Hello, It's Me: Parting Words from Our Intern, Tati!

On a very hot, very humid, very gloomy summer afternoon, I was busy painting my room in my new apartment when I noticed a missed phone call appear on my phone screen. The unknown number appeared and I knew right away I was hearing back from improve it! after interviewing for their internship position just two days earlier. I called Mrs. Erin Diehl back as my forehead dripped with sweat and the smell of paint overwhelmed my nostrils. Erin’s bright and energetic personality filled my apartment as she offered me the internship position and my roommates sat on the couch watching my face light up. I quickly snapchatted myself screaming, jumping up and down with my roommates to advertise “being offered the best internship ever”. Erin quickly went over again what was expected of me from this internship as I sat there digesting everything she was saying, I knew instantly my semester was going to be filled with a lot of firsts.

Now, I’ve had a couple internships prior to my time at improve it!, so I knew how being in an office setting worked. After my first day in the office, I already knew this internship opportunity was going to be extremely unique. The nature of improve it! is unique on its own, along with the two empowered women make everything happen behind the scenes. Upon arrival, Erin gave me a hug and another one at the end of the day. With just one small gesture, Erin immediately became a guiding light to me. I spent my first day learning the tricks of the trade and never once felt intimated or out of place in this new environment, and that is the beauty of improve it! They have seriously mastered the art form of making everyone feel welcomed, worthy, and wanted. My time at improve it! was spent with a growing admiration for Allie and Erin, who have shown me what it means to be a strong, capable, driven woman, tackling the workforce. Throughout this internship, I have felt myself grow into a much more independent, matured, find-humor-in-everything young woman. As overwhelming as the days might seem, I have learned to take things with a light and bright spirit, a spirit modeled off of the ladies I’ve been working for.

Leaving improve it! is of course bittersweet. Bitter because I refuse to accept I’m leaving this small little clan behind, but sweet because I get to take a better version of myself (thanks to said clan) onto a new journey. The few months I was with the improve it! team helped assure my desire to work for a company where my work would mean something. I had simple tasks, but each one felt like it was adding another missing piece to a large puzzle. Improve it! is small but mighty, and I never felt as though my work was going unnoticed. I’ve gained social media followers, and lost some (will always take this personally), built furniture and switched out ink cartridges- but the key takeaway from this internship is learning how to “live dreams”. Erin’s favorite catch phrase was said more times than I can count, and it’s a phrase that will remind me of some great times.

Tatiana Pulido is an intern at improve it! Chicago. She is a South Florida native, currently a junior studying Advertising/Public Relations and Marketing at Loyola University Chicago. She is a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma, and member of BIEDA (Body Image & Eating Disorder Association) and UNICEF at LUC. A fun fact about Tatiana is if she could eat one thing for the rest of her life, it would be a plain bagel toasted with butter!