We got the pleasure to interview both Lillian Steinweh-Adler (BS in Communication Studies) & Madison Roy (BS in Journalism) separately about their internship as Comm majors. The Communication Studies field is expensive and versatile, with many different industries needing communication personnel.
Let’s get to know our Emtern Spotlights!
Lillian Steinweh-Adler ’21
Crooked Paintings (a boutique record label)/Marketing & Publishing Intern
Madison Roy ’21
Society 18/Social Media and Graphic Design intern
INTERVIEW
How did you find your internship?
LILLIAN: Handshake.
MADISON: I found my internship through Handshake, which is a service provided by the Emerson career center.
How long is your internship?
LILLIAN: January until the last day of the semester, April 28th.
MADISON: My internship is from January 2021-May 2021
Where is your internship taking place? All Virtual? Hybrid? How do you feel about it?
LILLIAN: All virtual. At first, it was hard to accept that I was on my own, I felt really alone and I had to learn to be more self-directed. It is a small company and so I am the only intern, which I wasn’t aware of going into it. But I was able to adjust and I am so, so happy I picked Crooked Paintings. I was able to get an in-depth look at the world of music publishing and A&R, and my experience there has shaped my goals and set me on the path towards a career in music.
MADISON: My internship is completely virtual. I don’t mind it being virtual, the work we do is very easily done virtually. With that being said I haven’t physically met any of the people I work with and I wish I had the opportunity to meet my team.
What does your daily routine look like?
LILLIAN: I first check my email for instructions from my supervisor, the A&R Manager. Essentially I work as her assistant and so I do whatever she needs me to do. I wrap up short-term projects for the day and then set to work on the overarching projects. The next day I will start up again where I left off until I get my supervisor’s email and so on and so forth.
Daily tasks include transferring and uploading songs into our database, designing marketing graphics for signed artists and contributing ideas to marketing campaigns, and more. I have to be self-directed and decide which long-term projects I should dedicate my time to– my favorite is assisting with music scouting through social media such as TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, etc.
Being the only intern, my only connection at the internship is essentially my supervisor. She’s amazing but I do find it challenging to work alone all day every day alone. I do wish I had more opportunities for collaboration and networking.
MADISON: We start off our day with a virtual daily touch base meeting on Google meet, then I work on my assignments for the day. Usually we have a weekly touch base meeting at 2 pm as well and then for the remainder of the day I work on projects and help out team members on things when they ask me too.
What are you currently working on?
LILLIAN: Currently, I am working on designing the website for our signed artists, one that is separate from the label’s site. I find that it allows me to get a bit creative and I have learned a lot of stuff about website design, like how to embed artist Spotify playlists (which I also had to create).
MADISON: I am currently working on outreach, so I am pitching our roster of influencers to various brands to try and set up paid partnerships!
What is something you wish you learned before taking your internship?
LILLIAN: I think it would have been interesting to have come in with stronger f music production skills. Any necessary skills were taught on the job for the most part, but ultimately I’m here because I love music, and I know it would have been even more interesting if I had developed my understanding of the artist process.
MADISON: Something I wish I learned before taking my internship would be
What are some essential skills/abilities/knowledge someone in your field should have?
LILLIAN: Time management and prioritization, project management and video conferencing programs, intimate knowledge of internet and social media, particularly Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok, interpersonal and professional communication skills, competence with Google docs, sheets, slides, etc, and basic design skills in photoshop or similar program.
MADISON: Some essential skills/abilities someone in the influencer marketing field needs to know include: proficient in social media, verbal communication, writing, being creative, being collaborative, having confidence in your ideas, knowledge about the influencer space, detail-oriented, organized.
Why did you decide to take this internship?
LILLIAN: I was already familiar with the film side of the entertainment industry and wanted to round out my understanding of the business, maybe seeing which I liked more.
MADISON: I decided to take this internship ultimately because I wanted to be a part of a collaborative hard working team in the influencer marketing field. I wanted to really grasp as much information and learn as much as I could from this group of people that I would be able to take with me through my career. After being with Society 18, I have decided this is the career path I want to go down. I really believe this group of women helped me find a true passion of mine and i’m so thankful I’ve had the chance to work with them!
Fun Facts!
LILLIAN does her own music and plans to get some up and posted this summer!
MADISON loves to scroll through every social media platform she can, not only to see content but to learn about what’s working for influencers and what’s not. Scrolling through these platforms helps Madison learn a lot about them and she can take that information and use it to help influencers grow their platforms.
