🧑‍🎤 How Anime Transformed my Summer Job Experience

10 Lessons Learned from Switchboard Leaders' Summer Jobs and Internships

During summer, I’m nostalgic for the beach, s’mores and anime. The latter is not typically associated with summer, but when I was a camp counselor, anime was the anchor of an unexpected, transformational experience that resonates years later.

One week into camp, I experienced a challenge many counselors face: a camper who was homesick, not enjoying the activities and felt like she wasn’t making friends. After listening, I asked her what activities she enjoyed when she wasn’t at camp. Her eyes lit up as she responded: anime! As a college student, I thought I knew all the trends, but I clearly missed this one and asked her to tell me more. She pulled out her comic book and showed me anime, teaching me about the Japanese origin of the art and the films, which she missed the most. Suddenly, I had an idea — what if we hosted an anime watch party at camp? She nodded with enthusiasm, confirming this would be fun! 

I walked away from that conversation with no idea how I was going to pull this off, but I needed to make it happen for my camper. So, I just started the steps: I reserved a room with a/v equipment, added an invite in the camp newsletter and organized an event within a few days. I remember worrying if anyone would show up. But that afternoon, over 70 kids attended and they all brought their anime books!

I watched in awe as campers found their friends. My camper smiled the most she had smiled all summer as friendships sparked. Later that week, I saw her sitting with new anime friends at the dining hall and on the grassy quad. The anime watch parties continued all summer. Even camp leaders stopped by to check out the program (and learn about anime).

Looking back, this was one of the moments that made me realize the power of community and communications and why I enjoy this work — helping people with common interests connect, fostering belonging, learning about a new topic and finding a way to share information so people can gather. It also taught me how to take ownership to change a situation, find different solutions when faced with challenges and the power of determination.

Being a camp counselor was one of my favorite summer jobs, and I’m grateful for the work experience that it gave me, which isn’t listed on my resume or LinkedIn, but maybe I should go back and add it. I am also thankful for the different skills I learned through the good fortune of summer internships. For both of these pivotal career growth experiences, I wanted to learn from lessons of leaders featured on The Switchboard.

Throughout their stories below, there are three shared themes: (1) the Power of Soft Skills to Shape your Path, (2) How we can Learn from Challenging Experiences and (3) the Value of Preparation and Being Proactive. 

Mostly, my message is whatever career experiences we have at any stage, it’s up to us to make the most of it. For those starting out in their careers, the job or internship doesn’t have to be the most prestigious or high-level, it simply needs to be yours. 

Do you have a meaningful summer job or internship memory to share? Comment below or reply to let me know.

Jobs

• 🛍️ Julie Inouye: The Importance of Preparation 

• ❤️ Claude Silver: Determination and Joy through Resilience 

• 🐕 Gorick Ng: Three C’s of Competence, Commitment, and Compatibility.

• 📘 Morgan Baden: Always Over-communicate 

• 🍜 Kevin Lee: Attention to Detail and Craftsmanship

Internships

• 🪜 Jason Yoong: Ask How You Can Help

• 🤝 Q Hamirani: Build Trust 

• 🏙️ Janelle Kpeli: Develop Relationships

• 🏢 Ryan Anderson: Don’t Always Ask for Permission 

• 👗 Tiffin Jernstedt: Have Fun!

Jobs

🛍️ Julie Inouye: The Importance of Preparation 

One summer during college, I worked at Nordstrom, and was responsible for creating personalized shopping experiences for VIP clients. Every day I was surrounded by beautiful clothes, patterns, and colors and I got to curate dressing rooms with the latest collections, shoes, bags, and accessories for them.

While my creative spirit was living her best life, the real takeaway and learning from this job was how much thoughtful preparation, attention to detail, and stylistic courage it took to do this job well. I remember pouring over client notes to ensure I knew the customer and could anticipate their needs. I learned to read the room quickly, come prepared with quick pivots, and turn my love of big bold choices into my differentiator. I never realized until this exercise how formative this experience has been to shaping some of my foundational traits as a leader and professional today! 

❤️ Claude Silver: Determination and Joy through Resilience 

In the sweltering heat, I found myself teaching the very basics of tennis for the USTA to a group of resilient youngsters in Harlem. Dressed in an assortment of clothes unsuitable for the blistering heat, their spirits, and determination never waned, transcending the boundaries of worn-out footwear and mismatched attire.

