How I Built My Confidence During My Internship Experience

Hello everyone! My name is Mary Bonczkiewicz. I am currently a senior Advertising major here at Temple University, concentrating in Copywriting.

Before this semester started, I lacked confidence in my capabilities and in my work, even when I received positive feedback and good grades. I felt as if I was average in all things advertising, and as many of us in the industry know, average doesn’t get you very far.

Advertising is a very competitive industry. While I was able to produce solid copy and had adequate graphic design skills, I didn’t feel like leader in my classes. For me, my best work comes when I’m in a setting in which I feel comfortable, and I just didn’t feel comfortable in my classes. Seeing other students at the same level as me, or even a grade lower with several internships under their belts, made me feel as if I was falling behind, and therefor not good enough to be in the same classes as them.

Fortunately, with a lot of hard work, that all changed this semester. I can officially say that I am a strong, talented, creative, and confident copywriter, with many other skills under my belt as well. This is all thanks to my experience at EverWash this semester where I am an advertising and marketing intern.

EverWash is a leader in subscription management and membership sales in the car wash industry. Just a few short years ago, EverWash was a startup company with just a few car washes on their platform. Today, EverWash has hundreds of car washes from all over the country on their platform, and has grown their member base by 200%.

I heard about EverWash through my boss at my other job, who is a partner of the company. Through this connection, I landed an interview for a position in their call center. It was just going to be a job to get some extra cash this semester. When I went for my interview, I was surprised with another position.

EverWash, at this stage in the growth of their business, is very selective with who they hire. Blossoming from being a startup, the company wants to ensure they have a group of talented individuals under their wing, who will be able to grow along side the business. I was both shocked and excited when they offered me an internship position under their marketing manager, Max Pulcini, after they saw my portfolio. How could they want me for a position that I’ve only been learning about in school for a few short years?

When taking this job, I realized that was where my lack of confidence stemmed from; it came from having no real world experience. When they offered me the position, I was worried that they saw something in me that wasn’t there. But the only way to gain real world experience is by trusting in your abilities and taking a leap in the real world. Everyone starts somewhere, so I started at EverWash.

Over the course of this semester, I have used my advertising and marketing skills in ways I didn’t think I’d be able to for years to come. This being my first internship experience, I expected to be doing housekeeping work and small projects. However, under my boss Max, I have been able to work on, and lead, some amazing projects. His confidence in me and my work gave me the confidence to believe in myself that I will have for the rest of my advertising career.

Through my time here at EverWash, I have managed five social media pages to which I post daily, created print and digital ads, made graphics for a major industry event that was seen by thousands, created copy for both our company and our wash partners, created a social media guide for our partners to follow, wrote a submission for our wikipedia page, helped create our quarter marketing plan, and managed countless other projects. I even storyboarded YouTube commercial ideas that I will be running point on in the future!

I never had confidence in my capabilities, because I never had an opportunity to shine. I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to bring my ideas and talents to life. I am happy to say that I will be staying in my position at EverWash. It has been such an incredible company to work for and my experience there has shaped me into a strong, talented, creative, and confident copywriter.

My advice to all future advertisers and creatives; it isn’t a race or a competition. It’s okay if you don’t have as much experience as your fellow classmates. Believe in yourself, and it will reflect in your work. Everyone starts somewhere.