Humble Pie

I was very fortunate to land an internship at the law firm Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman, & Goggin (Marshall Dennehey for short). However, I was a little uneasy about being an advertising major working for attorneys, as I’m sure we all know how those ads usually turn out. I appreciate the work, but I didn’t want to be stuck writing variations on “we don’t get paid until you do!” for the entire semester. Fortunately, we do not advertise in the traditional sense. Rather, we focus on marketing efforts. And while it isn’t exactly my field of study, I learned a lot about what goes on on the marketing side of business, which I know will help me in the future.

Working in marketing, first and foremost, taught me that I am doing a good job when people don’t remember I am there. If that sounds thankless and grueling, don’t let that scare you. It is humbling, to be sure, but it was important for me to remember that my job was to help attorneys market themselves as effectively as they could. This included helping research and put together presentations, researching potential clients, and assisting with securing speaking engagements for attorneys. I think in advertising, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are, first and foremost, supposed to help clients make more money. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in your work, but sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we shouldn’t be in this industry for the awards or just to get the job done. We owe it to the clients to get fulfillment from helping them achieve their goals.

My work isn’t always obvious to people outside of the marketing department, but looking at the portfolio I have going already, I can see how my work is paying off. And I know that if I didn’t do my job, some attorneys would have difficulty marketing themselves as well as they do. I am lucky to have an internship that actually makes a difference in how the company runs.