Zane Thomas ’23 — First, I want to thank the gracious and generous donors for funding my internship. This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Capturely, Inc., based in Los Angeles, CA. Capturely, Inc. produces professional headshots, corporate photography, and videography for businesses.
As part of the pre-production team, I scouted talented photographers and videographers in cities across the United States to bring them on board as independent contractors to expand the network into new regions. Moreover, I qualified individuals using various job posting platforms, conducting discovery phone calls and virtual interviews with potential contractors. The purpose was to form and maintain relationships, coordinating meetings between potential contractors and our pre-production manager. We cleaned up and actively updating customer management system records.
Furthermore, I gained tons of valuable experience with interpersonal communication skills. As a scout, I searched for talented photographers and videographers with an ambition to work in an upbeat work environment. I was required to utilize and expand on the emotional intelligence skills I was fortunate to learn last summer during the Business Innovation Program (BIP) through the Center for Innovation, Business & Entrepreneurship (CIBE) at Wabash College. In particular, I learned how to effectively communicate with clients and independent contractors to build lasting relationships.
Although I have been working virtually in Indiana, my supervisor worked from Los Angeles, CA. Our independent contractors are in all sorts of different time zones across the country. Although challenging at times, navigating around these time zone differences and subsequent scheduling issues has helped me learn how to be more flexible and adaptive to changing situations – something I will assuredly carry with me in my future career.
All-in-all, this summer with Capturely, Inc. has been outstanding. I am grateful to CEO Rob Eyler and the rest of the Capturely, Inc. team, as well as to Wabash and the CIBE, for making this internship possible.
