Hi there, I am Lindsey Ryan!  I am a current junior majoring in Communication with a cluster in Graphic Design!  I hope you enjoy learning about my social media internship experience with the company/brand Love Sweat Fitness!

Over the summer I was looking to get an internship in something related to communication and social media.  I had never used Linkedin before, but I had heard how so many people found great opportunities through starting an account and networking.  Shortly after, I created an account and started searching for internships that met my needs.  I submitted my resume to a few companies looking for interns and then waited to hear back if I got any interviews.

        To my surprise I heard back within a day from Love Sweat Fitness, a nutrition and fitness brand started by the instagram influencer Katie Duplow!  I was drawn to this internship specifically because it was local to Orange County and it offered me experience in social media and communication!  Ellie, the brand manager, contacted me to set up a virtual interview.  I was very excited for this opportunity to practice my interviewing skills even if this internship didn’t end up being a fit.  In the interview I found that I aligned a lot with the company brand and would be a good candidate because I have knowledge and an interest in health and fitness.  In addition, I am very savvy with tik tok, youtube, and instagram which are platforms where Love Sweat Fitness gets a lot of their following and business from.  After my interview, Ellie emailed me that I would be an intern for her starting in the month of August!

        Love Sweat Fitness was an instagram account created by Katie when she went through her weight loss journey.  She originally created an account on instagram to encourage other women in their goals and to keep her self-accountable as she went through her journey.  When I started at Love Sweat Fitness, they also encouraged me and the other workers to create a Love Sweat Fitness account for ourselves.  Their vision for this was for us to post what workouts we were doing and to encourage other women through our platform.  One of the main tasks I was asked to do was respond to youtube comments as if I was Katie speaking.  Since Katie is a very busy influencer who is constantly pushing out new videos and content on youtube, it was a big help for me to answer back to all of her fans.  While answering her comments, I would often get ideas for new content that she could create.  This was a really fun aspect about my internship, because I had the opportunity to collaborate and use my communication skills to work individually with Katie in helping her stay up to date with the trends.  Another task that I got the opportunity to do was create graphics for her nutrition instagram account.  Below are some of the designs they wanted me to create in order to promote their products or programs, while staying consistent with their brand.

      

 In all of the tasks I was asked to do at my internship, I found my communication knowledge and skills particularly helpful.  Not only did I have to communicate my needs if I was confused with a task, but I also had to communicate with Katie and Ellie when I had input or a new idea for something they could institute in their company.  I learned from my internship that in every work setting, communication is the way in which we connect to others and it is key to maintaining a stable work environment for yourself and others!