My name is Savannah Vant and I am a recent transfer sophomore at Chapman. My major is Communication Studies and I am still deciding on my minor. I am leaning towards journalism or business because I believe both fields provide essential resources in today’s society. Before I make up my mind on what I would like to minor in I wanted to gain experience in a field I was unfamiliar with. Thus, is why I chose to work for Sonendo as their first-ever marketing intern. 

Sonendo is an incredible company. Sonendo created a product called the GentleWave which, in simple terms, helps save your teeth from decay. Typically this machine is used while an endodontist is performing a root canal. The GentleWave helps ensure cleanliness with minimal pain. 

This semester I interned for Sonendo, working under an incredible woman named Alma Salzar. On January 16, 2023, Sonendo was going through a complete rebrand so they were looking for extra help. My mom, who also works at Sonendo, reached out to me just to express the stress the company was feeling. In the same sentence, she mentioned that Sonenedo had never had an intern before. I decided to reach out to Alma, just to see if she was interested in gaining any help. From the beginning, Alma was incredibly helpful.

Going into my internship I did not know what to expect. I was extremely nervous and initially fearful to ask for help. I always thought marketing was just a fun way to promote your product. Until this internship, I had no idea how much went into it. My first task was to verify the information of all the company employees to ensure their business cards would turn out correctly. I remember leaving Alma’s office and going back to my desk with the biggest smile on my face. I thought I had just gotten the easiest job… I was very wrong. I spent a week sending three hundred individual emails to all the employees verifying all their information. I then had to make edits, to their physical card. In addition, I had to make an excel spreadsheet to keep track. 

On top of the work I was given, I also attend meetings almost daily to talk about the company’s progress along with my own. My daily tasks consisted of, clocking in at 8 am. From eight to about ten I would work on my tasks for the day. Typically that would be writing emails to specific employees about information, or I would rebrand documents from the old templates to the new ones. At around ten I would attend my first meeting, which would typically be to discuss the tasks for the day. I was a part of a team of six individuals, during this meeting we would share what we were working on and any areas we needed help in. I then would have a few hours to work on my tasks. At the end of the day, around four pm, I would have a call or a meeting with my team again to discuss what we had accomplished. 

The COM 102 class I took, which was public speaking, really helped me with my internship. I used to be afraid to speak up at meetings or through email. The public speaking information I learned helped me stay calm and confident when I was chosen to speak. 

One of my favorite moments of my internship was when we had a meeting with our clients and our CEO and CFO. At the end of the meeting, the CFO and CEO began to thank my supervisor Alma, and the team, for all the work we had done. All of us on zoom were smiling and I felt super proud of myself.

I gained a lot of valuable information throughout this internship. I learned how to use and navigate excel, Microsoft word, and PowerPoint. I also learned how to properly communicate with a client. I know the lessons I learned throughout this internship will change my life. I feel extremely confident in myself and my productivity. I hope everyone considers becoming an intern for Sonendo.

This is a photo of the “name tag” on my cubicle. The days I went into the office, I worked next to two great guys named Ben and Kevin.