Summer Internships - Don't Be Shy

I sit here on a bluebird day in Mill Valley and feel happy it's Friday. I've been thinking alot about not only all of our new fans in facebook, but also these awesome brand ambassadors we have representing us on college campuses across the country.

Amanda, Brittny, Amber, Roya, Renee, Ryanne, Sarah, Amy, Katie, Brooke, Lindsey, and others, thank you for joining us on our mission to engage and inspire girls to just keep playing. I love Ellen deGeneres as Dorie in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming". Today's society seems to be trying to make girls conform to some ridiculous skinny version of "beauty", and we are here for all the real girls of the world. The ones who will take over the world. 15 million who play sports in the US alone!

But I am hopeful with this space to share something of value for our vivoGirls. As I ran yesterday, I realized that getting meaningful summer internships is not that easy to do. But "not easy" should never stop you!

I suggest that you ask yourself, who is the company, who is the leader, who is doing things that just make your heart sing? If you could work anywhere at all, knowing that all day your "work" would be play to you, where would that be?

Then call, send a beautiful written letter with your beautifully written resume, email, the very top most person in that organization. Ask them if they provide summer internships. If they say no, say, "I want to work for you so badly, I will empty your trashcans."

How will they say no to that? Chances are, if they are an established business, they will even muster up some kind of minimum wage to engage you for 8 weeks. This becomes your perfect opportunity to work within an organization that believe fits with your personality and your goals for yourself. Don't worry if you get there and you hate it... you have to stick it out, and do the best job you can, but then check that off your list!

I thought I might want to work in banking, til I worked in a bank one summer. I thought I might want to go into sports/fitness, til I worked in a gym. I like hospitality/restaurants, til I realized how hard that was to work every night (but everyone SHOULD wait tables at some point in their life... you will respect waiters for ever more.) But when I got to Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta the summer before my senior year at Carolina, I realized I belonged. I LOVED it. This was the start of CNN, MTV, HBO, all of what we now know is 10 gazillion niche channels of "cable TV". It was a blast.

Now here I am, still in media, but combining all of my passions, all of my experience, everything that I love in one awesome job. Keep in mind, sometimes you have to create your own favorite job. And I'm here to encourage young women to go for that too.

Go for it. Don't be shy. If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will.