As my nine weeks here in Washington come to an end in what feels like an impossibly short period of time, I can look back on my summer and take in all that I have experienced and learned, both about the world of marketing and myself. Coming into this internship with NAHB, I had vague knowledge of what to expect in regard to the type of work I’d be doing, the people I would be surrounded by, and what a typical day was like. Despite all this, I remember feeling so excited to start work; and that excitement never went away. At the end of the summer, I still find myself looking forward to work each day and starting new projects, learning new things, and being with the wonderful people I have met along the way.
One of my favorite aspects of this internship has always been that the work I do here is meaningful and relevant. The stereotype of interns doing coffee runs and making copies all day could not be further than the truth! All of the projects, tasks, and other responsibilities given to me as an intern were incredibly interesting, challenging, helped me learn more about marketing in a hands on way, and gave me the freedom to use my own creativity. Over the course of these last two months, I have had the opportunity to be involved in so many cool projects and a ton of interesting small assignments – its been a busy summer! I have chronicled my experience at NAHB through these blog posts, done copious amounts of research on industry influencers both in the U.S. and globally, curated social media posts for the International Builders Show, developed messaging to promote IBS registration (it opens in August, people!), lead a marketing plan for a new product, brainstormed new ideas for Builder Books, and much, much more! On top of this, I attended meetings daily with the marketing department and had the opportunity to sit in on meetings and presentations with outside companies on topics such as data analytics and app development – there truly never was a dull moment!
It is astounding how much one can learn in just two months about marketing when completely immersed in it. Being in this environment allowed me not only to learn through the work and research I did, but also through osmosis – I was picking up even more than I realized when listening to others speak in meetings and presentations, and as a visual learned this was incredibly valuable to me. I now know how to create a marketing plan, curate messaging based on a target audience, effectively complete research, communicate professionally with others, and so much more that I know I will use and benefit from in the future, whether it be in my college classes or future career. On top of these marketing related skills, I also pride myself on learning how to better manage my time and my busy calendar, staying organized with more responsibility, improving my people skills, finding a healthy balance between life and work, and simply learning what it takes to be successful in a professional environment.
Leaving the NAHB family on August 2nd will be a bittersweet day, I will be sad to leave this office but look forward to taking what I have gained here and building upon it as a foundation for my future endeavors. This internship has been the most educational and enjoyable experience thanks to the wonderfully kind, smart, welcoming, and hilarious marketing team I looked up to and had the chance to work with and learn from, they truly made this internship what it was. I will always be grateful for this unique environment that allowed me to get the most out of everything I did and taught me more than I could have ever imagined about marketing and my personal goals and aspirations. In just a few weeks I will be picking my life up and moving into my first house down in my college town of Farmville, VA to start my junior year at Longwood University. I cannot wait to start classes and have the ability to apply what I have learned to my studies and propel myself forward as a business marketing major.
Thank you for everything NAHB!