At age 29, Lauren Berger has accomplished more than the average twenty something. She is a published author, CEO and founder of InternQueen.com, and spends her time constantly jetting off to college and high school campuses across the country to offer internship advice. Lauren launched InternQueen.com five years ago as a way to connect young people with the opportunities of their dreams and offer advice for students delving into the internship process.
Name: Lauren Berger
Hometown: Clearwater, Florida
College: FSU (2 years), UCF
Major: Communications
How did you come up with the idea of Intern Queen?
When I was in college I was obsessed with internships. I did my first one very early on, the spring semester of freshman year. I thought that it was a magical experience and it really opened my eyes to what I wanted to do with my future. Every time I went to look for internships I was pushed to websites like Monster and Career Builder. I felt like they were overwhelming and I wanted a more personal experience in terms of finding an internship. So I thought, what if I started a website, InternQueen.com, and it was a free resource for college students.
What’s a typical day like for you? It changes! It depends on whether I’m in the sky or on the ground. I travel a lot, about 100 days a year so a little less than a third of the year I’m on the road. The past two weeks I’ve been in a different city every day. So if it’s a travel day it’s usually wake up at four in the morning, fly to a city, arrive at about 2PM, check my emails on the plane, check in with my employees, make sure the ship is operating correctly and usually then I get ready and I go speak. At home when I’m actually at my desk, I’m usually up at 6AM answering emails trying to keep the brand moving forward, whether that’s exploring new partnerships, making sure the word is getting out about all of our products, or just talking to new brand partners.
What do you look for in an intern or employee?
I look for people that have a strong work ethic, who are passionate, people who go above and beyond, and people who aren’t going to say “Okay it’s 5 o’clock I’m done. Goodbye!” I also look for people that understand that hard work isn’t enough. I think there’s a big misconception that if you work hard you can get what you want and sometimes that’s the case but sometimes it isn’t. It’s really about hiring people who are results oriented and know that it’s not necessarily a measure of how many hours they work, but how efficiently they work. I also look for people who that are open to feedback and criticism. I think that constructive criticism is always helpful.
What’s the best part about running your own business?
I’ve been obsessed with this idea of Intern Queen for years now, since 2006. I get to wake up every morning and continue to feed into that idea and continue research and brainstorm. I like that I have the ability to brainstorm something and execute it quickly. A lot of times when you work for a big corporation there’s a lot of red tape that you run into. I like that I have freedom to say this is what we want do and here’s how were going to do it and then I get to actually execute it.
What’s the most challenging part?
For any young entrepreneur there are a lot of high highs and a lot of low lows. I’ve been doing this for five years so it’s not new anymore. At the beginning the biggest challenge is trying to find that even keel. I’d much rather stay even-tempered then have a high high or have a low low. I think at the beginning of your business you let things affect you really strongly. For example, I was on the Today Show a few years ago when my book came out. That was obviously a high high and you get really excited and I feel like today when that sort of thing happens I stay a little more even keel about it because some things happen and some things don’t. I find it’s best to stay even-tempered and continue to look forward.
What’s the funniest intern experience you’ve had?
I literally blew up the coffee machine at one of my internships. It was a morning show called The Daily Buzz. It was exploding everywhere and the only person who was nearby to help me was one of the main anchors for the show.
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
I’ve learned that rejection does not mean never it just means not right now. Just because someone tells you no it doesn’t mean they are going to tell you no a year or two years from now. Most of the brand relationships I have and most of the big impressive things I’ve done, those people told me no before it happened.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
I don’t know if I have a person who’s my biggest inspiration. As a businesswoman I look at people like Rachel Ray, or Oprah, or Susie Orman and I look at what they’ve created and how they’ve taken their personal brand and extended it into so many interesting areas of business. I hope that Intern Queen can follow a similar growth strategy
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I run Intern Queen everyday and I get very caught up in the day-to-day things but at the end of the day the reason why I’m doing this is because I believe in the power of internships. I think they’ve changed my life and I’ve watched them change other people’s lives. So five years from now I can only imagine the lives that we’re going to change. The cool part is that students who started using my site in 2009 have now graduated and they’ve entered the real world and I’m able to watch how that one internship that they got through InternQueen.com has positively impacted their career. They are where they are today potentially because of that internship so it’s really nice to watch the progression of the brand.
Badgers, Lauren will be on campus this Tuesday, March 11th at 6:00PM at Union South to share her amazing advice and experience about internships. She will also be moderating a panel with representatives from Ford Motor Company, Kohl’s and American Family Insurance. As a passionate and energetic person, Lauren guarantees that you will walk out of the forum inspired and equipped with great practical internship tips. Hope to see you all there!!