Intern Spotlight: Rachel Harmon

By: Laura Nielsen

Rachel Harmon is the Marketing Solutions Intern at Blink Marketing this summer. She is studying Graphic Design at South Dakota State University. Having graduated from Okoboji High School in 2017, Harmon said she landed this position because she reached out to local marketing agencies: “When I was thinking about coming home for the summer, I researched agencies in the area and then sent them all an email asking if they’d be interested in having an intern for the summer.” She also stated that finding an internship in your major can be difficult in this area, so she was happy she’d taken active steps to do so.

As part of her role, Harmon manages three social media accounts while also picking up some graphic design work and miscellaneous projects that others in the office need help with. “One of the projects I’m working on is for our Making Waves for Children Program, which gives children from Sanford Children’s Hospital a weekend in Okoboji. I’ve been reaching out to local businesses for things to put in goody bags that the kids could receive when they arrive.” She has also been collecting donations and items for the time capsules that are going to be buried in Milford this summer.

Harmon mentioned that she will absolutely use what she is learning in this position in the future and that being involved with marketing has opened her eyes about how her major fits in with this field, saying, “Learning how to integrate graphic design into social media will be helpful because it can really elevate a platform … I’ve also had to work a lot on my writing skills, and I’ve decided to take a Copywriting class soon because it is such an important part of marketing and branding.”

When asked of her dream job, she stated that, “A lot of people who see my work tell me it looks like album covers, so maybe something in that area.” However, Harmon is enjoying her time as a marketing intern because, “I get to do a lot. The other day I was given a project to design one of those ‘big checks’ they give people, which was really fun. Also, I’ve enjoyed working a lot with digital media because I’ve mostly done print in the past. It’s a lot of great experience for my resume.”