Witnessing their unwavering ambition to embrace the joy of hitting a ball as hard as they could and then chasing it down, again and again, was profoundly touching, instilling in me a fervent desire to offer them all the affection and opportunities they rightfully merited. I saw resilience in children as I had not seen it before. And I remember their faces today.

🐕 Gorick Ng: Three C’s of Competence, Commitment, and Compatibility

In high school, I spent summers painting fences, walking dogs, and mowing lawns. While it was important to paint well, not let the dogs eat sidewalk pizza, and not accidentally kill the rose bush, I learned that it’s not just about what I did but how I did it.

Can I explain why I did what I did? Did I show up on time? Did I show a good attitude? No matter the job, I realized how important it was to demonstrate that I was demonstrating the Three C’s of Competence, Commitment, and Compatibility.

📘 Morgan Baden: Always Over-communicate 

Growing up on the Jersey shore meant I had tons of options for summer jobs. Whether I was working at an arcade (my first job), a clothing store (my favorite job), or a restaurant (my hardest job), each of them taught me significant lessons, but the most memorable was that nearly any work problem can be mitigated when you over-communicate. 

Kitchen backed up and everyone's lobster dinners are delayed? Tell your tables about the delay--and then tell them again when you deliver their appetizers (on the house, of course). Store's all out of that best-selling tee shirt? Find out when the shipment is arriving, make sure every sales associate knows, and tack up signs all over the store so customers can return once that UPS truck finally arrives. It's no surprise I work in communications, because I have always seen how things can improve when people are given the information they need and want...even if what they want is some delicious seafood. 

🍜 Kevin Lee: Attention to Detail and Craftsmanship

I worked in Gifu, Japan for a 1 month summer program. Due to miscommunication with a translator, I got placed in an old school ryokan (motel) in the mountains where I was tasked daily to wake up at 4AM and clean the bathhouse and rooms end to end.

They would check the bottom of the metal grates in the bathhouse and if they saw one dirty spot, they'd make me start all over from scratch. It was grueling, manual work but I learned a lot about attention to detail and craftsmanship

Internships

🪜 Jason Yoong: Ask How You Can Help

I did a college internship at Sony Pictures Entertainment in the worldwide digital marketing department. I learned (1) Great marketing involves customers; (2) To do creative work, often you must roll up your sleeves and do things that don't scale (aka manual work); (3) Constantly provide and ask how you can bring more value; (4) Stay in touch with people and share about your career goals, most people want to help interns.

🤝 Q Hamirani: Build Trust 

My first summer internship in college was on a manufacturing floor at GE. I was a 19-year-old kid there to help make the jobs of individuals who had worked on the line for 30+ years easier. I quickly realized that getting work done depended on first building trust and credibility through non-work-related conversations, and over time, achieving small wins to eventually be trusted to drive sustainable change.

🏙️ Janelle Kpeli: Develop Relationships

As a summer intern at a public relations firm, I learned about the importance of developing relationships at every level and in every department. I still keep in touch with some of the leaders who managed my internship experience as well as the interns who were by my side. Leading with kindness and curiosity allowed me to get an inside look at the work my colleagues did but also showed me the richness that a career in communications could offer. It also led to some fun, unexpected opportunities like interviewing an up and coming band and meeting the CEO!

🏢 Ryan Anderson: Don’t Always Ask for Permission 

My first internship began thirty years ago this month. I’d only worked in retail, never in an office, and for the first three days of my internship I’d tell my manager, Dan, every time I went to the bathroom. Finally, he said to me, “Why do you keep telling me when you go to the bathroom?”

I responded, “In retail, you always need to tell your manager when you leave the floor, like going to the restroom.” He responded, “Not only do I not need to know that, but I also don’t want to know that!” We laughed about it, and this was the first of dozens of times when Dan helped me to navigate the mores and unwritten rules of office life.

👗Tiffin Jernstedt: Have Fun!

My first PR internship was with Margie Korshak based in Chicago. We worked on lifestyle and entertainment clients ranging from restaurants, plays, store flagships to city sponsored events. Margie would get her signature red nails done in the office.  I knew that summer PR  was the path for me…couldn’t believe how much fun you can have when you work! 

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Thank you for tuning into this edition. I’m grateful to you for reading, reacting and commenting. If you enjoyed what you learned, consider sharing it with a colleague or posting on LinkedIn. Signing off for this edition. — Julia