favorite things I did during my internship was creating posters about the small business owners at Cowork. It was so cool to get feedback and see my work on display. I enjoyed learning about the different businesses and what they have to offer.
I also had the opportunity to learn from a member who is a LinkedIn Marketing Specialist, Art Lovell. Art taught Will and me all about LinkedIn marketing and what content performs well on the platform. He also taught us about ChatGPT and what it will mean for marketing in the future. Getting to know and learn from members like this was my favorite thing about my time at Cowork. I have made many new friends and connections. Each week I was so excited to come in and see who was working and catch up with everyone.
With each project I worked on Julia provided feedback throughout the process and helped me to be the best I could be. It is so inspiring to see her success as a businesswoman. I learned a lot about leadership and community building by watching her interact with members.
I truly can’t believe my internship at Cowork Frederick is coming to an end. The past 12 weeks have been full of so many experiences that I will remember forever. I will miss the Cowork community dearly, but I am excited for my future and all that it holds! In June I will be moving to Japan to join my Navy husband who is currently stationed there. Over the next three years there I will be pursuing a master’s degree in marketing while exploring job opportunities in the field as well.
(published on behalf of Haley Velez)