Diary of a Creative Intern in NYC

So my year interning at LFAmericas has come to an end. After being very in-denial about having to leave my team, LF and New York city, i’ve finally had a chance to look back at my year and remember how amazing it has been. I can wholeheartedly say that i’m taking home an abundance of memories, priceless experiences and learnings, both personal and professional from my year interning in NYC.

During my time at LFAmericas, I had the opportunity to work with two great mentors, Katie-Jane Bailey and Heather Baird-Myrie. I undertook two six-month internships, whereby I worked as a Sales intern at Ralsey group and then worked as a Creative intern at Collabor8ors group.

The role

I worked as a Creative development intern within the Collabor8ors group at LFAmericas. The Collabor8ors team is essentially a think tank for the company where the primary goal is to identify new innovative ideas and provide creative services to enhance and ultimately grow the business.

I loved how varied my role was that no two days were the same in the office. As my team worked closely with cross functional departments within LFA, my to-do list and priorities would often shift around depending on our calendar and deadlines. Throughout my six months, i’ve had the opportunity to work on big picture projects and sit in senior management meetings which has been such a great learning experience.

As a creative intern, my primary role was to research and explore the retail market and identify business growth opportunity areas alongside the marketing assistant and my manager, Katie. Upon identifying a whitespace concept, we would then proceed to creative design and direction through the stages of initial brainstorm, execution and final compilation.

I was also incharge of managing the social media channels and ensuring clear and consistent message was being communicated across all platforms. I conducted comp shops and comprehensive in-store shop reports identifying areas of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and presented to my cohorts. My responsibilities also included maintaining correspondence with third-party print, digital and marketing companies. I was involved and assisted in multiple photo shoots for marketing campaigns for various projects. I was also lucky enough to attended several panel discussions and talks around the topic of sustainability and work on some projects alongside the C8 Neo project manager.

We also had the opportunity to work of a brief set by Katie which was to propose a new B2C business opportunity for LF. We conducted an in-depth market analysis and identified a whitespace then gathered primary+secondary research to validate our findings. We worked on the overall business plan with full concept, design, manufacturing, logistics, branding and marketing. At the end, we pitched the business concept to the President and Senior management at LFA. Working towards this project and making it happen from scratch was a lot of work but I loved every minute of it and i’m so glad we had the opportunity to present it.

My manager was super supportive throughout my time at Collabor8ors and constantly challenged me to meet and go beyond my targeted goals. She gave me full responsibility to make decisions based on my knowledge and judgement which ultimately taught me to trust my instinct and be confident in what I knew. I was learning something new everyday and it was constantly busy. The past year, as cliche as it may sound has really flown by in the blink of an eye. What I enjoyed the most about my role is that I got to be a part of something substantial as we were always working on big picture ideas to implement & execute the company’s overarching 3 year goals. I loved seeing the contribution my input had on the business in real time. So the main thing i’ll take away from this experience is that it is important to speak up and your opinion is valued.

The highlights

New York City certainly lived up all expectations and beyond. I couldn't have asked for a better place to complete my placement year. My highlights included: living in Manhattan and working in the Garment district in midtown overlooking the Empire State Building. Taking full advantage of weekends and holidays to travel to cities such as Washington, Boston, Niagara Falls, Miami, LA, San Fran, Vegas and many more. Being able to experience American traditions and part take in holidays such as 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Macy’s day parade, etc. Meeting and forming friendships with amazing people from all around the world and truly immersing in the culturally diverse city. Work perks such as VIP fast track pass up to the Empire State building with 360 views of the city, sample sales, ice-cream socials and festive celebrations. Volunteering and taking part in NYFW shows, Race for cure, God’s love we deliver, etc.

The experience

The perks of conducting a placement year is endless, I would 100% recommend it. Alongside gaining an awareness of 9-6 working life and having an all round better understanding of the industry, you elevate your interpersonal and professional skills such as communication and organisation. You become more pro-active, learn how to effectively contribute to a team, learn to prioritise and manage your time better. Placement year provides you with the opportunity to network and make connections, which is extremely vital. Most importantly, you will come to realise what roles you enjoy the most/ least to help you refine your career path. I do believe that what you put in is what you get, and the more willingness and curiosity you show, the more you will learn.

Placement year has given me a taste of what to expect from the real working world post-graduation; and if its going to be anything like my year at LFA has been, i’d consider myself a very lucky girl! Both my roles at LFA has prepared me for my future endeavours & given me a head start as I now understand the inner workings of a fashion supplier.

Overall

14 months, 13 states and way too many pizza slices later, I can say that this has been the most rewarding and the best experience of my life to date. I’m so proud knowing that I completed a year long internship with a company of a global outreach like Li & Fung. Living and working in NYC has opened so many doors for me and I can’t thank Li & Fung enough for giving me this incredible opportunity.