6 Reasons The Abbi Agency will Raise your Internship Expectations
My first day at The Abbi Agency I was introduced to a team of public relations and marketing professionals from all different backgrounds and experiences and was quickly immersed in the tight-knit and fierce company culture. From the beginning, everything I thought I knew about working at an agency changed. In a staff meeting, a handful of other new interns and I were introduced to Abbi herself — and I quickly learned the woman in charge is also the first person to insist on a work-life balance. As she cheerfully rode her Peloton while running the Zoom meeting (not to mention, encouraging her team to follow suit, or take a breath of fresh air outside), it proved to me how much you can easily enjoy your career and your everyday life. This isn’t a boring desk job, you actually get to learn from people who are passionate and love what they do on a daily basis. The employees here enjoy their jobs, while also enjoying their lives, and to me, that’s everything I strive for in a career.
Here is how The Abbi Agency prepared me for a career in public relations:
Mental health is prioritized
The Abbi Agency is a support system, and hard work never goes unnoticed. Employees and interns are actively recognized for their work. When someone at the agency has accomplished something – big or small – that they are proud of, it’s shared in Slack where the whole agency congratulates and shows how excited they are to see one of their teammates succeed. Even throughout my years of playing sports, I’ve never seen this type of encouragement and excitement from others. Everyone at The Abbi Agency is truly a team player and supports and encourages their team to strive for greatness.
On top of that, The Abbi Agency has implemented a “Summer Recharge” week into their yearly calendar, where the office closes so employees can take an unplugged break from work, acknowledging that mental health is a priority on and off the clock. Even as an intern, I felt and saw just how important this time off was to the team.
Hands-on work
If you’re anything like me, I was terrified to start an internship. Terrified for all the wrong reasons, of course. I was afraid that I didn’t know enough about PR, and the potential thought of having to learn everything on my own is what scared me the most. I was completely proven wrong, not only by myself but by my mentors at The Abbi Agency. Within the first few weeks, I was already building media lists, crafting pitches, drafting emails, and writing media releases. Of course, not all the assignments were easy, and some took many corrections and redos to finally get right, but by being honest with myself and my mentors, I had the full assistance of the team when I was struggling.
The Abbi Academy
The Abbi Agency is a full-service marketing agency and provides services across many different departments, including paid media, social media, creative, video and more. They have implemented a program for interns called The Abbi Academy, to teach the ins and outs of the agency and all the different departments within it. For me as a PR intern, it’s given me an inside look at other parts of the agency that I didn’t normally work with.
This industry is constantly evolving and learning about new trends and skills has been helpful. The best part of learning about different departments in the agency is that if you ever find yourself having interest in something else, you are able to shadow and switch over to another department for a couple of weeks to gain knowledge in different parts of the marketing world and industry.
Constructive feedback
It’s okay to ask questions until you get it right. In fact, we were encouraged to ask questions and bring new ideas and thoughts to the table.
I’ve come to realize that The Abbi Agency is here to help me as much as I am here to help them. I’ve never been scared to receive feedback from my mentors or anyone else in the agency because it was never personal, and it was only to help me improve my work and skills. The more you are open and honest about your work, the more you will grow in the industry, and The Abbi Agency is constantly teaching us more ways to succeed.
Gaining a sense of professionalism
The Abbi Agency allows you to grow both personally and professionally. I have picked up on new skills and the basics of what it means to be in PR. Over the last few weeks, I have grown my network and new references for the future. Communicating with journalists and reporters from local to national news outlets via email or on social media has given me a clear view of what it means to me in the professional world of PR. Being able to communicate professionally and distribute the high-quality work that you have created gave me a new sense of what it means to be in this field of work.
Growing in confidence
Within a month of interning at The Abbi Agency, you will gain more confidence than you ever expected. When I first started, I was nervous to start writing pitches, because I felt it wasn’t my strong suit, when in reality I just didn’t know the right tools to craft them. After sitting in on The Abbi Academy pitch trainings and being given the opportunity to write a few, I slowly but surely knew what I had to do in order to craft a successful pitch. Growing in confidence is just one of the many things you will pick up on while interning here.
Being taught both life skills and PR skills through an internship is something I couldn’t be more grateful for. The Abbi Agency has given me the experience of knowing what a career is like in “the real world” and how to enjoy it. Waking up and being excited to learn something new at an internship is something I’m grateful to have experienced.
