Name: Katie Laycock
Year: Senior
Hometown: Jensen Beach, Fl
Major: Marketing
Her Campus (HC): I have it that you had a paid internship in New York City this past summer, would you like to tell me a little about it?
Katie Laycock (KL): Yes! I worked as an intern for a small company called Digital Brand Architects (DBA) that also has a place in L.A., and it manages fashion, cooking, and beauty bloggers. I was there from the beginning of June until the end of July.
HC: So how did you land this internship?
KL: I took a trip with the marketing department here at FSU with about 20 other people – it was first come, first serve. We flew up to New York City for five days and spoke with several different companies, DBA being one of them. A few of us got interviews, including myself, and then I just started interning for them over the summer. Mr. McLaughlin, my retail management professor, was on the trip, and I couldn’t have done it without his helpful tips.
HC: Describe a typical day-in-the-life with this company.
KL: I worked with the managers of some of the fashion bloggers that were with the company, and I assisted in coordinating their schedules and partnerships. I helped to write emails to brands that wanted to collaborate with the bloggers, and I also wrote contracts with them.. I was able to attend some meetings as well, one of which was held at the Twitter headquarters. I worked with one other intern from Long Island and about 20 bloggers. I would keep track of the bloggers’ followings and update their social media bios every week. I had great hours – I worked from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
HC: What were some of the bloggers that you worked with? The brands?
KL: Some of the bloggers I got to work with were Barefoot Blonde, Le Happy (Luanna Perez-Garreaud), Something Navy, Blank Itinerary, Ivory Lane, Hello Fashion Blog, and Cara Loren. We also had relations with brands such as Marc Jacobs, Kate Spade, Neiman Marcus, BCBG, Rag & Bone, Nordstrom, TRESemmé…
HC: What was one of the most memorable tasks or experiences you had during your internship?
KL: I would run things to them [the bloggers]. One of them had a photoshoot at the New York Public Library, and I had to bring her jeans and Beats headphones in a time pinch. I had to sprint there since the taxi took forever!
HC: What was it like living in New York City?
KL: I absolutely loved it. I definitely want my career to take me there in the future. I lived in an apartment with my mom in Chelsea, right in the middle of everything. I was only four blocks away from my job, until DBA switched buildings. It was then nine blocks away, but that was still super close.
HC: What did you take away from your experience with this internship?
KL: It definitely solidified my dream of wanting to work in the fashion industry, for a designer. It made me dream bigger and it taught me so many things: when you are an intern and your boss asks you to do something, you do the task from start to finish, and make sure to ask questions. I also never once fetched coffee as an intern, which is probably an important thing about my internship – just because I think that’s what people normally think you do as an intern.
HC: Are you going to do anything fashion-related in the meantime until you graduate?
KL: I actually just started working for a new magazine on campus called Strike Magazine!
HC: Please tell me more about Strike.
KL: It started up in January, and was founded by students Hannah Kealy, Natalie Campion, and Ashlie Head. I applied to be the public relations assistant, and I am currently in the process of setting up a release party to get the name out there. Strike will be launching its first issue at the end of this semester. We are now fundraising for it, and we have the next eight weeks or so to do photoshoots and create content about beauty, menswear, etc.
HC: That’s so exciting! After all of your experiences, what would you like to say to the readers out there?
KL: Go for your dreams – they’re never too big.