You Will Never Succeed If You Never Try (Don’t Be Afraid to Ask!)
Working in a large, and well know company can be scary at first. You assume that everyone around you who is not an intern is a highly successful, busy, and, let’s be honest, rude business person. Or, even worse, you assume they won’t want to help you or talk to you because you are an inter. This is the furthest from the truth. Almost everyone you will meet will want to help, most even feel honored that you would come to them for advice. Working at Runner’s World, there are a lot of big figures here in the running world, but none are more well-known than Bart Yasso. They call him ‘The Mayor of Running’ and rightly so. He has run a marathon on every continent, has written his own books, and designed training programs that runners all around the world use. If I should have been nervous about talking to anyone at Runner’s World, it should have been him. But, he is the nicest, and most down-to-earth person. I’ve found that most runners are. I, a 19 year old intern, went out on a limb by asking him if I could help him get on Reddit for an AMA on r/running. I sent the email fully expecting to never hear back from him, I mean the guy has been running marathons since before my mom was born! But, 5 minutes (!!!) later he said that he would love to. I branched out of my comfort zone, took a chance, and now I am actively helping to promote the Runner’s World brand as well as the celebrity of Bart Yasso. What I’ve learned from this experience is that it never hurts to ask, and most of the time, it will help you far more than you expect.
I agree, Courtney. Intimidation is something everyone combats but I think pushing forward is the only way to go. We hear those cheesy sayings like, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and we laugh at their corniness. However, their corniness provides a lot of truth. I’m a firm believer in that genuine curiosity is one of the most fulfilling things you can explore. In my previous internship, I was always afraid to ask questions in fear of looking stupid. However, I found that I’d only remain ignorant if I did not ask that “why” or “how” question. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” (corny, I know), is something I carry with me everyday. We’re quick to think that the mean, all-powerful boss would never give us the time of day. However, how do we really know unless we ask for it?