Mentorship Meets Marketing
Think of your first job. Were you a lifeguard? Maybe you were a babysitter. Perhaps you worked in a restaurant or local café. We’ve all been there, working long hours and rushing home to do homework or chores, before waking up early for school all over again.
Now ask yourself this: What if you could have gained valuable experience in the career field that you hoped to someday pursue? And what if all you needed to earn some money was your computer, a strong work ethic, and a bit of creativity?
That’s the idea behind Compleat Restorations’ S.M.A.R.T. Program.
S.M.A.R.T. – which stands for Social Media Apprenticeships & Real-World Training – offers local high school and college students the opportunity to accept freelance assignments from Compleat Restorations in the fields of graphic design, photography, social media content creation, videography, copywriting, and more. After students complete their assignment, their work is then utilized by Compleat Restorations for marketing purposes.
Compleat Restorations provides a number of resources to their interns, as well, including office hours with a professional graphic designer, as well as an IT professional who provides guidance on the programs used for this kind of work.
Each quarter, Compleat Restorations also hosts a special event lovingly nicknamed “Mentor Pizzas,” during which the participating students and their parents are invited to enjoy pizza and refreshments, while networking with and learning from local, invited professionals in the fields of marketing, photography, videography, and so forth.
“When I first started working at Compleat, I looked at how we were allocating our social media budget,” says Drew Hunt, marketing director at Compleat Restorations. “Whenever possible, we want to be good neighbors, and we do local business whenever possible.”
He continues, “The business’ partners are very focused on creating an equitable, fair company that is a resource for the community – not just a business in it.”
Inspired by this community-first mindset, Hunt came up with the idea for the S.M.A.R.T. Program.
“I started this program because I would have loved doing this as a kid,” Hunt shares. “I know that, for myself at that age, if the internet had existed back then, I could have earned an income from home, I would have been a much more contented individual. I think that's even more common in our world today. I see this program as being for any teenager who wants to commit to it, earn some pocket money, build a portfolio for themselves, and gain some insight into these fields.”
April Strohl, social media manager at Compleat Restorations, manages the program under Hunt’s direction.
“The S.M.A.R.T. Program offers a lot of hands-on experience,” Strohl explains. “Especially now, a lot of companies are looking for previous experience even for entry-level positions, and this provides that. Our interns also have the chance to learn different programs that they can include on their résumé, like Canva or Google Suites.”
Strohl continues, “This program is really just setting the interns up for the real world with training and experience… This is that experience that might catch a future employer’s eye on your résumé.”
One local high school student was even tasked with designing the logo for the S.M.A.R.T. Program itself.
“In the spring, I was given the chance to apply for the S.M.A.R.T. Internship through Compleat Restorations,” says Ava Jacobs, the intern behind the program’s logo. “Once I was selected, we met as a team and were given options of tasks we could complete. I was quickly drawn to the digital design tasks.”
Jacobs later had the opportunity to work on a design project for a local event: the Cocalico-Ephrata Giving Thanks Community Dinner, a free meal that has been served on Thanksgiving Day for more than 22 years. The event is sponsored by a number of businesses and churches in the Cocalico-Ephrata areas, including Compleat Restorations.
Hunt reached out to the organizers of this event – including Debra Briggs – and asked if they might be interested in having one of the S.M.A.R.T. interns design a logo for this year’s gathering.
“Ava was a very sweet and respectful young lady who had an eye for design and was very detail oriented. She and I spoke in person, and she was able to see my vision for a logo for this worthwhile community event,” Briggs says. “The personalized and classy logo that Ava created for us is being used for our donation letters, advertising flyers, on our menus, and thank you notes. It will become a well-recognized logo for many years to come.”
This focus on community engagement and service is key to the S.M.A.R.T. Program, as well as all of the work that Compleat Restorations does.
“We honestly believe the old adage that a rising tide lifts all ships,” Hunt shares. “I feel like we’re seeding talent around us through this program, and – at some point – we, or other businesses, will be able to utilize that talent! That, in turn, makes the entire area more prosperous.”
“The S.M.A.R.T. Program has guided me and given me direction to further my educational career,” Jacobs shares of her ongoing experience with the internship program. “The staff at Compleat Restorations were always available and gave me new opportunities, and I have found my passion in marketing and digital design thanks to this internship.”
Email April Strohl at astrohl@compleatrestorations.com for details or to apply to Compleat’s S.M.A.R.T. Program.
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