Hey, CEA CAPA fam! Welcome back to my blog.
Photo: Tank Stream Labs, where Mashay and several other startups share office space and work alongside each other as they grow their companies.
I've officially been interning for Mashay, an up-and-coming social media app, for over a week now and already have so much to share with you. To start off, Mashay is an app that aims to connect users with other likeminded individuals by providing a platform that offers unique local activities in Sydney that can be shared with large groups of people. These experiences range from wine crafting to live music events to axe-throwing and are all in collaboration with local businesses throughout the city. Mashay's experiences deviate from the typical mainstream activities that pop up when you do a Google search, allowing users to really get an authentic feel for Sydney's lifestyle- or as we would say, #mashout like the locals. The app is set to launch sometime next week which is really exciting! I'm glad to have started at such an integral time.
My internship position consists of helping create social media content and promotional materials, studying growth hacks, and preparing for future events. Some of the tasks I've been working on so far are creating a new Facebook banner for Mashay's profile and helping to create Instagram posts for the coming weeks. As an art minor, I'm lucky to have the opportunity to utilize my creativity for multiple projects. While the projects are challenging, they have already helped me improve my skills in design and Photoshop so much. The work hardly feels like work. Although it hasn't been long, I already really love working for the company. Since it's a startup, the only people on the team at the moment are the three co-founders: Rob Price (my supervisor), Stephen Macchia, James Murray, and for the next few weeks, me.
Photo: Rob and Stephen pictured above at the office. Obviously, always a fun time at Mashay!
Since Day 1, I've felt so welcomed and comfortable. Even though I'm an intern, I'm definitely treated as an equal. I was shocked at how different workplace culture in Australia to that of America. Although Rob is the CEO of Mashay, we work right alongside each other. We all even have lunch and coffee together, which would probably never happen in America. Overall, I've found that Australian workplaces are considerably less hierarchical and way more laid back, which leads me to my next point.
If you've been keeping up with my posts, you've probably already realized that I'm a pretty forgetful person and basically an overall mess 24/7. Miraculously, my boss is okay with it.
If you read my last post, you may remember that I've been having trouble getting around the city and getting lost on my way to my internship. This has pretty much remained my biggest difficulty and I'm so thankful that my supervisor has been so understanding about it. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it after a thousand tries and different routes along with slipping and falling the other day, which me and Rob joked about once I came into the office with my entire pant leg soaked in rain (I'm also very grateful that the dress code is on the casual side and that it's okay to not be dressed professionally all the time).
Photo: you can't make this stuff up, guys.
My first week interning at Mashay has had its fair share of ups and downs, but I'm very happy with my internship placement and co-workers. I'm so grateful that the senior internship coordinator here at CEA CAPA Sydney, Kate Boyle, helped me find such a great match! The job is better than I ever hoped and expected. I can't wait to continue learning and growing alongside this wonderful company!