One Year At BootstrapVT: an Intern-CEO Reflection on Learning and Opportunity

One Year At BootstrapVT: an Intern-CEO Reflection on Learning and Opportunity

As I finish up my first year of digital marketing with my internship with BootstrapVT, I’m reflecting on what I’ve learned and accomplished, the good and the crazy. All the parts that made this internship the unique rollercoaster that it has been. To capture my thoughts, I sat down with our CEO, Geoff Strawbridge to remember all the moments and opportunities for learning:

Hi, Seneca, you’ve been an intern with Bootstrap for how long?

I’m coming up on my one year anniversary with Bootstrap. I started last October, 2024.

Tell me how this half of the year has gone compared to your first half?

I feel like since I’ve started, we’ve picked up quite a few new clients with such diverse markets and business types. When I first started, I enjoyed getting my feet wet with internal projects like social media design, copywriting, and general marketing principles. Now, I’ve been working on client projects with print materials, website design, and even some product photography. When I first started at Bootstrap, marketing felt so layered and so confusing, but now that I’ve been in the thick of it and working so hands-on, I feel ready and confident to be contributing to these teams and applying the things I’ve learned both in school and by “doing” with the Bootstrap team. 

What have you learned this summer with Bootstrap?

This summer I’ve gotten really in depth with paid ads and how to create and run an ad campaign. Through intern workshops with our team and other industry professionals, I got to learn all the principles and components of paid advertising and then work with the team to create real ads, some I even saw on my own social media and search engines! That might be my favorite part, seeing our work in the real world making differences for real local businesses.  

What have you enjoyed doing? What has been your fav project?

Now this is a hard question! I try not to pick favorites, but I must say that I have really enjoyed designing print materials that I recently made for one of our clients. As a designer, I know the stress of presenting my work to a client all too well. For this project, I was tasked with designing branded templates for printed case studies and one-page handouts for our client to use as lead generation. I designed these templates in multiple iterations and mocked up some example use-cases to present to the client for review. At the meeting, the client was super inspired by the templates! It was so rewarding to see the way my work inspired hope in the client for the way they will increase growth for the company. Through all my projects, I love seeing the clients reactions to the tangible and rewarding products we create and design together. 

What have you learned from some of your Bootstrap colleagues?

I’ve learned a lot from my Bootstrap colleagues! From Geoff, I learn a lot about what it’s like to be a good leader. Working with a team to solve big problems together by assembling all our individual skills and making sure that every voice has a contribution, no matter their experience. From Hanna, I’ve learned a lot about balancing life, work, and play as a student intern. As someone who was once in my shoes, Hanna makes a great example of how to pursue learning and professionalism outside of the classroom. These two especially have been so welcoming to me in the marketing world, never hesitating to answer my crazy questions or teach me a new skill. 

Now that you are returning to college, how has your internship changed the way you view your major?

Getting back into the classroom this fall has been a great experience. Especially working in group projects, collaborating with students from various programs with all different backgrounds has prompted me to really apply the tools and skills I learned over the summer. Between the skills and knowledge I’ve picked up through my studies in interaction design and graphic design paired with everything I’ve learned about marketing and business with Bootstrap, I feel ready to take on any project that might come my way. Not only do I have these applicable skills, but my industry experience has prepared me to be adaptable and continue to learn, even outside a traditional classroom. 

In short, I’ve had a great first year with Bootstrap. Working with this awesome team to learn and experience the world of digital marketing has been eye-opening in how I approach the professional world in both design and business. Even though my studies may seem to have nothing to do with digital marketing, I’m so glad I pursued this internship to apply my design skills to marketing and also learn how to be a good marketer in the 21st century.