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Communication Internship: Island Creamery

Marissa Kerins

COMM 495: Spring 2023

Salisbury University
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Throughout my life, I wondered what I would want to do in the future. My mother would

say I am artistic. Constantly creating, singing, and dancing all around the house growing up, it’s

just what I did. One compliment I always got is that my communication was exceptional. It was

important to me to be able to have this skill and it came so naturally to me. This is one of the

reasons why I chose communications as my major here at Salisbury University. Being a transfer

student in my junior year, I was nervous about coming into a space where people already had

connections.

I only knew two people at the time, my roommate, and the Dean of Business, Christy

Weer. My mother and Christy were best friends in high school and continued their friendship

even to this day. Christy is one of the main reasons I changed my minor from business

administration to marketing. She helped me realize my goals and what I was passionate about

and how it can transfer into the real world. Communications and marketing are two subjects I

feel coincide greatly in showing my attributes. Coming from a previous institution where I was

involved in activities, I didn’t know what I should do once I got to Salisbury.

One of my roommates was part of a sorority called Alpha Sigma Tau. In the fall of my

junior year when I transferred, I went through their COB (continuous open bidding) process and

joined. One of the ways I showed my creativity and organization was through my position as

Historian/Director of Music Education during my senior year. I was in charge of teaching the

new members and current members all of our chants and hymns during recruitment and the

school year. For the historian portion, I communicated and organized our composite for the

school year. Having constant communication in a positive way helped me a lot in this position.

Knowing I needed an internship, I reached out to my fellow sisters in the chapter to see if

they knew of any openings and I scored! One of Island Creamery’s CEO, Jen Sorrell was looking
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for an intern to help with a training workbook and help out with their social media pages and I

immediately reached out. In this essay, I will share how this internship helped elevate my

abilities in a better mentality professionally, showcase my skills through all the projects I was

able to create, and how building relationships can lead to opportunities.

Starting at Island Creamery was definitely not what I expected my internship to be in the

first place. Yet, I felt that I already had a connection because this was such a unique opportunity.

It’s not every day someone can say they interned at an ice cream shop whose business has been

around since the 70s. Everyone and when I say everyone, has such a bright energy when going

into the shop. There was never a day I went to work, and I wasn’t excited to make new content or

record videos, because of the people around me. It was clear that even though they had such

great energy, there was a lack in cohesiveness of certain subjects.

Even in little tasks or situations, there seemed to be a grey area, and I was the person to

make it clearer with the training workbook. In the months that I was at Island Creamery, it was

important to me that I had a full understanding of all of the topics I was going to go over. I

learned that working at an ice cream shop is very hands-on and you are responsible for making

yourself busy with a task at all times. After coming up with a game plan on how the workbook

was going to be organized and creating content, it was time to start to go to work.

Recording videos and editing was a hobby that I enjoyed near the end of high school and

at the beginning of my college experience. Jen really wanted the training workbook to be a

cohesive drive where each position would be able to have a visual experience of the accurate

topics. Since a majority of everything here is hands-on experience when getting trained, having a

written explanation of the subjects was also important to have on the drive. I learned that even
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though people can be shown how to do a task, sometimes people want to be able to read the

directions, so they know they are properly doing it correctly.

I spent the beginning of the internship recording many responsibilities and at first, the

workers were camera shy. The main idea that I communicated to them is that I want it to look

just like how a shift normally works. So having them act normally if they get in the screen was

perfectly fine for me, I just made it clear to not purposely try to ruin the shots. One thing that was

important was to have a good relationship with everyone that is working. Of course, I respect

anyone regardless of their position, but no matter what I was going to be a familiar face with

them recording and getting content for the rest of the semester. So having a comfortable

atmosphere was key in building the relationships I had with each person on the team.

