Hi everyone,
Sacha here again. It’s official: my (more than) one year anniversary at LN Knits! How time flies… But how did I get here, you might wonder?
A little flash back to last year in April. My last year in Communication Management at the AP Hogeschool in Antwerp was coming to a close. As a final project, a couple of students from my year organised the Job Launch. This was a whole day event with lots of interesting guest speakers.
Guess who came to tell her story? Exactly. Ellen! I knew the LN Knits story already, as I was a big fan of the brand, but it was interesting to hear her tell it herself instead of getting to know it through social media. She closed of her speech by saying that LN could always use some interns and if we were interested we could always e-mail.
So that’s what I did. I remember I sent Ellen an e-mail immediately to apply for a summer internship. It even had a typo. *facepalm*
Ellen answered almost immediately. If I could come by three days later? Of course I could! I was almost bursting with excitement.
On the day of the interview it was super hot and of course my bike didn’t want to cooperate. So after biking to the LN Office like crazy and arriving all sweaty and out of breath (good first impression, go Sacha), my summer internship was a fact!
After finishing my official internship at BBDO Belgium, graduating from AP and enjoying a week off, I was browsing instagram on the night before I would start at LN. “WE’RE HIRING!” said Ellen’s last Instagram post. My heart jumped and I hoped that maybe I would be considered for that position…
The internship was everything I hoped it would be. I could use my photography, my writing, my graphic skills, learn how to help customers, even work in the store and sell the beautiful knits.
After one month I was offered to stay longer and work as a student. I jumped at the opportunity and tried to learn as much as I could. And then there were the words: We would like you to stay.
POM POM POOOOOM. Of course I accepted! Duh. My first real job. Am I an adult now? (Hah, what a joke. An adult. Semi-adult is more like it.)
My tasks, you ask? Well, mainly customer service and handling the back end of the webshop. But also the blogposts and newsletters that you read on a regular basis are mostly written by yours truly. Are you following @ln_kids and @lnknits_international on Instagram? Super! I manage them too. Same as the Facebook page. Have you preordered an item in the last year? Then you’ve probably spoken with me already. Or you might have seen me in the LN Knits Flagshipstore in Antwerp, as I work there two days a week. Sometimes I even take some pictures for LN. And that invitation for the latest event? Also my job.
Starting your first job is not always easy. It’s a whole new rythm that you have to get used to. You make mistakes, but you also learn a lot. Some days you get home tired as f*ck, but on other days you are full of energy because of all the inspiring ideas around you. And sometimes it’s just stressy because you get responsibilities that you didn’t have before. The fun thing is, that when you look back on the experiences that used to give you stress, for example handling a client complaint, they feel like a walk in the park today. But I’m not done learning yet!
The experience has been amazing thus far and I look forward to learning a lot of other things. My advice to other (graduating) students? Go for that dream internship. Even if it’s in summer and it doesn’t pay, the experience is all worth it. And hey, it looks amazing on your cv, doesn’t it?
Go for it!
Love,
Sacha
P.S. Considering to intern at LN Knits? Send an e-mail to ellen@lnknits.com and who knows, maybe we’ll be working together soon!
