Who would’ve known that five years ago, when I received a Colorescience product for Christmas, it would foreshadow a future adventure. Colorescience is one of my first internship experiences and a fundamental first step into the world of business. Their products became my go-to after my initial present, so when I got the Marketing and Ecommerce Intern role, I was beyond thrilled. Colorescience works on the core beliefs of doing good, having fun, and making a difference. From only my first few months here, I have experienced this philosophy to the fullest extent. 

Picture of presentation for a competitive analysis

                     Working on projects and being able to present them to the team!

Colorescience aims to support the customer and give people what they need: protection from UVA/UVB rays, blue light, pollution, and infrared radiation while also helping to address and correct skin concerns. Part of my role is customer management, which means filtering through product reviews and answering customer questions. This has been one of my favorite parts of the job, as I get to read how happy people are with the products and services provided. Many people come to Colorescience with embarrassment or concerns about their skin, so to be able to read how confident they feel and even see pictures of their improvement is truly powerful. 

This internship experience has been incredibly fulfilling, especially considering that my work was initially out of my comfort zone. I always considered marketing as something that was closely related with a Business major rather than a Communication Studies major, as there was more of a business emphasis. However, after taking Marketing Through the Communicators Lens with Kara Udziela, that opinion completely changed. Although Professor Udziela’s competitive analysis assignment felt daunting at the time, her edits and feedback facilitated my comfort with that material. It’s a good thing I felt so at ease because I was only one month in at Colorescience and was already starting two separate competitive analyses!

My main responsibilities for my internship position were supporting e-commerce requests through the Colorescience website, customer management, updating acquisition channels, among others. If you had asked me how to do any of this a couple of months ago, I don’t know if I would have been able to tell you what most of that entailed. Reflecting on my perceptions of marketing before my internship versus now, the biggest piece of advice I can give is to be your own best advocate. You know your abilities, and often it is your work ethic and personality that prevail over anything else. So, put your resume out there and try for things you are interested in, regardless of experience. After taking Professor Udziela’s class, I genuinely felt prepared to enter the workforce within a marketing capacity. Knowing that I can translate things I am passionate about in the classroom into a career path is one of the most fulfilling feelings. My time interning with Colorescience has been endlessly rewarding, and I am beyond excited to continue working with them throughout the summer!

Even though the office is shut down, I can still get to know my coworkers remotely and feel the company culture.