Powerful Press – Interning at Foxglove Communications

This summer, I interned at Foxglove Communications, a PR and branding boutique agency centered in the Food + Beverage and Hospitality industry. While this was a remote position, the experience was incredibly immersive as the agency only has around 6 employees — I got to work hands-on with each account coordinator and the CEO herself.

I’m Catherine Blizzard, a senior Advertising student with a concentration in Art Direction. PR is not my forté, and I was initially SO nervous to switch from visual communication to written communication, but I’m so glad I did. I was assigned to a few clients, most notably HOTEL DU PONT and their luxury restaurant, Le Cavalier, at the Green Room in Wilmington, Delaware, and Ramona Wine Spritzes, a female-fronted canned wine company. Prior to this internship, I barely knew what PR stood for. I had no idea what I was in for when I accepted this role.

My daily job duties varied each day. The majority of my time was spent managing social media by creating monthly content calendars, writing press releases for restaurant openings and other major announcements, and tracking press each day. At the end of each month, I would create reports summarizing the press for each client and what our agency had accomplished over time. Compiling lists and contact information for food journalists was a great segue into the PR world. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what the purpose of these long contact lists was at first. Staring at spreadsheets all day seems dull — there were some yawns — but when a major news outlet picks up a press release you wrote, it’s so fulfilling!

Looking back, the best piece of advice I have for anyone starting a job is to set and define clear goals. On my first day, the CEO, Gia, asked me to define a few S.M.A.R.T goals — and the goals I set for myself, I accomplished! I’m incredibly grateful for the whole Foxglove team, especially Gia Vecchio and Bailey King, for making this experience so impactful over the past 3 months.