Island Creamery strives on being a family-friendly business that has the kindest

employees. They already have loyal customers that come daily and follow them on their social

media. Yet, their social media was not being used in all of its capacity. The content they were

putting out was not bad, but it wasn’t consistent nor was there a theme. In social media and in

general, having a target audience is a key factor. A way Island Creamery can boost its business is

by targeting a different audience to get more traction on the page. One way I used this is by

taking social media stories to my advantage.

In order to get a grasp on what the customers want, I would make polls on their stories to

get a better understanding. Keeping the same atmosphere of family-friendly, I incorporated

trendy backgrounds and flyers to get more views and clicks on the page. My point of view on it

was, if I make it fun enough to engage in over the phone, customers will want to have it in

person and come to the shop. Coming up with ideas and having them approved though, is not

just an easy-going process as some might think.

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As someone that had experience with social media marketing and editing, I was excited

to get more hands-on experience. There is a process for getting stuff approved for social media

for stories, posts, and flyers. It is understandingly so since even though Jen and the rest of the

team trusts me, it is their business that it can affect. Taking chances was something that I tried

with the style of social media I was making as well as the recordings.

Communication as people already know, is huge in being an intern and in any job, I will

have in the future. One thing that I learned though is sometimes you will go throughtime without

communication. Jen is a very busy woman managing 2 shops, at times she wouldn’t be around.

This is why we came up with a game plan and every week I would have a list of tasks that I

would need to accomplish. If she wasn’t around or was able to get on her phone to answer a

question, I would complete another task or I would do it up until a certain point.

With her not being in the shop at times, the editing was something that I had control over

which was a fun experience. The situation was that I had all of the original recordings so if they

don’t like what created, I can convert it back to the original version. A way we collaborated was

that Jen wanted to have control of the voice-over of the videos I made. For each clip I got, I

would remove the sound and add transitions between the clips so that when she was available, I

can let her do a voice-over with how she liked it.

One of the ways I wanted to expand my knowledge and get a better understanding of

social media was to get a certification. HubSpot Academy is a popular online certification

program, and I got Social Media Marketing Certified. I wanted to do this because even though I

am applying the knowledge I learned during my classes at Salisbury, I wanted extra help to guide

me during this internship. Completing a five-hour course made me learn about the importance of
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social media marketing and how there is so much behind a company and the reasons why they

post certain things.

With this certification, I was really proud of the social media content I was creating for

our social media pages. Having interactive stories was very popular, and it was interesting to see

the eagerness to participate when other people are also posting and tagging along. I really

enjoyed making different types of content for Island Creamery to use in the future. I feel that

along with making fun content, the support I got from the staff and my supervisor was like no

other. Even when Jen and I had a conversation on if we wanted to steer in a different direction, it

was a positive environment and it was nice to get feedback on how to make it even better.

I am also proud of my editing skills and working on Google Drive in a way that it is

organized for Island Creamery to use in the future. Having it accessible, they can add or change

any of the information I have provided for each position. One of the videos that I enjoyed the

most was when the managers would make different types of ice cream cakes. All of the

ingredients and everything they have in the store are fresh and delicious. Being able to see how

the cakes are made and then record and edit them, is nice to have it visually in order. Taking a

couple of editing courses at my previous institution helped me a lot in getting the big picture

together.

One thing I would say that surprised me about my prospective career field is the rapid

pace of change in these fields. With the constantly evolving nature of technology and the

internet, these jobs require me and others to stay up to date on the latest trends and adapt quickly

to changes in the industry. Another surprising aspect of these jobs is the diverse range of skills

required. Effective communication and marketing involve not only strong writing and verbal

skills, but also creativity, strategic thinking, data analysis, and a deep understanding of audience
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behavior and psychology. Successful professionals in these fields must possess a broad range of

skills and be able to collaborate effectively with colleagues in different areas of expertise and I

believe that I have done so with this internship.

