Lessons Learned from My Epic Elevate Internship

Since August of 2022, I’ve had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create events that people LOVE! I can’t help but reflect on the most remarkable nine months interning at Elevate Experiences. And boy, was it a joy.

Over the past year, I've been able to dive headfirst into the world of event planning. Coming into the fall semester, I was completely unaware of anything related to hosting events. If you’d asked me what a run of show was last summer, I would’ve given you my best guess. But Alison, my supervisor, and Billy, our President, were my biggest cheerleaders and teachers. The two of them encouraged me daily to unleash my creativity in ways I didn’t know were possible! 

In the words of Anna, another intern at Elevate, “as interns, we were not only able to observe what it takes to run a business, but we were also invited to be a part of it.” 

I know it won’t be possible to capture all I’ve learned from my time at Elevate in just one blog post, but I’m going to try! 

Handlebars for the Here + Now

Right off the bat, I started managing Elevate’s Instagram and TikTok profiles in late August. I quickly learned that social media management is SO much more than just scheduling posts and gaining followers. Rather, it was about creating and maintaining meaningful connections, fostering an online community, and ultimately highlighting exactly what Elevate exists to do: eliminate the plague of boring events and create events that people love!

Alison and Billy gave me the reins on Instagram– I was amazed at how much trust and confidence they placed in me from the jump! I was responsible for creating static feed posts, sharing reels, and rebooting Elevate’s Instagram story highlights and content. This involved creating the content itself, as well as the copy in the captions or on the story posts! It was important for me to quickly learn Elevate’s voice and what we wanted to show our current and future followers about who we are as a brand. 

 Once I got a handle on our socials, I added game production to my to-do list! At Elevate, we have quite the database of games that can be used at in-person, hybrid, and virtual events; all are available on our Etsy storefront! I had the opportunity to both take some of these games and revamp them and even make some from scratch. 

Doing so gave me the to chance stretch my creative muscles in copywriting, game design, and conceptualization of each game. Some of my favorites that I built out alongside Alison were “Most Likely To,” “Spot the Difference,” and “Figure It Out!” For the games, we brainstormed to come up with the object of each one, created host guides, and easy-to-follow instructions for different event types!

This spring semester, I got to work hand-in-hand with the rest of our team as we created not one, not two, but THREE free resources! From January onward, I was in charge of producing all the copy for each of these resources in addition to continuing to manage our social profiles and building games for our storefront. Alison, Morgan (my co-intern) and I worked alongside one another to create resources on the play-by-play of event planning, event engagement, and company culture. These free resources are coming soon to Elevate’s website and will be available to download for everyone!

Living out Their Mission

One of the services that Elevate specializes in is company culture. This wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t practicing it themselves either! Being a part of the team at Elevate changed me for the better on the inside, too.

Since August, the team has consistently expressed the value behind being authentic in your response, while also focusing on the positive in your week. I was blown away this year by how they actually meant this when they said it- being on the receiving end of this was fulfilling in more ways than I can describe. 

Every Monday afternoon, our team met weekly for a team meeting. In each meeting, we’d discuss the usual order-of-business topics and discuss the chapter of the book we were reading as a team, but not before checking in with one another. When leading these meetings, Billy never failed to ask each of us what our “one-word positive focus” for the week was, and would then share his own. 

Anna articulated my thoughts perfectly when she said that this team has “exemplified what great leadership  looks like.” Moving forward, I know what I want to look for in future employers because of my time at Elevate.

The leadership team at Elevate never ceased to uplift, encourage, and motivate us in both our personal and internship-related endeavors. Billy and Alison led Morgan, Anna, and me with professional joy, as well as high levels of trust and confidence in each of us.

The End

As I conclude my internship at Elevate, I am grateful for the invaluable memories and lessons I have learned. This year, I had the opportunity to stretch my creative muscles, hone my storytelling skills, and truly understand the power of social media in connecting people and shaping the experiences of others for good. Simply put, the team at Elevate has left me better than they found me. 

So, to anyone reading this, no matter if you know the Elevate team personally or you stumbled across this blog, I encourage you to embrace the time you have wherever you are.

Be brave, be yourself, and never stop asking questions.

Who knows, you might discover a part of yourself you never thought existed!

Are you or someone you know looking for an EPIC internship!? Click here to connect with a member of the Elevate team!

(Trust me: they really do want to hear from you!)

- Kate Waller