Internship Testimonials

Are you thinking about applying for one of our internship offerings, but aren’t sure if its the right fit for you? Whether you are applying for Fitness Professional Online, Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine, Author of Your Own Story or Branded Innovation we have testimonials ( professional mentor ) from past interns telling you exactly what you can expect. The majority of our past interns have been college students in the Santa Barbara area.

Interning for Branded Innovation is like going from zero to one hundred in two seconds. In a few months, I have learned more about a field than I could have imagined and I am only beginning to touch the surface! Branded Innovation is not your typical internship experience where interns get the office coffee and file papers. I have met AMAZING people, learned from experts, and I was able to put SEO, digital marketing, and social media lessons to practical use for various accounts. My experience at Branded Innovation has been MORE than a worthwhile experience and I am forever grateful of the mentorship and lessons I have received.

Gabrielle Schnaid, Branded Innovation & Author of Your Own Story

My experience with Doug began as we sat together at the Santa Barbara University Club for an interview. I was immediately attracted to Doug’s sharp wit and warm confidence; qualities he no doubt gained from years of hard work and experience. I knew it would be a good fit and was looking forward to the difficult journey that lay ahead. Over the next year and a half, I worked with Doug on a plethora of projects, ranging from daily blog posts to integrated SEO strategies. Doug was a mentor to me, and became the most valuable advisor I have had to date. Doug chooses only passionate people who have enough grit to work on his dynamic teams. I learned more valuable information from Doug and his team members than I had from my three years in my Biology curriculum. I would highly recommend interning/working with Doug for any of his businesses. Not only will you learn everything about the industry, but you will also learn invaluable life lessons about people, the value of hard work, and yourself.

Dylan Biel, Branded Innovation & Author of Your Own Story

My internship at Author Of Your Own Story has been a crucial step in my development of becoming a more skilled individual. When I started, I had absolutely no work experience. In the time I was there, I had learned skills such as persuasive writing, search engine optimization, web design and social media optimization. Aside from the technical skills, working with Doug so closely has allowed me to see through the eyes of an entrepreneur. He has introduced me to living a healthier lifestyle and becoming a more efficient worker. The team that I had worked with was very encouraging and kept in close contact with me throughout the internship. Overall, I’m glad I had the opportunity to work with such amazing people, and I thank them for teaching me not only work-related skills, but also personal skills that will help me land a future internship.

Wayne Szeto, Author Of Your Own Story

My internship with Fitness Professional Online was invaluable. The team at FPO introduced me to the world of Internet marketing, a career path I had not thought of and am now currently pursuing. I learned marketable skills such as how to improve SEO, how to build a website, and even how to connect with readers through blogging and the use of social media. Not only did I learn a lot of technical skills from this internship, but I also worked with great people, which made my experience fun. I worked closely with other interns on projects, which helped improve my teamwork skills and made for more creative projects. The team at FPO is passionate about its work and genuinely wants its interns to enjoy their time while they are learning. If you want to apply yourself to gain knowledge about the marketing/PR industry while working in an inspiring and comfortable atmosphere, this is the internship for you.

Julia Price, Fitness Professional Online

Having an internship at Doug Holt Online was nothing like the coffee-buying, paper-filing internships you hear about. Doug and Darcy always made me feel like part of the team and included me in projects they were working on. This internship gave me hands-on experience implementing marketing plans to increase each client’s online presence. I now understand the impact social media and SEO have in the professional world and know how to use them to a company’s advantage.

Laci Schlicker, Doug Holt Online/Branded Innovation

My experience at Fitness Professional Online opened up my eyes to the emerging world of digital marketing and social media. I learned invaluable skills that I can apply to my future professional endeavors. Not only did I learn how to market FPO through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, but Doug and Darcy taught us SEO and how important it is for the growth of any company or organization. Their internship program is nothing short of awesome. They really care about their interns and teaching them what they know in order to benefit their futures. Both always willing to answer any and all questions and work with us individually if we were interested in learning more about SEO, social media, website design/managing, or other marketing tactics. I will never forget what I gained from my experience at FPO and for that I am forever grateful. Anyone that takes this internship certainly will be grateful, as well.