Even though generally communication and responses at a workplace are quick responses,

at this internship clear and concise communication is key in this role, as social media is a fast-

paced and constantly evolving environment. At some points, clear communication didn’t always

happen. With my internship supervisor being in charge of two shops, she wasn’t always at the

Salisbury location. As stated before, I would have a checklist of what I was supposed to do. Yet

as the weeks went by, there was sort of a routine that I got in the habit of doing. With

communication and trust in the workplace, there is a level of what each person has. As I

continued this internship, the trust and communication I had with my supervisor grew as the

semester kept going.

Having the opportunity to edit, record, and create content definitely made me feel secure

in my career decisions. One of the programs I used was Canvapro, and it made my creativity side

expand. With numerous backgrounds, fonts, and buttons, I had ian nfinite amount of content that

I could make. I enjoyed that with this internship I had the freedom ability to do stuff as I liked,

but of course getting feedback was the best part. This was a great opportunity for me to be able

to make content that I believed the customers would like. If Jen had any feedback for changes or

anything specific, she wanted, I would take it and apply it to my projects. In the future, I hope I

am at a job that does similar activities with social media. Meaning I would have a job creating

content and have weekly goals of what I would need to accomplish. Even though this internship

wasn’t as complicated or as big as past communication internships, it still allowed me to

experience the media hands-on.

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Even though there are many projects I worked on that I am proud of, there were

definitely times when I felt disappointed. In the beginning of working on social media, I was in

charge of creating Valentine’s Day photos to post. This was my first shoot and during this time,

Jen was not there. She did give me some instructions on what I was supposed to do and what she

would like, but it was harder than anticipated. Creating content isn’t as easy as taking a picture. I

need to make sure the lighting, the background, the product itself, and everything are correct and

in their place. After finishing the photos, it took way longer than I anticipated and when I had to

edit them, I submitted them to Jen. Hearing the original feedback was hard at first since not

everything I was doing is what Jen wanted. There were plenty of times when I made content that

I enjoyed, but it wasn’t the style they wanted for the page. After figuring out the style we like and

what we wanted the finished products to look like, that is when I was getting improvements and I

got it approved to post on stories.

The only other item that I was disappointed in myself was at times my time management

wasn’t the best. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I would come after my classes were over to work

a 5 to close shift. At times, I would be tired from a long day, and even with my weekly list, going

to my internship I would be frazzled on what I would want to edit. This helped me realize that in

the future even if I am tired, my work is still a priority, especially if we have a scheduled list.

Next time I am given an opportunity to work in this field and if I am making content, I

will be better prepared for what the target audience is supposed to look for. My priority will just

be on the job rather than being a full-time student, employer, intern, and being involved with

activities. I am proud of how much I got accomplished and how I grew from the beginning till

now.
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Near the end of my internship, it was very interesting to see all of the projects I had

worked on and completed. It seems just like yesterday when I stepped into the shop and was

introduced to all of these amazing hard workers. I didn’t just connect with Jen, I connected with

each person there. In my position, I was required to gather all of the information of each position

and itemized in a training workbook for anyone to be transitioned. This is for people who come,

and it is their first day, to them growing as front-of-house leaders, all the way to manager details

and descriptions.

This shop is run by extremely hard workers who strive to keep the positive atmosphere of

Island Creamery alive. Even when there is one person gone or if they can’t come into their shift,

the train shifts gears and it can be stressful. There are numerous people that work there that care

a lot about this shop and want the best for everyone around them. Working here for the past

semester was an experience of a lifetime. Being able to learn all of these positions, and at times if

they were busy, I would step in and help. Since I knew many of the jobs and side works from

recording everything, Jen offered me a manager position at Island Creamery.

I am very excited about my future, but with COVID messing up my timeline, I feel I still

need more time before fully jumping in. Having this position will help me save money, and Jen

and I mentioned about still helping out the social media pages and putting more stuff in Google

Drive since I will be here for a little bit. Hopefully, this essay explained how this internship

helped elevate my abilities in a better mentality professionally, showcase my skills through all

the projects I was able to create, and how building relationships can lead to opportunities.

Overall, working at Island Creamery made me realize that an opportunity can be waiting for you

and all you need to do is just look in the right direction.

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