My senior year at UNH I had the amazing opportunity to have a digital internship with Miss Kinsman. Miss Kinsman is a luxury swimwear company based in Los Angeles California. Typically this type of internship would not be able to occur due to location differences. However, through the support of the communication internship program at UNH I was able to be a digital intern for Miss Kinsman. I first heard about Miss Kinsman through UNH pathways when the founder of the company Joanna Kinsman was my assigned mentor within the UNH pathways program. Joanna and I officially began our mentor mentee relationship in the beginning of September 2012 which consisted of monthly phone conversations and meetings if possible. Obviously with Joanna in California she was unable to have meetings in person. Fortunately, Joanna was able to fly out for our first UNH pathways dinner where we got to meet in person and put a face to a name.
Instantly Joanna and I hit it off! She had graduated from UNH just a couple years before me and after realizing her passion for fashion she began designing luxury swimsuits in her home state of Maine before moving out to LA to pursue her dream. I was instantly impressed with her story and inspired with how driven she is. I was very interested in her company Miss Kinsman. Every mentor session we had we would talk for hours about events she had been to, what was new with the company, or our aspirations in life. We had discussed the possibility for an internship but nothing had come of it, until I found a way through my Communication major to have digital or virtual internship for credit.
In January during winter break, Joanna and I planned a trip for me to come visit her in California. I went for about a week at the end of my winter break, it was incredible! While in CA, I was able to see Joanna’s life as a designer of a luxury swimwear company. It was so nice to be able to see everything I had been hearing about for months. I assisted Joanna with company events that week including a photo shoot in Malibu. While at the shoot I assisted with styling the models who were wearing suits Joanna and I had recently created. The entire trip was a huge success and so inspirational, it was so exciting to feel as though I was a part of Miss Kinsman.
A few weeks into the UNH spring semester my digital internship with Miss Kinsman began that included many new and exciting tasks. As an intern I would blog for Miss Kinsman, research what we need to improve digitally, create and market viral video advertisements, overall anything that was seen as beneficial for the company was part of my daily tasks. I was so lucky to have a boss like Joanna who allowed me to really become a part of Miss Kinsman, she consistently asked and valued my input. The most challenging aspect to the digital internship is time management. Especially because Joanna is three hours behind with the time difference of Boston and LA.
With the internet allowing us to be so connected Joanna and I were able to keep in communication through the entire day via texting, calls, skype, email as well as many other forms of communication. The most inspiring aspect to my digital internship is the amount of work we have been able to complete without ever being in the same state as one another. To me personally this is amazing! As a communication major with a minor in business I agree with Joanna completely who was a business major at UNH that our workforce future is a digital one. As a graduating senior at UNH I strongly believe that my digital internship provides me with a strong futuristic set of work skills, and highly encourage students to obtain digital internships if they so desire. The best part about my internship is that in a situation that would otherwise limit my ability to work with fashion, the Internet allows me to intern for a fashion company in LA while sitting in my dorm room at UNH!