Jillian Villare, Fitness Professional Online

Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine provided me with many opportunities and learning experiences that have helped me grow as a student, individual, and future employee. As an intern I was able to write articles, promote SB Fitness on social media, communicate with many different people, and truly learn the the keys to running a successful magazine. I got an internship at CBS for this summer and I definitely don’t think I would have gotten it without being able to talk about my experience as an intern for SB-Fitness. It’s incredible to be able to say that my articles are published online! Lastly, SB Fitness put me in great contact with many inspiring, dedicated, and hard working people.

Niki Freed, Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine

I enjoyed working with SB-Fitness.com as one of my first internship opportunities. Darcy, Doug and Viju were extremely approachable and provided clear instruction for my work, while also being flexible with my school schedule. My experience and exposure to online marketing began at SB-Fitness and provided me a base of understanding for driving online presence for any organization or company. Following my time with SB-Fitness, I did an internship with Community Environmental Council, where I also used and expanded on the skills that I had learned: online marketing programs like Joomla, and article and blog writing.

Courtney Lee, Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine

My time at Doug Holt Online was one of my most rewarding college experiences. Doug Holt was eager to share his knowledge and I found his passion and positive attitude to be infectious. I walked away from this internship with hands-on experience, life skills, a broadened understanding of the internet world, and inspiration to create my own success.

Lisa Navarro, Doug Holt Online/Branded Innovation

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of SEO in today’s world. When I took this internship, I never planned on pursuing a career in SEO, but I was certain that working for an Internet Marketing and SEO company would provide me with a valuable skill set that I could utilize in any professional career – this has proven to be true. After I graduated from UCSB, I took a job working for a small law office as an office assistant. One of the attorneys at my office was in the process of looking to hire an SEO company to help increase the number of clients he yielded from online traffic. Because I had my internship experience with Doug Holt Online, I offered to run the attorney’s website and help his with SEO and online marketing. Within a week of taking over the website, we took on two new clients who found our office simply from searching for personal injury attorneys on Google. Needless to say, I owe my pay raise to Doug and Darcy.

Ethan Mora, Doug Holt Online/Branded Innovation

My internship at Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine was undoubtedly one of the most valuable internships I held during my time as an undergraduate. From writing original articles to helping develop SB Fit Mag’s social media accounts, the various tasks and work I completed during my internship allowed me to developed an excellent foundation in social media marketing and writing. This internship provided me with the opportunity to have some of my writing published; a great feeling as well as an incredible resume builder. The skills and experiences I took away from my internship at Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine helped me grow as a professional and have recently helped set me apart in various job interviews as I begin to transition into a post-graduate career. Above all, the people I was fortunate enough to work with made the internship that much more enjoyable. Doug Holt and Darcy Curry gave excellent guidance where needed, but also entrusted their interns with a great deal of independent responsibility, allowing me to truly grow and learn during my time as an SB Fit Mag Intern.

Alexandra Conti, Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine

My internship at Fitness Professional Online was an amazing eye opening experience. It taught me how important social media is with any company’s marketing strategy and how large the fitness industry really is. This internship helped strengthen my creative mind and showed me a behind the scenes view of an online magazine. Darcy and Doug were a huge reason this internship was so rewarding as well. They were always uplifting and willing to work with me with any questions I had. Working at FPO was a great gift and great start to working in a business environment. I cherish everything I have learned and will use it in the future to further my career in whatever industry I end up in. Just like me, anyone who gets the great opportunity to work for such an inspiring company will put their best foot forward and learn everything they can!

Alexa Wilhelm, Fitness Professional Online

Interning for SB-Fitness Magazine was an incredible opportunity for me to learn, grow, and most importantly, challenge myself. Learning how to collaborate with other interns, while improving upon my skills as a writer were invaluable experiences to gain in a work environment. Darcy was extremely helpful in teaching me how businesses use social media to maintain and promote relationships with current and future clients. I was taught how to use the backend of the website, and how to manage and create relevant content in posts for SBF’s various social media sites, like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, all from a business perspective. Working with various website operation systems, such as Hootesuite and Joomla, exposed me to a new understanding of the internet, websites, businesses, and networking. Doug, Darcy, Erin and Viju created a team of professionals with the biggest smiles and the most positive attitudes. It was a pleasure to be able to gain so much knowledge and experience from such a wonderful group of individuals; I would highly recommend this internship to anyone looking to gain experience in writing, editing, online marketing and social media use.

