Hey everyone! I’m Natalie Aversano, and I just graduated high school this week (YAY congrats to me)! During our senior year, we were required to intern at a company to gain experience in the real world. I chose to intern at Pulse Creative because, first of all, they’re awesome, and second, because I believe I can gain a lot of experience working at a digital agency since I’m attending Iona College in the fall majoring in Media and Strategic Communications.

During my time here, I worked closely with the social media team, a.k.a the Pulse Echoes team! I LOVED working with Steph, Anna, and Avery. They were fun to work with and were really helpful with any questions I had. I learned a lot from them, like writing copy with a unique voice to attract engagement and awareness for clients on multiple social platforms. I also attended meetings with the team and saw how they came up with different marketing strategies and chose which one is the best. One of my favorite parts was doing research on social media, graphic design, and general marketing trends, especially for TikTok and Instagram reels!

I feel like I’ve gotten a better understanding as to what social media specialists do. Moreover, working on this team made me realize what I like and didn’t like about the field in general. For example, I thought researching different topics such as graphic design, videography, social media strategy, and web development was actually very interesting and fun to read about! But when it came to writing copy, I didn’t realize there could be SO many edits requested for one post. Perfection takes time, and I experienced that firsthand.

Me in the zone, setting up some posts for clients I’ve been assigned!

I must admit, in the beginning of my internship, I ran into a number of challenges:

1. I’m diagnosed with 22Q, a genetic disorder, and Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (“VPI”), which is a condition that can cause speech difficulties. Both disorders have greatly impacted my life with a number of learning disabilities.
2. Because the pandemic is still ongoing, I had to start via Zoom. I’ve never really used Zoom before and there was A LOT of material to digest. Not to mention, it was hard not being able to work with the team in person and see what I’m really supposed to be doing.
3. Developing content for different social media platforms was no walk in the park since there are a lot of factors that go into content such as voice, syntax, accompanying visuals, time of posting, etc.

But with everyone’s help, I eventually got the hang of it! Of course, there are still a lot of areas I could learn and improve on, but I really do appreciate how the social media team took the time to teach me, help me develop my skill set further, and share with me what it really takes to be in this role. SPOILER ALERT: it really is a 24/7 job!

Towards the second half of the internship, I actually got the chance to go into their office for the first time to meet the social media team – in person! They are THE BEST. We’ve spent about five hours together working on a few small projects, and even went out to lunch! It really made me feel like a businesswoman, and that was when I really felt that interning at Pulse Creative was a great way to start my career journey and grow in my professional life.

Businesswomen power lunch with some of the best at Pulse Creative. That’s me on the left! Clockwise next to me is Avery, Anna, Dani and Steph!

Thank you so much Pulse Creative (especially Steph, Anna and Avery), for giving me this amazing opportunity and for helping me figure out what I want to do in the future. Don’t be surprised if you get my application in a few years!