Intern Diary: Julia
Trying to find a PR internship for the summer while living in Florence, Italy for the Spring 2026 semester was not the easiest journey. It was certainly challenging to balance my courses, traveling to other countries, and exploring the new city I lived in, while simultaneously researching, applying, and interviewing for summer internships, especially with the 6-hour time difference from the U.S. After having a call with the Career Services advisor at my university, I was introduced to JMG Public Relations and decided to apply for a summer internship position in PR. Eventually, I had scheduled an interview for the position, and after hopping on a call with Cara, I knew that this internship program would be a good fit for me. Later on in the same day of our interview, I received an email from Cara officially offering me the summer internship position, and I was immediately overjoyed and so excited to begin the experience once I returned home from my semester abroad.
Before starting this internship program, I was nervous that I wouldn’t have enough experience in PR to generate effective client work for the agency, since I had never held a PR internship role before this. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong, as every employee at JMG PR was extremely thorough in providing the interns with an in-depth tutorial of how to complete each type of PR work needed for clients, such as pitch writing, briefing documents, press summaries and clippings, press releases, and media lists. Even after the initial training process was over, I still felt that I could make mistakes and grow from them, as I was met with constructive criticism and feedback to help me refine my skills, and encourage me to keep working diligently, even if it appeared challenging at the time.
I appreciated the intricacy of JMG PR’s internship program, as I felt that JMG’s employees actually cared to watch the interns improve and succeed, and provided them with meaningful work to help them enhance their skills and enjoy what they were contributing to. I always felt that Natasha provided me with purposeful work that allowed me take chances and prove to myself that I could produce significant work for clients across various industries. Although there were certain circumstances where I had to take constructive criticism and feedback and revise my work, it was extremely rewarding to produce work that was given to clients or pitched to journalists with minimal edits or as I had originally crafted it, because it proved that I could successfully integrate myself and my work into a PR career in the future.
In terms of the work I produced, one of my favorite things to work on throughout this internship experience was digital, broadcast, and podcast pitching for various JMG clients. I thoroughly enjoyed crafting newsjacking pitches, and working on a new format of pitching that was developed not too long ago, which pitched the client as delivering a case-study conversation to different podcast audiences. I definitely noticed improvements in my ability to craft pitches throughout the summer, as I took the feedback I received and implemented changes with the commentary in mind each time I worked on a new pitch draft. I always found it extremely rewarding when I was told that the pitch I had crafted earned media attention for a client, because it meant the work I had produced made a positive impact.
I truly owe my positive experience to my mentor, Natasha, as she was always encouraging me in my work, and she helped me learn a lot, both in the actual work itself, and in working in an agency environment as a whole. I appreciated her kindness and effort in ensuring that I was getting the most out of this experience that I possibly could, and I valued that she was always so understanding, especially when clarifying any questions I had for her.
Overall, I had a wonderful experience as a summer PR intern for JMG Public Relations, not only because of the work I got to help create, but also because of the community fostered within the agency. I loved getting to know all of the other employees and interns on a more personal level, and I really appreciated the fact that we got a chance to talk to each other about something non-related to PR during our weekly “Sip The Tea” meetings. After going through this 11-week experience, I have realized that as important as the physical work being produced for clients is, the relationships built with the clients and the team within the agency determine how strong and successful it truly is. I will 100% leave this experience with a developed appreciation for PR, but also for cultivating authentic relationships and fostering a welcoming community in any workplace environment, as that is the key to generating success and building lifetime connections.
