We’re excited to announce our new Women in Business series, starting with a profile on Charvi Radia! We’ll be interviewing women at AU who are making their mark on the business world through classes, internships and more, and sharing with us how they do it, what they’re passionate about, and their future goals.
Name: Charvi Radia
Hometown: South Brunswick, NJ
Year/Major: Senior, studying Business Administration with specializations in Marketing and International Business
Her Campus American University: What inspired you to choose your major?
Charvi Radia: In highschool I was really involved with People to People International, so culture has always fascinated me. I have two aunts that are Belgian, I have a cousin that married a Colombian, so learning about different cultures made family dinners really exciting. I really like how culture and business intersect, especially because we’re living at a time where everything is globalized. For marketing, I’ve always been more on the creative side, and I really enjoy how broad marketing is because there’s just so much you can learn. With marketing you’re always forced to learn and adapt to new changes, especially with technology.
HCAU: Tell me about your various internship experiences.
CR: After my freshman year of college, I interned for a non-profit called the Nexus Global Youth Summit. It was really cool- I got to collaborate on a global conference at the UN, and now I’m a volunteer for various organizations. I went back to the Summit and helped to put on a conference at the US Institute of Peace and at the White House under the Obama administration, which was really exciting. I did a lot of speaker research, I got to work on a spreadsheet that was presented to Joe Biden, and I got to meet really cool people- Fortune 500 CEOs, people who opened at TED Global Conferences, people who were on Forbes Under 30– people who were super well-connected and I got to work with them closely.
The summer after that, I actually did two internships. I worked for the Chamber of Commerce in New York and I did marketing communications, so working with small businesses. And I was also a publicity intern for 20th-Century Fox Films, which was really exciting. I got to meet a bunch of celebrities, read film scripts, and watch movies before they hit the theaters or while they were still in production.
The fall of junior year, I interned with the United Nations Foundation. So I worked for the United Nations Association of the United States, basically working with a bunch of UN chapters around the country, especially Model UN, working on grants for them. I got to sit on a panel at American University to talk about the refugee crisis specifically in Syria- we worked on a whole campaign with the UN refugee agency.
After that I went abroad to Madrid, had the time of my life, learned to just live life. I miss it so much. I actually became an English tutor and it was really interesting to see, especially as someone who’s really interested in media and entertainment. The little girl that I tutored, could she really speak English and form full sentences, no. But could she sing the songs from Frozen, yes! So it was really interesting to see how entertainment and media plays a role.
The summer after that when I came back from Spain, I interned at MTV, so I was in the research department working on consumer insights, specifically studying teenagers and Gen-Z behavior. A lot of the time we worked really closely with producers and if they ever had any ideas they wanted to test for either new campaigns, content, or TV shows, it would be my department that would do all of the research for it. So lots of focus groups- teenagers can be very scary!
First semester senior year I interned for Allied Integrated Marketing, which is an agency that handles movie studio accounts and markets in areas where film studios don’t have offices. I specifically worked for Paramount Pictures and worked on movies like “Daddy’s Home 2” and did promotions and publicity for the college markets. I also got to work on other movie studios, so I got to help staff the world premiere of “The Post”, which was really really cool. I got to meet Meryl Streep- she wished me the best of luck with school and told me I’m entering the world at such an interesting time where the world needs young people now more than ever. And she hugged me twice, which was really great- she went off to win her next Oscar and I went off to cry in a corner.
By the time I graduate college I will have had 14 jobs in 4 years, including 7 internships, so I’m really looking forward to settling into one. So that’s my career internship path, and I’ve also had other random jobs. I was a collegiate rep for the New York Times for 2 semesters, I currently work at the Kogod Center for Career Development where I’m a peer consultant- if you ever have resume or cover letter needs, make an appointment!
HCAU: After so many internships, what would you say is your dream job?
CR: I know this is such a cliché, but I would have to say Disney, or Disney Pixar specifically. I know everyone wants to work for Disney, but there’s a reason why everyone does- it’s the quality they produce. Disney doesn’t take shortcuts and I know that I can learn so much. Some of the smartest and most creative people work for Disney.
HCAU: What advice would you give to a younger student who wants to follow a similar path?
CR: Take advantage of all the resources you have. Especially as a business student, you have so much as your disposal. Business students here at American have their own career center, their own Career Source online, so you have resources. Also, intern as much as you can. Not only will it help you figure out what you love to do, but it will help you figure out what you don’t like to do. I came into college thinking I was going to do non-profits or CSR, definitely more on the international route, but then I just happened to intern for 20th Century Fox and that completely changed my career trajectory. I came into college, I was like “okay I want to intern for a startup, for government, for a non-profit and for corporate”, just to expose myself, and making your resume really well-rounded lets you go into different industries or different fields and really learn. Also, make friends with everyone. Yes, all these people you’re going to school with are your classmates now, but come graduation, they all become part of your network and you never know who knows who! Essentially, when looking for a career change or job change, your first step will be to reach out to some of your former classmates.
Photo Credit: All photos belong to Charvi Radia