Walk a Mile in My Shoes: My Internship at Llani

Hi everyone! I’m Audrey and I am currently a senior majoring in Advertising with a concentration in Art Direction;  I am also minoring in Digital Marketing with Fox.

My final semester of college has been quite busy as I juggle the responsibilities pertaining to my classes as well as the two different companies I have been interning with. I was thrilled to land an internship position at Llani, a female-owned shoe company that designs and sustainably sources beautifully handmade slippers and flats from India. I’ve always considered fashion to be a huge part of my life, and never considered the ways in which I could incorporate my experience in advertising and art direction into that realm.

Llani as a company is unique in that it is managed by one woman — my boss, Alana. After designing shoes for large companies like Anthropologie and Old Navy, she decided to develop her own unique brand, where she could exercise her creativity to the fullest extent while also utilizing her past experience in design.

Interning for a business owned and managed by one person has been so unique in that I’ve had the opportunity to receive a direct perspective into the mechanisms behind establishing a small business, especially in the digital space. Llani products are primarily sold online, so most marketing tactics take place digitally. One of my favorite responsibilities as an intern is designing weekly email newsletters to be sent to the company mailing list.

Although Llani primarily lives online, I’ve also had the opportunity to experience how the brand translates to a physical space. I recently accompanied my boss to an event at a University City restaurant, where female-owned businesses were invited to set up displays while attendees browsed the selections in celebration of “Galentine’s Day.” It was particularly interesting to see how sales tactics differ in the digital space versus in brick-and-mortar spaces. In addition, my boss has allowed me to sit in on her meetings with the teams at Anthropologie, Free People, and BHLDN regarding collaborations with Llani; these opportunities have been invaluable, as I aspire to work in an environment similar to the ones present at these companies.

So far at my internship with Llani, I’ve also had the opportunity to see my own designs printed and used by a real company, which has been extremely exciting as a young creative about to enter the professional space. I designed Llani-branded product tags that we now use for all of our sample products as well as physical gift certificates that were distributed at an event. I am also in the process of designing a new logo and subsequent branding materials for Llani’s product vendor in India. In addition, I am currently designing shoe labels to be utilized on merchandise within an upcoming collaborative release between Llani and Free People.

Looking back on the time I have spent at Llani so far, I feel so lucky to have been able to obtain a position that aligns so well to my future career aspirations. My work with the company has only made me more confident in my abilities to uniquely combine my creative design capabilities with my thorough understanding of marketing. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have an internship position where I can see my work actively being utilized in a professional setting, and I’m so excited to see what the remainder of my time at Llani will bring!