This was my second summer participating in Ladders For Leaders, a program that changed my life like no other professional development opportunity. I never had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my life, so I have been searching for opportunities to explore my options and learn about as many different industries as possible. Last summer I interned at IB operations at JPMorgan Chase. I understood that finance is not my calling and that my interests and talents fit a more creative sphere. I applied to L4L again and received the best summer experience thus far.
This summer, I was fortunate to intern at Shark Branding, a top branding firm founded by Shark Tank's star entrepreneur Daymond John. Shark Branding's headquarters are located on the 66th floor of the Empire State Building. When I saw the breathtaking Manhattan panorama from full length conference room windows during the interview, I thought that if I got the chance, I would work there for free!
I loved the corporate environment: it was upbeat, fast paced, and results driven--I finally felt like I belonged in that team. Without any prior knowledge of the entertainment industry, I got exposed to the world of entrepreneurship and media. I got to work on several projects that my manager, the Director of Business Developing, was responsible for, so I enhanced my research and critical thinking skills while working on interesting and important assignments. I felt happy to be trusted with assignments that my manager was working on because I felt challenged to do my best and think of solutions that have not been proposed yet.
My favorite assignments dealt with creating a branding campaign for Daymond John's latest book, which will be released this January. I read the manuscript six times and felt like I had an important role in ensuring that the public will receive the book well, since I did so much to create the media branding content that everyone will see as the book is released. During the last day of the internship, I joked with everyone at the office that I will be closely following the campaign once the book is released because I feel personally responsible and attached to that extensive project.
Shooting a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for SYEP with Daymond John at The Intrepid Museum was an unforgettable highlight of my summer. On July 30th, the day when the clouds poured the heaviest rainstorm since Hurricane Sandy, Daymond John filmed a PSA about the life-changing role of SYEP with several of The Intrepid SYEP interns and me. I am a fortunate participant of L4L who got to intern at Shark Branding, so I was interviewed about my experience with the program. I was super excited for this opportunity, and I was surprised to find myself totally relaxed during the interview. Two bright camera lights were shinning right in my eyes, but I felt that this was my time to encourage other youth to take advantage of this life-changing program, so I was excited to share my story and motivate others to apply for SYEP and L4L. Once the interview started, I felt like I was just talking about my experience to a friend or someone I knew well. I guess I had so much practice with interviews (all the mock interviews and real interviews for numerous opportunities paid off!) that another interview in front of a camera felt like a natural event. The professionals on set were impressed that I behaved in such natural, poised manner and that they did not have to take multiple shots to get good content. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience and felt such rush of adrenaline and excitement afterwards that I understood why people like being in the spotlight so much.
Like I said during the PSA interview, I am very grateful for an opportunity to explore my options, intern, and develop as a professional because no other program provides all those opportunities. I wish and hope for more youth to learn and apply for SYEP and L4L because these programs leave a lasting impact and change lives.
Kseniya Kosmina
Provost Scholar at Zicklin School of Business
Baruch College, 2017
