The Beauty in Being Who We Are
Hi, my name is Pratyusha Chintalapudi, and I am a Senior in Advertising, with a concentration in Media Planning, at Temple University. It has been a wild journey to get to this place. Before I was at Klein College, I was studying Entrepreneurship at Fox School — until I felt an urge to get into the creative space. This led me to the advertising field; I loved the aspect of creating something so unique that someone would want to buy it. It was the mixture of business and creativity that I yearned for.
This summer I was honored with the opportunity to work with Who We Are LLC, a company that stands for creating an atmosphere where everyone feels included and inclined to learn. Who We Are creates videos to help people who have studied engineering become better communicators and more confident speakers. The beauty of the videos that they sell is that they are not only helping other people become better speakers, they are also bringing out the fire in those people and making them reach their highest potential. The work I was doing felt especially empowering because I have struggled with speaking up for myself and being more confident in my own voice. I learned a lot from my boss, Aditya Guthey, who gave me the push to ask any questions that I had and was always ready to help. I felt a part of something bigger than me and felt that I was making a difference.
I learned a lot from my experience working with Who We Are, from learning how to take constructive criticism to opening up and sharing my ideas. Who We Are created a fostering environment that helped me grow not only as a creator, but as a person. My boss valued my time and made sure that I had the tools I needed to expand my knowledge. I learned to be more open to new ideas and perspectives. This not only helped me in this internship but I know will help me when I am seeking a job.
Hi Pratyusha, I loved reading about your journey! – I had a very similar experience over the last four years at Temple. I originally started out as a Criminal Justice major. It wasn’t until the end of sophomore year when I had a panic and realization that I did not know what I actually wanted to do with my life. It dawned on me that I was enjoying my electives more than my real course work. Those electives happened to be The Future of Your Tv, and Media & Society which are both advertising based. This industry is open to so many opportunities it’s incredible! I’m glad you found something you truly enjoy.
Thanks for sharing Pratyusha!
I had no idea about Who We Are until reading your blog post. They have such an amazing and powerful mission. Is this something that you would like to continue to pursue after you finish out your degree? Also, how did you find the opportunity to work for Who We Are? This organization is fascinating, we could use more like it in this area to help everyone become better communicators within their community.
Hello Pratyusha! Thank you for sharing your experience with Who We are LLC. I have surprisingly never heard of this company before, but I am happy to finally be introduced to them through your post because it sounds like they do a lot of great things. I relate so much with your words, and the empowerment you felt by igniting a fire inside people is an amazing thing to experience along with them. It is common for young adults to go through losing their voice/passion in the workforce or never finding it in the first place, so it’s lovely to hear that you felt part of something bigger than yourself, working to inspire people that were in your same position not too long ago. I am pleased to hear that your time there had such a personal impact on you as a person and as a professional, since the things you learned during your time with Who We Are LLC will stay with you forever. I’d love to know how you discovered such an innovative, open-minded, and inspiring company, and congratulations on completing your internship!