Madison Shannahan, a summer 2023 Greenlee advertising graduate, turned her internship into her first job as an assistant social media manager at Fareway.
When Shannahan first came to Greenlee, she already knew that advertising was the right major for her, but she didn’t yet know exactly what she wanted to do. She quickly found herself drawn to classes that focused on creativity like “Advertising Creativity” and “Digital Video Production.” Her favorite assignments involved creating components of marketing campaigns like mock-up social media posts.
Shannahan said those classroom experiences helped lead her to her internship with Fareway. As a senior, she applied to many internships as she worked to fulfill her 499A internship requirement, but the social media internship fit best with the passions she’d developed.
Shannahan also encouraged future Greenlee students to remain open-minded in their search for their 499A internship.
“Find something that sounds interesting to you, but don’t be too picky, because you never know what you might like,” she said.
As a social media intern, some of Shannahan’s main responsibilities included planning and scheduling monthly content, collaborating with graphic designers and buyers and developing graphics and video content. Her favorite part was getting to attend events like photo and commercial shoots – even getting to be an extra in one commercial.
Partway through her summer internship, Shannahan had the opportunity to transition into a full-time role as an assistant social media manager. She said as she’s grown in her responsibilities, she’s grown in both her technical skills and confidence.
“I’ve gotten a lot better with graphic design and even just talking with people,” Shannahan said. “Something that really stood out to me about this company was they gave me a lot of independence, and it’s made me more confident in sharing my ideas and putting more trust in myself and what I’m creating.”
Getting to see the behind-the-scenes of different marketing departments continues to be one of her favorite parts of her role, especially when it comes to video. In the future, Shannahan is excited to continue getting involved in photo and video shoots and develop her own skills in videography.
Shannahan said that Greenlee helped a lot with preparing her for her internship and job. In addition to classwork, she said that working with internship coordinator Juli Probasco-Sowers and her faculty mentor, Associate Professor Joel Geske, was great.
“Greenlee really helped me prepare for it, and I’m just really grateful that I got to transition so seamlessly from an internship into a full-time job that I love,” Shannahan said.