A Summer Full of Possibilities

Written by Julia Rauchenberger, #WakeEntrepreneur and Summer Intern 

This summer I am taking part in an entrepreneurship internship in New York City for a company called Premier Partnerships as a Corporate Partnerships intern. I am extremely excited about interning for this company because it allows me the opportunity to learn about sports sponsorships and sales strategies in an up close and personal way. In addition to working for Premier Partnerships, I am also participating in an 8-week long immersion program called Manhattan Sports Business Academy (MSBA). Through  MSBA I am afforded the opportunity to learn more about the sports business world, meet and hear from some of the best in the business, get paired up with 3 different mentors within the sports industry, and build my networking and personal portfolio throughout the summer. It will definitely be a busy eight weeks for me going from one job to the next everyday, but I know every minute of it will be worth it . I chose to be a part of two different entrepreneurial companies this summer because I know how much you are able to learn in these types of environments. Premier Partnerships was founded in 2003 and MSBA in 2012 both by incredibly passionate and driven people who saw space in the market and were not afraid to go after it.

I know that to be successful at my internship this summer I need to be continually curious and eager to learn everyday. Premier Partnerships is a sports sales and advisory firm specializing in the development and execution of customized naming rights and commercial sales strategies for top tier facilities, sports and entertainment destinations, league and team properties, as well as municipal projects. Working in an office with 10 employees has provided me valuable exposure into several parts of the business. My day-to-day responsibilities at Premier consist of prospecting new leads for naming rights and other sponsorship deals for our clients, creating company profiles and updating the CRM database for each client. One of the greatest parts about my entrepreneurship internship is being able to be involved in every aspect of the company. I have the opportunity to sit in on every team meeting, client call, strategy session and all-company conferences with any member of the Premier team. This gives me an unparalleled opportunity to really absorb the way this company is run and understand not only the tasks that are completed but also the jargon and technicalities behind every sale. I know that I will be able to bring some of the less concrete and quantifiable skills that I have learned so far during my internship to any job that I will have in the future.

In my other entrepreneurship experience with MSBA this summer, I have truly learned the value of hardwork. Every night we hear from different successful leaders in the sports industry and visit company offices throughout the city. I have had the opportunity to go to Taylor, a PR and advertising agency, Wasserman, and the NBA. The one constant that I hear from every speaker is that everyone works hard, but you need to work harder. That is one of the biggest takeaways I think I will have from this summer – showing up early and doing your work is not enough. MSBA has taught me the skill of really taking advantage of every opportunity I am presented with in the best way possible. No person’s network can ever be too big and every connection that you make can only add value to your professional and personal life. I hope to bring value to both of the businesses that I am working for this summer by not only showing up early and working hard every day, but by taking advantage of opportunities and reaching out to every person in my network to learn how to get better.