Once I joined the HLK team as an intern, I quickly learned the importance of teamwork, passion, and being punctual. When I first walked into the office, I was greeted by one of the happiest ladies I have ever met, HR Director Meredith Osborn. She showed me around the office, introduced me to my team, and briefed me on our first project. I had a team of people who were more than happy to give me a push into my role as the researcher. At first, I was extremely overwhelmed, considering I joined the team three days late. Nonetheless, I finally got to join team Nebula!

After three weeks of hard work and getting used to the company, it was time to present our first pitch. The afternoon before we presented, we all stayed extra hours in the office fixing every little detail in our project. Whenever we felt confident that our presentation was perfect, we found five more things to improve. Finally, around 7pm we all decided that it was "pitch perfect" and that we were ready for the morning. As I laid down that night, I couldn’t control my mind from racing. I was so nervous that it wasn’t going to be perfect or that something would go wrong. Despite all the nerves, I was so excited to be able to show our hard work to the On The Run team.

This was something that all my years in college and experience presenting led up to. This was our moment to show our mentors/client team what we could do as a team. We had an opportunity that most companies don’t give to their employees until they have been working for them for at least five years or more.

The day of the pitch, I could tell that everyone was anxious and adrenaline was pumping. Miranda put on some music to calm our nerves and set the tone for our audience as they began filing in. Nelly's "Hot in Herre" (yes, "Herre") gave us the confidence we needed to let loose and have a little fun when presenting. We gave a fluid, strong presentation and took pride in everything we did. It was exciting to finally see all of our ideas come together in a real pitch. Afterwards, I was so proud of our team and the way we collaborated in three short weeks to produce a winning campaign. It was an amazing feeling to know we accomplished all of our goals all while being supported and encouraged by everyone at HLK.