Sam Dixon
Account Management
Dear Future Intern,
First off, I’ll start with the obvious: Congratulations! You’ve just joined a team of extraordinary thinkers with a passion for doing great work and having a blast while doing it! If you’re anything like I was, you probably aren’t quite sure what to expect. Well here’s my best shot at advice. Breathe deeply, and get ready to put your brain to work. In an environment like this, ideas spark action and pick up traction quickly – so you never know what could come of even the wildest ones!
Additionally, I encourage you to put forth your best effort to get to know the staff (don’t worry, they make it easy). You have 15 incredibly creative and resourceful workers to take advantage of at M+M, and throughout your internship you’ll learn invaluable skills from each and every one of them if you pay attention and seize the countless opportunities that will present themselves to you!
I’ll always remember one day in particular, during the first couple weeks of my internship, when one of the Account Management gurus, Meredith, let me sit in on a routine phone call with a client I’d been working on. After the call ended, I expected a formal conversation with her about what we’d discussed, but what I got instead was a question directed towards me – “so what is it that you want to learn here?” I’ve had a few internships before this, but had never been asked this question so deliberately. It took me a little while to formulate my answer, but the gesture was incredibly meaningful to me. I realized quickly that Madison+Main is a collaborative and supportive environment full of individuals that want to help you grow and progress just like their clients.
With all the incredible things I’ve been able to do at M+M like meeting with clients, social media planning, strategic research, and even some copywriting, it’s also worth admitting a shortcoming of mine… Answering the phones. When it comes to the phone system, practice makes perfect. Don’t let it get you down if it doesn’t click right away. I won’t brag and say I set a record for the most dropped calls in office history, but I’m pretty sure that I’m a close contender after a few months here (I’m sorry, Dave!).
In all seriousness, you’re going to learn a lot about advertising through an incredibly wide lens. You’ll see and get your hands on projects big and small, and at every phase from brainstorming to production. You’ll be challenged, but I have utmost faith in you that you will learn quickly and knock your work out of the park. It’s up to you to carve out your exact path at M+M, but so long as you keep an open mind and put your all into everything you do, all paths will lead to an incredible experience. So I ask you… what is it that you want to learn here?
Best of luck!
Haleigh Lader
Account Management
Dear Future Intern,
Congratulations! You are about to start an incredible opportunity that will allow you to grow professionally in a fast-paced environment with a team of hilarious people supporting you along the way. Madison+Main will provide you with the chance to see what it is like to truly work in the real world of branding and marketing. From sitting in on M+M Monday Morning Meetings to putting together creative briefs for clients, you will gain so much knowledge of this industry throughout your entire time here. However, this internship will provide you with so much more than just experience. You will work beside people who are the best at what they do and are even greater when they decide to bring in Red Eye Cookies randomly one day. Learning from them and making friends with them during lunches provided by M+M and the occasional happy hour are some of the best perks that come along with this internship.
Work hard enough and you could win the Above & Beyond Award on Monday, which is a $50 Visa card! I’m going to warn you though, be prepared to complete a lot of content calendars and always grab a Rice Krispies Treat when you can, because they go fast around here. Also just a little piece of advice, the sooner you learn how to work the phones, the easier your time here will be. It sounds silly, but they’re actually kind of complicated! Come to work excited everyday and always be ready to learn something new, because you will often.
Good Luck!
Amber Parker
Graphic Design
Dear Future Intern,
Let me first start off by saying Madison+Main is a wonderful place to be. The internship is rewarding if you put in the effort. Over the last few months, I was able to help with projects for brands all around Richmond. I was given the opportunity to design, strategize and develop on a daily basis. The design crew at Madison+Main is extremely helpful and patient when it comes to something you might not know how to do. This makes the overall environment comfortable and allows you to learn a lot each time you come in.
Expect to get use to Kaity’s dry humor and sarcasm when talking to just about everyone (it’s amazing trust me) and Art asking himself questions when working at his computer. I have learned that they are always rhetorical. Art knows just about everything when it comes to design so if you are stuck on a visual problem, he can look at it for about two seconds and know how to solve it. When interning here, make sure to do your best, to not be afraid to ask questions, to grab as much knowledge as you can from the advice of the creative team, and know that when you have completed the internship that you’ll be leaving with new skills and a better grasp about graphic design. If you want to feel like you are contributing to real brands and moving forward in the creative field, intern here. I have really enjoyed this experience and I think you will as well.
Kennedy Heidel
Copywriting
Dear Future Intern,
Working as Madison+Main’s Copywriting Intern was an amazing and rewarding experience. Unsure what I was getting myself into, I walked into that office with my head held (mildly) high — ready to learn. Funny or not, here I come I told myself.
Throughout the summer, this internship let me be continuously creative and use (probably overuse) my favorite literary device: a solid one liner. My boss, Mr. Kent Brockwell, let me roll up my sleeves and bring whatever crazy idea I had that day to life. He also had to sift through a lot of bad puns and dog jokes…sorry about that.
Working as an intern at Madison+Main gave me exposure to social media, print, video, and everything else you could think of. This agency let me turn caffeine into brilliance and for that, me and my portfolio, will be forever thankful.
Magic happens inside these walls; these people drive themselves to create exemplary work for their clients. They change perspectives, upset systems, invent ideas, and infuse bold personality into things that are dull. They are like a funky, cool car wash — they make things shiny and new.
I hope you have Rose Royce’s legendary song stuck in your head now. Your welcome.
But enough about them. I am supposed to instil wisdom into the future class of Madison+Main interns. So, what’s my advice, you say? First off, secretly stash some snacks away somewhere in a cupboard where no one can find them. These people are savage when it comes to Rice Crispy treats (The main culprit is Sophie. You’ve been warned.)
Second, dive head first into this internship. This place, although they offer you a safety net, will help craft you into a storyteller and wordsmith, and after a while, you won’t need that mesh underneath you. In fact, turn it into a pair of fishnet stockings and strut around like you own the place.
Third, no matter what they throw at you, even if you’ve never done it, give it your best shot. Blindfold yourself and throw a dart at the board. Most of the time, you’ll hit the target. (I promise.) I believe whole heartedly, if given a megaphone, Mr. Brockwell’s inspirational pep talks can move mountains — and he’ll help you hit the bullseye.
Overall, working for Madison+Main this summer helped me get one step closer to being a truly great copywriter and storyteller. Thanks for the memories, sugary snacks, and testimonials such as “She’s never had a bad hair day.”