Farewell from the Curator Spring Interns

Hello everyone! As Spring quarter comes to an end, Curator is saying farewell to our amazing Spring interns, Justin Camara and Reagan Rebstock. This quarter will be one for the books with unique circumstances that made us stay connected remotely as a team. Nevertheless, we are so grateful for our interns and all of their hard work. We sat down with Justin and Reagan to get some final thoughts on their time at Curator.

What was your internship experience like overall?           

Curator provided a welcoming, challenging, and supportive work environment. The team gave me the perfect amount of freedom that allowed me to explore my own thoughts and ideas while also providing the guidance needed to finish a task efficiently. This internship taught me the foundation of public relations and what occurs behind the scenes in an agency. I was provided with a plethora of opportunities to learn and improve my skills. Each week, I worked on a variety of projects that introduced me to the different components of PR. – Reagan

I loved my time with Curator and learned so many valuable PR skills along the way. Entering this internship as my first exposure to agency PR, I feared that I was too inexperienced. But through my six months with Curator, I feel more prepared than ever to enter the PR industry after graduating from college. - Justin

How was it working remotely?

Working remotely provided a new set of challenges. Having never met any of the team members at Curator, I was unsure of what my experience would be like with a new group of people. Adjusting to working at home can be difficult, but it was made easy at Curator. We had daily meetings where we interacted with one another and shared our workday. For all assignments, I was given clear instructions that made it easier while working in a different space. I set up a home office which was helpful in creating a routine and allowed me to get my work done efficiently. All of these actions made working from home easier. – Reagan

 At first, I was worried that working from home would diminish the amount of learning and one-on-one mentoring that I was receiving in the office. Boy, was I wrong! Working from home took some time to get used to, but I remained in contact with the entire Curator team throughout the workday. Whenever I had a question or needed a new assignment, someone from the team was just a quick email or DM away. – Justin

What are some of the most important lessons or skills you learned from interning here? 

During my time at Curator, I came to understand the importance of asking questions. Asking for clarification not only helped me understand expectations, but it also showed that I was eager to get the job done correctly. We are all human and it’s okay to not understand something right away, what matters is how you handle an unknown situation. Having a teachable spirit and being open minded makes the experience more impactful. – Reagan

As my first official internship, I learned extremely valuable office-space skills. How to successfully carry out a project from start to finish, how to socialize in an office environment and how to successfully network with individuals in the industry. On top of this, I learned a lot of valuable PR skills like how to write in AP style, how to successfully pitch ideas to clients and much, much more. - Justin

What was your favorite part about interning at Curator?

 One thing I loved about Curator was the emphasis on being a team. Each member had their specific tasks and projects, but if someone needed assistance, everyone was more than happy to contribute.  I am thankful they opened my eyes to the work environment I want to always be a part of. - Reagan

I loved the office culture. Everyone was extremely nice and welcoming from day one and that environment really helped me to learn and thrive in a PR position. – Justin

What was your favorite project that you worked on during your internship?

My favorite assignment was creating a blog post about social media influencers for the Curator website. I loved researching information, hearing the perspective of real-life influencers, and adding my own knowledge throughout the post. It was really beneficial to witness the stages of publishing this content: deciding on a topic, gathering professional insight, revising and editing the piece, and then watching the final product come to fruition. I was able to see the improvement over time. - Reagan

I enjoyed the research projects that I was asked to do in order to gain information on industry trends and report findings to clients. These research projects spanned across various topics including the pros and cons of overlashing utility pole wires when installing fiber optic cables, the trends and successes of various video streaming websites over the years and Super Bowl commercial trends and viewership/impact over the years. I enjoyed these projects the most because I could independently research the topic and put my own spin on the final product, choosing what information I felt to be the most valuable to our team and clients. – Justin

What will you miss about interning at Curator?

 I will miss the people that I worked with at Curator the most. I am so thankful for all of the relationships and connections that I made during my time here. I will miss learning from a team that is passionate about public relations and the work they do. – Reagan

Definitely the people and the client-base. Everyone on the Curator team turned out to be amazing individuals and I’m happy that I got the chance to know everyone and interact in the ways that I did. I also love Curator’s client-base because I’m mainly interested in B2C PR and loved working with lifestyle brands that I was already supporting or aware of, before I started at Curator. - Justin

Do you have any advice for future interns? 

Set goals for yourself that are tangible and can be measured throughout the duration of your internship. These goals can range from learning specific tasks to having a better understanding of something. Also, I would suggest creating a journal of the different skills, advice, and insight you gain throughout your time at Curator. This will allow you to go back and review what you have learned and will be useful in future internships or jobs you may have. – Reagan

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and be yourself. Though PR is client-focused, a big part of the industry is being able to pitch yourself and your goals to clients, management and the news media. - Justin

While these past couple of months were different than we had expected, we’ve truly enjoyed having Reagan and Justin on board with us. We are sad to see these two go, but are looking forward to seeing the great things they do next. Thank you both!