I’m Allison Susman, a senior in Strategic Corporate Communication (SCC) at Chapman University. Over the summer of 2020, I interned with BeachCandy Swimwear in Costa Mesa, CA as a marketing and social media intern. I had returned home to Kentucky in late March when the pandemic hit and Chapman went online for the remainder of the spring semester. While I was home, I started using Chapman’s Handshake platform to search for summer internships. 

I applied to intern with BeachCandy Swimwear and was pleasantly surprised to get a call for an interview after only a couple of days. I spoke with the company’s CEO, Brit Arthur, and I was offered the internship on the spot. I started in early July, soon after returning to Orange County. The internship was fully remote due to the ongoing pandemic.

BeachCandy Swimwear is a high-end luxury swimwear company which promotes inclusivity and has a primary focus on allowing women to feel comfortable and confident in a swimsuit. My responsibilities as an intern included active involvement in various multimedia marketing projects, writing SEO-related blog posts and product descriptions, and making graphics to promote the company’s website and podcast on their various social media platforms. 

I was able to apply several concepts, principles, and skills from a variety of the classes I have taken at Chapman. Things I learned in classes such as organizational culture, and how to think critically were very relevant to my work as an intern. I’m grateful for the excellent foundation I received in my SCC courses at Chapman.

One project I found particularly interesting and rewarding was helping to assist BeachCandy in rebranding for 2021. I feel that my work made an impact with the company because as a business in the digital market, you have to constantly work to make sure you are on top of the latest trends. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to do market research and provide design feedback as well what is working and not working for competitors in terms of functionality.

I would highly recommend this company as an internship for future Chapman students because I would recommend this internship to other students for many reasons. My time at BeachCandy was extremely valuable to me in furthering my career. I had a very positive experience working for BeachCandy Swimwear. Although I wasn’t able to have the full in-person experience, I don’t feel as though I missed out in any aspects. This has a lot to do with the way my supervisor Brit chooses to run her company.

Brit is exceptional at making her employees feel valued and I think this would be a positive experience for any future student for that reason. Not only this, but Brit also works to make sure her interns are efficiently using their time and doing activities that are valuable to them in their development as future working professionals.