Internships and apprenticeships are a time-honored rite of passage in many industries. We’ve asked some brilliant folks to share some of the most important lessons they learned during these early experiences in their career.

Markie Mullins

My internship experience was a journey of persistence and the power of truly believing in yourself. When I was 19, I was attending college at Arizona State University and often going to events on campus to network and meet new people. There was one specific event where Whitney Port came to speak and at the time she was a popular reality TV star. Many of my friends watched the show at the time and talked about her experience working in PR and fashion in LA & NYC. At the time, I was set on working in the fashion industry and knew it would be a great opportunity to hear her speak. Read more>>

Terrance Hutchins

I interned at two different companies. Both were in sales and the first one involved me going door to door to businesses selling print advertising in the back of a school planner. This was my first experience people had no problem being rude and abrasive to a naive college kid. However it taught me about perseverance and consistency. I learned the value of just repeating the process I was taught over and over even if you don’t see results. Eventually I got most of sales at the end of summer and led my team. I wouldn’t go back and do something like that again but the lessons learned I still apply today. Read more>>

Adora Winquist

I would like to share a win from our own Adora Winquist LLC Infinity Team Internship program. One silver lining that arose from the past few years is the creation of an internship program. Over the past two years we have mentored over fort-five interns and immersed them in our company values and culture. Read more>>

Jenna Poulsen

The biggest lesson I’ve had engraved in my whole being is to “own your extra”. This has become my tag line & a mantra I live by. “Own your extra” means to live authentically & own who you are – especially the “extra” qualities that make you uniquely YOU. This has evolved into my mantra through a series of experiences. The most distinguishing experience that helped me to start the journey to finding who I was as a person & how I would begin my journey to my career was in one of my final senior capstone classes at the University of Colorado. Read more>>