Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles. The following is their fourth part in the series.
For lack of a better word, Beth and Stephanie were stoked to be working together at Radiant Veracity. We already knew of each other’s creative and professional capabilities and felt that we would work well together. Wherever one would lack, the other would be well suited to take over. Plus, we already had a comfortable relationship, where we could bounce ideas off each other and provide honest criticism. (We’re getting sappy here, but can’t you tell how excited we were to work together? It was a match made in Heaven!)
Prior to our first meeting with Stephanie Lloyd, Beth and Stephanie P. spent hours on the phone together – still in awe about the odds of applying for and getting the same internship – brainstorming new ideas for Radiant Veracity. Wanting to further the conversation (and single handedly save the Planet) we decided to carpool to Pizzeria Venti for their first official meeting with Stephanie L.
Here’s where we would like to pause to reiterate how important it is to leave early for a professional meeting, job interview, etc. Put two female friends who haven’t seen each other in months – who don’t know their way around Atlanta very well – in a car with a faulty GPS system, and you’re just setting yourself up for disaster. Even if this doesn’t describe you, you should leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination anyways.
By the grace of God, Beth and Stephanie P. arrived in Buckhead 30 minutes early – long enough to peruse the nearby shops (Beth’s hand was nearly chewed off by a disgruntled dog in one of the stores) and stop in for our first experience at a juice bar across the street (celery and eggplant juice anyone?). Finally time for the appointment with Stephanie L., the two ladies entered Pizzeria Venti (a lovely establishment serving delicious pizza, drinks and gelato, which is also owned and operated by the adorable Lackey couple. Follow them on Twitter: @PVATL. Shameless plug.)
Stephanie L. was finishing up a meeting with Stephanie Frost – another smart, independent entrepreneurial-minded woman – and the four women instantly began talking as if they had been friends for years. In fact, Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie F. had all studied abroad at The University of Oxford and had to literally force themselves to stop sharing stories of English professors and pubs so they could all get to work.
If it’s at all possible, the meeting with the new and improved Radiant Veracity team energized Beth, Stephanie P. and Stephanie L. even further. With all the great things already lined up for Stephanie L. and Radiant Veracity along with all the new epiphanies at Pizzeria Venti, there was no shortage of work to be done.
Moral of the Story: Carpool. Plan to be early. Make mutually beneficial partnerships/friendships with other companies, etc.. Be prepared: business cards, something to write w/, proper attired. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Make a personal connection.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Join the Circus” – getting to work, juggling other commitments
- Networking – Our First Tweetup
- Stephanie P. – My Experience on Gravity Free Radio
- Beth Farrar – Developing the Radiant Veracity Logo
Tagged as:
Beth Farrar,
Do you want this job or not,
Gen Y,
I need a job,
Internship,
Interviewing,
Stephanie A. Lloyd,
Stephanie Frost,
Stephanie Perrett,
We need a few more Stephanies around here
Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles. The following is their third part in the series.
We left our series as Beth and Stephanie were anxiously anticipating their individual phone interviews with Stephanie Lloyd to be the newest (and first-ever) interns at Radiant Veracity. Good friends from college, Beth and Stephanie had both responded to a Tweet from Stephanie Lloyd, requesting help with her entrepreneurial endeavors. Stephanie P., not wanting to steal a job opportunity away from Beth, decided not to tell Beth that she was interviewing for the position as well. Less than a week after the initial Tweet, Beth and Stephanie P. spoke individually over the phone with Stephanie L. about the opportunity.
For Stephanie P., the phone interview went seamlessly. In fact, the term “interview” doesn’t even properly describe the conversation that Stephanie P. and Stephanie L. had that Wednesday. After following each other on Twitter for months now, it seemed as if the two had already met, making the conversation comfortable and casual. Stephanie L. briefed Stephanie P. on her company, Radiant Veracity, as well as her other endeavors– highlighting the areas in which she needed the most help. Stephanie P. formally introduced herself, her skills and her career expectations – agreeing that she would be willing to help Stephanie L. wherever needed.
The fantastic thing about the conversation: The two women’s honesty with each other.
Stephanie P. (without trying to seem too desperate) relayed her struggles with being a recent communications graduate in a tough economy. Stephanie L. relayed her inability to pay an intern, but also added that she believed the internship would pay in non-conventional ways (i.e. networking, attending job search interventions at no cost, etc.). Both Stephanie’s agreed that the position was part-time and the importance that Stephanie P. not only network and build her portfolio, but find a full-time career – as well as helping with Stephanie Lloyd’s business.
Beth had much the same experience a day later. All her anxieties were immediately put to ease as she and Stephanie L. began laughing and joking moments after the phone stopped ringing. Both remarked on the state of the job market and how interesting it is to see more and more graduates taking intern positions to gain experience and build their professional network.
