My Time at HMG: Sydney Signing Off
Here We Go
It’s been a truly amazing four months here at HMG Creative. The skills I’ve learned, connections I’ve made, and experience I’ve gained as a part of this agency have been invaluable, and now it’s time to spring into this semester with confidence and that HMG drive!
I entered this internship having never worked in an office and was completely unfamiliar with agency life. Here at the end of my journey, I can confidently say that I’ve loved every minute of it. This internship has given me the freedom to grow in the areas I knew I needed more experience in, explore new skills on my own accord, and learn freely from those around me. And let’s just say I’ve learned a lot!
What I’ve Learned
In my time at HMG I’ve worked in WordPress, eConnect, and Google Analytics, three competencies I’ve never had my hands on before. I honed my skills in areas I’ve always enjoyed such as digital content creation, blog writing, graphic design, and social media copy. Through writing industry-relevant blogs I’ve had the opportunity to dive deeply into subjects that interest me such as AI, entrepreneurship, user-generated content, and web design, and share my newfound knowledge with others. I’ve executed projects that were totally new to me like email campaigns and my final creation, an educational eBook titled There’s a Science to This: Psychology of UX, which I’m extremely proud of. And finally, I’ve been surrounded by industry professionals willing to teach me anything I want to know at the drop of a hat, from HTML to making mockups.
Being the Social Media and Marketing Intern for HMG has given me so much more than just these transferrable hard skills, however. In this role, I’ve regained my love for learning. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the summer in an office that values exploration and taking creative chances, and I’ve truly thrived in this environment. This revived inquisitive nature is something I’ll take with me for the long haul, and I’m so grateful for it.
What I’ll Miss 
But far and away, the thing I’ll miss most about the office is my HMG Family. I never would have guessed that I could feel so comfortable and so happy sitting at a desk as I have this summer, sharing a workspace with Senior Visual Designers Mauro Lopez and Chris Cortez. They’ve truly made it so hard to leave. I can’t believe how much I’ve laughed at work this summer (sometimes to the point of tears) because of my amazing coworkers. The camaraderie and close-knit nature of HMG has given me faith that I can love my work and love who I work with, and while I’m sure I’ll make office friends everywhere I go, I just don’t think it can get better than this.
Where I’m Going
As for the future, I’m looking forward to getting back to class. No, really! My time at HMG has not only confirmed to me that pursuing a degree in Marketing is right for me, but has inspired me to get a minor in Management Information Systems. A minor in MIS will give me the perfect piece of technical knowledge to back up my more creative pursuits, and I’m really looking forward to diving into Python this semester! In terms of career goals, I’m sticking to my convictions from my intro blog of wanting to go into beauty or fashion marketing, but I’ve added a new possible industry- tech! It’s hard to imagine that the little girl who requested a pen and paper to draw with during computer free time in elementary school could go on to create campaigns around technology, but it’s true.
I plan to keep in contact with my HMG family for years to come. And I hope I’ve made some type of lasting impact at the agency, even if it was only changing up our highlight covers on Instagram. Once and for all, this is Sydney, signing off.