Summer Internships Shed Light on Small Business Operations and Marketing
This summer, two Landmark College students traded the classroom for the workplace, gaining hands-on experience in business and marketing roles that stretched from the docks of Salem, Ma., to a boutique paper goods shop in Alexandra, V.a.
Ellie Matte spent her summer as a marketing intern with Mahi Cruises, a boat tour company based in Salem. In that role, she managed the company's social media presence and supported its small business marketing efforts, while also pitching in on the operational side of the business — tending bar and helping crew the boat during tours. The dual nature of the internship gave her a front-row seat to how a small business runs, from the customer-facing details to the behind-the-scenes coordination that keeps a seasonal operation moving.
Speaking to the value of her internship, Matt said that she had “learned so much about marketing in a small business setting, including social media, advertising, and community relations.” She was also able to take part in event planning and worked directly with other local businesses during Salem's busy summer and fall tourism seasons. "This opportunity has widened my scope of knowledge in all things marketing as well as helped me further develop skills like time management, organization, and problem-solving," she said.
Meanwhile, in Alexandria, Jules Seely-Power completed an internship with Penny Post, a boutique paper goods store, through Landmark College's partnership with BroadFutures. The role asked her to move fluidly between administrative work and direct customer interaction — a skill that took time to build but one she credits as a major takeaway from the experience. "One major lesson I've gained from Penny Post is how to pivot between tasks, like making the transition between completing admin and interacting with a customer comfortable," Seely-Power said. "It was definitely challenging at first but my ease with efficiently going between one thing to another has definitely grown."
Beyond the day-to-day work at Penny Post, Seely-Power pointed to the weekly trainings offered through BroadFutures as a key part of her growth this summer. Those sessions focused on workplace skills that extend well beyond any single internship, including how to advocate for the accommodations needed to succeed on the job. "One key takeaway from Friday Trainings at BroadFutures has been self-advocacy: knowing how to approach a workplace about any accommodations I may need in order to be successful at my role," she said. "This would include highlighting my need for physical demonstrations to be able to understand completing a task."
Though their internships looked different on the surface — one on the water, one behind a shop counter — both Matte and Seely-Power came away with a sharper sense of how businesses operate and a stronger set of practical skills to carry into their next steps. Their summers reflect the kind of real-world, applied learning Landmark College students pursue across a wide range of industries and settings.