The Importance of Building Relationships

Hi everyone! My name is Gabriella Foschini, and I am a Sophomore Advertising Major at Temple University. This semester I had the pleasure of interning at Advent Consulting here in Philadelphia Pa.

Advent is a very small agency that does everything from advertising to branding to event planning for companies in the Philadelphia area. The company consists solely of Joe Dicandido and his employee Cameron, in addition to the other multiple interns that were working here alongside me this semester.  Interning at such a small company has so many advantages, from becoming close to and comfortable with the people I work with, to getting to be fully involved with everything the company does. As this was my first internship, I had anticipated that I would learn a lot during my time with them, but the experience I have gained from working at Advent has proven to be more valuable than I could have ever expected.

From the day I first interviewed with Joe, I knew there was something special about him. His energy was unlike any other, and he instantly made me feel at home at Advent. He is laid-back and fun, yet at the same time, I could immediately tell how hard-working and driven he was.

I learned so much from working alongside Joe, getting to come along with him to meetings and be an integral part of the various projects we worked on. The most significant thing I took away from Joe’s example was how important his relationships with his customers are to him. If you did not know any better, you would think that Joe’s clients were not clients, but friends. And for the most part, they really are. It is evident that Joe values relationships more than anything, and work is about much more than money for him. Because of this, his clients respect him and are loyal to him, and he commits himself wholly to create things that he and his clients are proud of. Networking is a key part of being successful in any industry, and watching Joe grow in success from his own networking has inspired me to make it more of a priority for myself. There is truly nothing more valuable in your life than the relationships you make with those around you, and the business world is no different.