I looked at my bank account, and it glared right back at me with disgust.
I felt this on a spiritual level. The who, what, where and why I had decided to make an investment with little to zero capital turned me into an overnight lawyer and personal finance broker. I was going to see this through the end. Every little free resource I could get my hands on, I latched onto it like a cat hanging on to dear life from drowning ( Disclaimer: I do not participate nor condone the drowning of cats, and neither should you, what kind of monster are you?)
But it was worth it. EVERY. SINGLE. PENNY.
And this is just the beginning. The way we consume information is continuously changing, and there are so many outlets that can cater to the type of target audience you want your message to get across. That being said, this was a learning experience for me without any experience in managing people independently. Here are five things I’ve learned about having interns:
Eat, Live and Breathe Organization Skills
Google is your friend. I had to become an overnight established content writer and editor. I mean I did do my posts and uploaded them when I felt like it. But when you watch someone else do it, and you use it as an opportunity to see if * cricket sounding bank account* your money was going to bring results, then you had to keep everyone on a schedule, and that meant assigning tasks to people.
Calendars, due dates, meetings ( especially since everyone worked remotely on different continents) was something I lost sleep too. I would ask myself if I was wasting my time, but something just felt so right about it. I had my expectations and having a set plan made it a lot easier.
The Fountain of Talent
It all comes down to perspective and the ability to give opportunities to people to show their best selves. ( Have you been on twitter? Especially Black Twitter ( and the various niches of them)?? Legends I tell you).
I think one thing I appreciated was that everyone was confident in what they brought to the table. Except for the rare occasions where things didn’t necessarily seem feasible to do at the time, the thought process of starting and executing a plan was remarkable, and it did generate the results we were hoping for; Exposure.
Connectedness
There are two types of employers ( business majors chill, this is from experience, I don’t need you hounding me). Those that see their employees as tools to generate results and those that look at their employees as people who are comfortable and happy to create. I strive for the latter. I strive to understand the humanness of the people that work with me. Some would say you can’t apply this model in real life ( I’m not quoting books because that’s free publicity and I’m not getting paid for it so meh).
I took time in my day to check up on them to make sure they’re okay. Letting them know that we can be friends and a team trying to achieve something helps in holistic development. I’m no one’s therapist but when you can afford to be emphatic and listen to the things they’re not saying, allows you to grow into a decent person, and that’s what the world needs.
Believing in Your Sauce
Raw sauce ( Big {man} Shaq couldn’t have said it any better). I had days I wanted to cave in and cry the doubt into oblivion. Sometimes it worked. I mean the crying out part. Y’all should try it sometime. A good cry will give you clarity. TRUST ME.
But I had to an extent believe I was the shit. I am still coming to terms with that. That you can walk into a situation, say your mind, get a yay or nay, and keep it pushing until you get steered into the right direction to see things happen. I have 2½ part-time jobs and considering the blog is my brainchild, I would get so exhausted about everything ( as if college isn’t its problem)
A Bright Future
To be honest, I thought I was going to fail. I didn’t think that I would have a committed team. A team that worked on a level of trust that didn’t require me to micromanage or be there physically so that they were aware of my awesomeness (nervous laugh).
I kept looking at the things I had written down and thought maybe they wouldn’t be able to project the vision I had planned out. Life is funny. Not only did they do better than I expected but considering the limited resources I had on deck, we accomplished everything in the time frame that was initially planned.
I am so proud of them. And I’m sure they haven’t realized it yet, but they are now premium assets to wherever their future takes them. Not because they interned for some not-so-big-shot blog, but because they acted on their courage, went through a process and delivered. And that’s something you can’t teach in a classroom.
That Green Tea Blog will be celebrating it’s official 2 year anniversary in March and would like to thank everyone that supported us along the way.
We will also be conducting a Season 2 intern cycle. We can’t wait to see your applications!
That Green Tea 
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