Lauren Cassis, Santa Barbara Fitness Magazine

Branded Innovation was my first real marketing experience and within the short amount of time I had with Doug, Darcy, and Eric, I have learned and gained valuable skills and knowledge about the emerging world of digital marketing and social media for my future marketing career. My experience at Branded Innovation provided me with hands-on experience through SEO, link building, and other important aspects of digital marketing. The team at Branded Innovation was amazing and full of energy, I enjoyed their company as much as the amount of knowledge I gained. I was able to learn and grow through working with Branded Innovation. It was one of the best opportunity that I had thus far.

Julia Price, Branded Innovation

Interning at Branded Innovation was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If I were to describe it in literal terms, Branded Innovation provided more help and knowledge than any of my past classes and gave me the ability to perform hands-on work to increase my experience on the field. I learned about information that I didn’t know was so important. For my career, I was planning to become a marketer. However, before the internship I had a foundational knowledge only in traditional marketing. However, Branded Innovation opened my eyes to inbound marketing and converted me into a modern marketer. From SEO to social media to customer service, Branded Innovation introduced me to an extremely wide range of marketing knowledge. From the middle to the end of the internship, I really liked how they assigned each intern tasks that help utilize the knowledge we learned out in the real world. This was truly an inspirational experience and helped me maximize my interest in becoming a marketer. Not only that, Branded Innovation offers you resources that you wouldn’t get working in another internship. I would definitely continue the program if I wasn’t overloaded with schoolwork. The president and his overseeing employees present one of the most intelligent marketing teams I have ever seen and they add the cherry on top of the sundae by being one of the coolest, nicest, and upbeat people I have ever met. Take the internship and you will definitely not regret it!

Kim Tran, Branded Innovation

Not to sound cliche, but my marketing internship with Branded Innovation proved to be life changing. Prior to this internship I was unsure and stressed about what career I wanted to pursue after graduation. Despite previous internships, I felt unexperienced in solving real world problems, lacked confidence in my work and was completely intimidated and lost by the broad term of “marketing.” This internship changed all of that. The team at Branded Innovation provided an encouraging and fun atmosphere that trusted me with real responsibility. I managed client social media accounts, conducted research, created newsletters, and designed a 52 page guide with my fellow interns. This experience opened my eyes to the different, specific avenues within marketing and each assignment helped guide me towards my particular strengths within the marketing field. I highly recommend this internship for anyone determined to challenge themselves and who wants to gain hands-on-experience in marketing- you will not be disappointed!

Haram Park, Branded Innovation

Having the opportunity to intern for Branded Innovation was both highly educational and rewarding. Although I lacked prior marketing experience, the team was extremely helpful in introducing and explaining the fundamentals of digital marketing. With their guidance, I was provided a hands-on experience that included tasks like web analytics, blog writing and link building. I also broadened my knowledge of this emerging industry by working with specialized SEO softwares, such as Moz, Joomla, and Hootsuite. Though personally unsure of what career to pursue, I know the skills I’ve learned through this internship is universally valuable in any field of marketing, business, or writing. It was an absolute pleasure working with Doug, Darcy, and Eric and I highly recommend this internship program to anyone looking to advance their marketing expertise in a professional work environment. And to the future interns to be selected, I advise you to take full advantage of this opportunity by approaching the internship with eyes wide open and willingness to absorb all it has to offer. The Branded Innovation team is more than resourceful and what you gain is simply reciprocated by the effort you put into learning. Communication is key and it doesn’t hurt to ask for help — this is a learning experience after all.

Andrew Pae, Branded Innovation

My time interning with Branded Innovation was an invaluable learning experience that introduced me into the world of SEO Marketing. Even though I had some prior marketing experience, I learned loads of new information about Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing that I knew nothing about. Learning the tools and tricks of the trade relating to webcrawling, link building, social media, data analytics, empowered me a wealth of practical knowledge that many undergraduate students do not have the fortune of experience until they start their careers. Darcy, Doug, and Eric are extremely knowledgeable and approachable. Working with them was a delightful experience. They are all passionate about helping young people learn to prepare for their future. They are all more than willing to help you make the most of the internship program so don’t be a stranger! Recognize them as talented and useful resources

Ben Chan, Branded Innovation