The Snoopy Show: Interning at Peanuts Worldwide

My name is Jared Bowers-Hodges and this semester I interned at Peanuts Worldwide at in their licensing department. This department is based out of the New York City office and handles licensing the brand and its characters to outside licensees for the production of a variety of Peanuts products. Going into my internship I was kind of unsure as to how it would look and what I would be doing. However, once I got into the swing of things, one of the first large takeaways I got was how extensive of a process it is to get these products we see in-stores or online out for consumption. I never knew how important licensing could be, but as I learned more about the company, I learned that its importance means everything as it is the major revenue stream for the company.

One great part of my experience was being able to see this process in different steps. I was able to sit in on meetings with MLB teams that planned collaborative events with Peanuts. I was able to sit in meetings that reviewed contracts with licensees, in addition to sitting in on meetings that reviewed the success of location based events or collections that had been released.

One particular area of work that I grew a great interest for was Peanuts and their collaborations with other brands, especially clothing brands. Liz Brinkley runs this department. I was able to meet with and learn from her about how these collaborations come together. Seeing the process from the search for brands to looking at mockups of the final products really made me want to work in brand collaboration in my future career.

Another positive takeaway that I have from my internship is being able to see that while everyone in the department had their own individual responsibilities and categories to manage, they were willing to collaborate and assist whenever there was a need for it. Through collaborating with others on various projects at Peanuts, I learned the importance of time management.

Everyone on the team does a lot of work every day. Making sure I was on top of my work and if I fell behind just giving some notice became something I really focused on and tried to improve upon during my time with Peanuts. My experience working for Peanuts was better than I imagined it would be. The research projects I was able to do were on topics I already had prior interest in so it made doing the work much easier and more enjoyable.

My bosses and everyone on the team were welcoming and understanding. If I ever had any questions or needed to reach out for any reason to anyone, there were no issues. If there was one thing that I wish was different about my internship it is that I wish I was able to work out of the office (in-person). Being virtual did limit some of the possibilities of the internship (like seeing products in-person before they are released to the public), however, every other aspect of my time with Peanuts was amazing and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked there.