It was obvious from the outset of the conversation that Stephanie L. firmly believed in creating a mutually beneficial arrangement among herself her interns–each helping the other whenever possible. It was refreshing for Beth to encounter an employer with drive and creativity, but also flexibility, humor and sincerity.
At one point, Stephanie L. mentioned a meeting she had set-up with another Stephanie later in the week (Stephanie Frost), and she went on to question how Beth and Stephanie had previously met. Major confusion set in as Beth frantically racked her brain as to how she might know this particular Stephanie. With all the Stephanie’s in and around the Radiant Veracity family, it’s easy to see how a newcomer would be at a slight loss, but other, more mysterious forces were definitely at work here.
Quite a few jumbled words were exchanged before the name “Perrett” was finally slipped in some small pause. It would be an understatement to say that Beth was shocked. After sitting next to each other at the University of Georgia graduation ceremony in May, Beth and Stephanie P. hadn’t found a chance to catch up at all until now…when they had applied for the same internship. We won’t even try to calculate the odds.
After a few follow-up phone calls, Beth finally pieced together the whole story, and Stephanie L.’s first two interns were primed and thoroughly excited for the face-to-face planning meeting scheduled at the end of the same week.
Moral of the Story: Be yourself. Don’t steal opportunities from your friends (or at least be nice about it). Be flexible. Ensure your job opportunities are mutually beneficial and that you’re comfortable with them. Be honest. Find opportunities you’re excited about.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Three Stephanies, Beth and a Pizza Place” – the meeting at Pizzeria Venti
- “Join the Circus” – Getting to Work, Juggling Other Commitments
- Networking – Our First Tweetup
- Stephanie P. – My Experience on Gravity Free Radio
- Beth Farrar – Developing the Radiant Veracity Logo
Tagged as:
Atlanta,
Beth Farrar,
Gen Y,
Internship,
Interviewing,
Phone Interviews,
Stephanie A. Lloyd,
Stephanie Frost,
Stephanie Perrett,
We need a few more Stephanies around here
Introducing two new members of the Radiant Veracity team: Stephanie Perrett and Beth Farrar (from left to right) are currently working with Stephanie Lloyd as two of three communications interns. One of their weekly intern assignments is to chronicle their experiences as a regular blog series on Radiant Veracity. As recent college graduates and active job seekers, topics will range from how they met (they’ve been friends for two years) to their weekly assignments, victories and struggles.
* Series Logo Coming Soon*
Without sounding too much like a Harlequin romance novel, our story is quite serendipitous. Both 20-year-old journalism students at the University of Georgia, it took a nine-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean, followed by a two-hour bus ride from hell through the English countryside (a story for another time) for us to meet.
As rising juniors at UGA, we both found ourselves in a period of transition. For different reasons, we were each motivated to spend the summer of 2007 studying at the University of Oxford, thousands of miles away from Athens, Ga.
Eager to meet new people, Beth was among the first to apply for the Oxford study abroad program. The year had gotten off to a rough start, and the idea of expanding her comfort zone seemed the perfect antidote. With no inhibitions, Beth immediately began packing her 72-pound suitcase for the six-week sojourn.
Much more hesitant about the prospect of spending the summer somewhere so foreign – both literally and figuratively – Stephanie was one of the last students to apply for the trip. A mere four months before summer classes at Oxford began, she took an e-mail stating there had been last-minute openings in the program as a sign to throw all anxieties to the wind and leap into the unknown.
Upon our arrival at Oxford, we found ourselves decompressing from the long journey in a huddled common room, making small talk with a group of strangers who couldn’t have been more different from each other. The eight people in the room that night forged an unlikely bond that would continue throughout their college years and beyond. If we hadn’t been willing to take a leap of faith in to this unfamiliar territory, it is unlikely that we would have become friends at all, we would not be working at Radiant Veracity together and this romance would have never been written.
Moral of the Story: Take advantage of every opportunity. Consider studying abroad (trust us – it’s the experience of a lifetime!). Expand your horizons. Venture outside your comfort zone. Embrace new people (even if they appear to be very different from you). Stay in touch with old friends because you never know – they could be become your co-worker one day.
[Stephanie Lloyd here] Stay tuned to learn more about Stephanie and Beth’s internship adventures! Future installments include:
- “Find an Intern (or Three) in Less Than 10 Minutes” – finding out about the internship
- Our phone interviews with Stephanie Lloyd
- “Three Stephanies, Beth and a Pizza Place” – the meeting at Pizzeria Venti
- “Join the Circus” – getting to work, juggling other commitments
Tagged as:
Atlanta,
Beth Farrar,
Gen Y,
I need a job,
Internship,
job search,
job seekers,
Post-Grad,
Radiant Veracity Interns,
Stephanie A. Lloyd,
Stephanie Perrett,
University of Georgia,
University of Oxford,
We need a few more Stephanies around here
