This summer, Springthrough welcomed three interns to our team. Rather than write about our perspective on their experience, we wanted you to hear right from them. 

Meet Charlee Ward. 

Charlee is entering her Senior year with Davenport University's Marketing program. 

What three words represent your experience at Springthrough?

• Enlightening
• Motivating
• Stimulating

What were you looking for in an internship?

I wanted to find somewhere that would give me real world experience in marketing in a hands-on environment. I wanted to be given the chance to learn various programs that I would be able to use in my future career and even apply when I go back to school. I was looking for a place I would be able to learn new styles and approaches for marketing that I may not have had much exposure and practice with in my classes.

What surprised you the most about your internship?

I was most surprised about how quickly they allowed me to own my learning at Springthrough. I was given the tools I needed along the way and there wasn’t any hand holding. This allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and really attack and learn what I was doing. It challenged me to take more ownership of my development.

What kind of projects did you work on?

One of the first projects I was given was to create a contractor selection and onboarding process for the company. This allowed me to learn not only more about the company but also sharpen my project management skills. To gain experience with HubSpot, a digital marketing tool, I assisted with writing blog posts and entering them into the system. I was also responsible for writing and scheduling social media posts for the blogs. One of the big projects I worked on throughout my internship was moving content into Sitefinity for a new website that Springthrough will be launching.

What did you find most challenging about your Springthrough internship experience?

The biggest challenge that I had was learning and understanding all of the technology aspects. Going into the experience not knowing a lot about the back end of technology and development was something I had to learn quickly to truly understand what I was marketing. My supervisors and team were great though and helped onboard and teach me to get me up to speed.

What industry tip did you learn?

Attract-Convert-Close-Delight. The Inbound Methodology was a concept that I was able to learn more about and the tools that are available to use in order to see better data about digital marketing.

What one thing will you take from your internship that will make you a better student in the fall?

Learning the concepts and strategies for inbound marketing and how to leverage the various marketing tools/programs. This will give me new perspective on different ways to market and I will be able to compare the techniques I learn in class to what I have experienced.

What is your best memory from your summer internship at Springthrough?

My best memory would have to be the opportunity to work on the upcoming updates to springthrough.com. It helped remind me that every detail matters when working on a project. It was a great learning experience to see behind the scenes of a website, but it is also very rewarding. To know my hard work is creating something for the company and their clients was very exciting and rewarding for me.