By Maya

This last month I started an internship at Renegade, an NYC marketing agency. This was a huge opportunity for me that was realized by reaching out to a Duke alum. I began this process in August, contacting alumni who were working in fields that aligned with my interests. My more niche career aspirations are in the application of behavioral economics in marketing, so that helped narrow my field. However, I did not confine myself to the specifics of that field, instead, I simply looked for work that excited me and could eventually connect back to my interests. For me, the larger goal of a gap year internship was a hands-on experience, valuable networking, and a clarifying career insight. With this in mind, I reached out to someone whose career I admired, Drew Neisser the CEO of Renegade, to ask if he had any wisdom to share. I was surprised when he quickly took the time to respond warmly and enthusiastically. He mentioned that there was an open intern position at Renegade and helped me organize an interview. Not only was this exciting from a professional standpoint, but it made me feel like part of the Duke family even though I’m not attending this year.

After the interview, I was hired as Renegade’s youngest intern ever. I couldn’t be happier with this opportunity! I was grateful to find that this was not just a coffee run position (although, there wouldn’t be much coffee to run with a virtual internship anyway), I was welcomed into the work-family and given tasks of actual substance. I work on transcribing episodes of Drew’s podcast, Renegade Thinker Unite, which is a bit secretarial but allows me to listen in depth to interviews with top CMOs. These podcasts give me a unique opportunity to learn about a diverse array of marketing skills. With this I find myself learning new things every day that will give me a leg up in the future. Additionally, it keeps my grammar skills sharp. Recently, I have also be enlisted to co-produce a new LinkedIn live series. I am particularly excited about this. While I could go on about everything I have learned so far I will likely save that for my next blog post. I am very grateful and excited about this internship, in my current tasks and future prospects.