My Internship at mDesign

What I’ve Learned, Who I Met, and How I Will Remember My Time at mDesign

Ever wanted to know what it is like to work here as an intern? We had our summer intern, Nathan, recap his experience here over the past 10 weeks!

Initially, I didn’t think I had a chance. I remember looking good, feeling good, and arriving 15 minutes early to my interview. I will admit, I have never even heard of our company before finding them on my university’s career networking website a week prior, and only after some non-extensive research did I have a general idea about what the company was and what exactly they did for business. In short, they were an E-commerce company that sold home furnishings. It was safe to say I wasn’t overwhelmingly excited to sell shower caddies and plastic bins for a summer, but an internship is an internship, right?

Back to my interview, I remember starting out talking so fast and hurried that it probably sounded like borderline hyperventilation. After making a conscious effort to slow down and focus on each question, my now manager, was asking, I recovered for the most part, but I still remember leaving the interview thinking that I blew it. However, right before I left, I asked the receptionist who just interviewed me (yes, I already forgot her name. Borderline hyperventilation, remember?) and as soon as I got home, I wrote a “thank you” card addressed to her and mailed it that day. Ahh, the power of a handwritten note.

*Spoiler alert* I was hired on as an intern for the summer and 10 weeks later, here I am to recap my experience

The best way to describe the summer of 2019 at mDesign is kind of like when you’re driving through town and you hit all green lights telling you to keep going, or like planetary alignment, were things just naturally come together. The company was growing so fast that they couldn’t house the appropriate staff at their original building, thus leading to the construction of a new office. Completed not a full week before I began, the new office looked like the love child of a tech start up and a fancy department store, complete with a full warehouse. Black and green accents were spread out on a white and glass canvas, and I quickly realized that our new space was something I could get used to. But what really won me over was our Starbucks machine that offered my favorite coffee, their blonde roast, on demand. Many great things came from my time at mDesign, but my caffeine intake was not one of them. It was the perfect timing of a company experiencing exponential growth, moving into a brand-new office, and the existing staff welcoming on new team members and the abilities that they brought with them that made my time at mDesign seem so beneficial.

However, even with a new office and unlimited coffee, the best thing about mDesign were the people. Immediately, I was integrated and trusted to help the company in any capacity I could. This company was growing so quickly that risks weren’t welcomed, they were encouraged and needed. There was no time for skepticism or doubt, so I quickly assisted with all things social media, given control over what was posted and who we engaged with, as well as given the opportunity to try my hand at writing for our blog, something I have always wanted to try but never really had the platform to do so. I’ve been here for not even a week and everyone was already so supportive with all my decisions and content I made; they were my green lights that just kept saying “keep going”. This kind of trust is rare for any environment or employee, let alone a newly hired intern in a newly built office.

However, it’s safe to say the “risk” of trusting employees paid off. We met and exceeded almost every goal and benchmark we had for social media since my start at mDesign back in May. Our two main accomplishments were growing our followers on Instagram and Pinterest. This company is without a doubt growing, but I don’t believe it would be possible without the appropriate environment in place. “Stuff” rolls downhill, but so does culture. It was evident to me that this was someplace special when our CEO, Chris Quinn, had breakfast with all of us interns on our very first day and took the time to talk to each one of us, even commenting on my Winnie the Pooh watch. It wasn’t a mindless, hurried “Hello, I’m the CEO” speech from him, it was an attentive and interactive conversation that reassured my initial feelings about this company. From there on, mDesign was a place I actually looked forward to on Monday morning (no, they are not forcing me to write this).

In addition to my work in the marketing department, I was also tasked along with the other interns to fund raise for a charity of our choice, the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC). I initially dreaded this idea because every single experience I had with group projects in college has left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I quickly realized that the main goal wasn’t to raise money for a great cause (well, it was kind of like goal 1b) the main objective was to build camaraderie with my fellow interns. Without this project, I really wouldn’t have gotten to know most of the other interns due to almost all of them being placed in the other office building. With this realization in hand, we were able to raise over a thousand dollars for the CRCC all while growing closer as a group.

Internships serve as a preview into life after college, a reminder that four years aren’t forever and are often seen as a bring-me-down, necessary evil during the college summers. However, my internship at mDesign served much more as a pick-me-up, showing me that life after college can still be enjoyed, even with a 9-5 (crazy, right?). We’ve all had someone in our lives say, “well get used to it, it’s the rest of your life” when trying to rationalize a full-time job, but my time at mDesign didn’t need such justification. If this was the start to the rest of my professional career, I wouldn’t have any complaints.

Thank you to Josiah, Mike, Laura, Joyce, Ashley, and everyone else at mDesign for a great summer. I couldn’t have asked for a better team, company, or overall experience and I am excited to see how this company will continue to grow.

Your Favorite Marketing Intern,
Nathan

Want to work here too? Sound like you are a perfect fit? We are always looking for talented people please visit our careers page and find out more!

Nathan Ray is a Content Assistant at mDesign.
He is really, really good at catching the little pieces of eggs that they throw at you at Hibachi restaurants.

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