Beatrice Olehova is a Management with Marketing graduate from the University of Leeds. She completed Start Me Up’s Startup Internship Program in Bali.
The surprising thing about my startup internship abroad is actually that I did any work. This is not because I’m lazy or work-shy. Honest. But because I was doing my internship in Bali. And most people in Bali are on holiday.
To say my parents were suspicious about an internship in Bali was an understatement. They were not sure where I was going and what I was going to do, and neither was I. Now, after completing Start Me Up’s two month Startup Internship Program I can tell without any doubts – it was 100% worth it.
I joined a startup social enterprise at an exciting time because they were launching a Kickstarter campaign.
During the two month internship, I was involved in the pre-launch and the live campaign. While working with a team that was split between the US and Bali, I worked on a variety of tasks: from creating content videos or graphics to managing Google Analytics.
Photo Courtesy of Hubud.org
My knowledge of Kickstarter before coming to Bali was limited, so every day I was learning. From managing social media channels and engaging with followers, to conducting outreach with social media influencers and journalists on Twitter.
I was also involved in setting up Google Analytics to analyse web traffic and generate reports for the campaign. Toward the end of the campaign, we also launched on Product Hunt, a site that aggregates the latest apps, websites and tech products every day, which drove lots more traffic to our site.
I was also involved in content creation, managing graphic designers and copywriters, assisting with B2B partnership implementation, setting pricing strategy, and app testing. It was hard work. But if you’re going to work hard, you may as well work hard somewhere beautiful.
Working from the coworking space five minutes from the beach was absolutely amazing and there was a swimming pool nearby. The relaxed atmosphere made it a special place for me and there were events being held every day ranging from self-improvement talks to networking events.
I met people from all over the world, working either as freelancers or remotely. Some were setting up their own startups – there was a lot of new things to learn from people there.
For anyone who is considering applying for an internship with Start Me Up – just do it.
It was a very special time for me, which helped me to get a better understanding of who I am now and who I want to become in the future. It has helped to shape my vision of the work that I want to do, what are my strengths and weakness are and I feel capable of overcoming any challenges on the way. I will never forget it.