Tyler and Quinn are two American college students who interned at Umi Digital for the summer. They both attend the same university, but funny enough, they didn’t know each other until they began their journey at Umi together! With that being said, Tyler’s internship was focused on sales while Quinn’s was marketing focused. Quinn shares, “Umi has been an amazing experience for us in every single aspect, so we thought it would be fun to ask each other questions about our Umi experience!”
Tyler: What has it been like having Tom as a mentor?
Quinn: Working with Tom has been such a privilege. Every day brings new knowledge and experiences working with him. From the marketing funnel to Google Ads to cricket, I have gained more insight and expertise in the past eight weeks than I could have imagined. There is never a dull moment when Tom is in the office, and I am lucky to learn about the digital marketing world from him.
Tyler: How was office life at Umi different from your past experiences? How did this impact your work, learning, and personal growth?
Quinn: The best way to describe Umi’s office space is open and collaborative. People are sitting across from one another, next to each other; no barriers, no sections. Very different from my past office experience. Furthermore, this positively impacted my work experience. Creating a fun and open learning/working environment allowed me to collaborate with the team, challenged me to ask more questions, and gave me the opportunity to learn through observation. I prefer this office style, and I believe that is due to playing a team sport for nine years; therefore it makes sense why I love working with others. As far as personal growth goes, I’ve grown to love the process rather than just the result.
Tyler: From a marketing perspective, what is the most impactful lesson or skill you have learned while interning? How do you hope to use the skills you’ve learned this summer in your future internships/jobs?
Quinn: Throughout these eight weeks, the most impactful lesson I learned is how to effectively analyse ad performance by looking at the key performance indicators (KPIs). Through learning how to effectively and efficiently analyse ads, I have gained an understanding of different ways to improve ads and how to properly communicate the findings to clients in an optimistic manner. As a future marketer, this will help me in many aspects, and I am excited to apply it to my future endeavours.
Tyler: Has your internship at Umi Digital influenced your future career path (changed what you want to do, the industry you want to go into, or give you a clearer path towards your career aspirations)? If so, explain how you came about this change.
Quinn: Since I have begun my marketing journey, I have always wanted to do something in fashion marketing. So I wouldn’t say my future career path has changed, but Umi has taught me the tools in order to be successful at marketing in general. They have solidified that marketing is the career I want to pursue and what life in this industry is like.
Tyler: What was your favourite part about interning at Umi?
Quinn: My favourite part about interning at Umi is how they are committed to always bettering the team in all aspects through various activities such as a meet the team coffee chat on your first day, Thoughtful Thursday activity, or weekly goals meeting. There was never one time that I felt like I wasn’t part of the team, overwhelmed, or unheard.
Quinn: Your turn, Tyler. You had an internship last summer, what would you say is the biggest difference between working in the US vs. London?
Tyler: The biggest difference for me early on was actually being in the office. My past internship was entirely virtual, and I didn’t have any other experience where I was working in an office setting, so Umi was the first time I was able to experience an office environment. Although I was a little nervous early on, everyone at Umi was so welcoming that my nerves flew out the window on my first day.
Quinn: What would you say is the most valuable lesson Harry taught you?
Tyler: Harry has taught me so much about sales and the hospitality industry, but the most important lessons had to do with leadership. When shadowing Harry early on in the internship, I was able to watch first-hand as he navigated difficult situations, both internally and externally to the company. Not only did these early interactions help me understand what I need to do to be a better leader, but I was also able to take these intangible skills with me throughout the rest of the program allowing me to grow much more than I would have otherwise.
Quinn: How will you apply your knowledge of sales and the experience you have gained from Umi in the future?
Tyler: As I said earlier, some of the most important lessons Harry has been able to share with me revolve around leadership. In and out of the business world, leadership skills are valuable, so being able to take some intangibles away will be useful in all walks of life. Additionally, having a deeper understanding of sales and the underlying concepts and processes that go along with it will be extremely helpful as I continue down the path of business.
Quinn: What were your expectations as a sales intern before starting and how has it changed now that you are done?
Tyler: Prior to starting, I expected the sales internship position to consist of cold calling, emailing or messaging potential clients for Umi. However, I soon realised this preconceived notion was very wrong. Over the past few weeks, I focused the majority of my time on streamlining the sales pipeline for Umi. In other words, I have worked to improve the efficiency and effectiveness that a potential client goes from first contact to a statement of work sign-off. The work has been not only enjoyable, but also fulfilling.
Quinn: Other than making coffee, what else did Umi teach you?
Tyler: Yes, in fact, Umi has taught me how to make coffee… but also so much more! From the first day on, I’ve been immersed in an encouraging, enjoyable, and sometimes hilarious work environment that made it possible to constantly learn new things. From all the technical items like Google Tag Manager and SemRush to the sales items like sales pipeline and presentation creation, Umi’s been able to teach me so much over the past 8 weeks. I can’t believe I’m already at the end, but time tends to fly by when you’re having fun! Thank you, Umi!!!