Jill Carrero ‘21, business administration major
When Jill Carrero ’21 started at Salve Regina, she had every intention of becoming a lawyer or a police officer. She enrolled as an administration of justice major and spent her first year of college working toward those career goals.
During her sophomore year, though, she decided to take a business class. It was that class that caused Carrero to fall in love with the world of marketing. After talking with Lorrie Burns, professor of business and economics, Carrero was influenced to change her major to business administration.
Learning marketing while interning with a local business
Now a junior in the program, Carrero is enrolled in Management 491: Professional Internship – a requirement of the major to graduate. In the class, each student holds a different internship with a local business.
“It’s the best and most helpful class I have taken,” said Carrero, who is interning with Burgess Sweaters in Newport. “Working at Burgess Sweaters has opened my eyes to the world of marketing. It has solidified for me that I definitely want to work in the field.”
Burgess Sweaters began in 2017 when owner Cathy Burgess sensed a need in the market for high quality and fashionable sweaters. One of the company’s core values is sustainability. All of the sweaters are created through a process where cotton yarn is mixed with cashmere to create a comfortable and luxurious look. Throughout her internship, which began in January of 2020, Carrero has done all of the company’s email marketing.
Continuing a marketing internship while remote learning
A photo of Burgess Sweaters’ website, a small business that Carrero is currently doing an internship with.
Since moving off campus because of coronavirus, Carrero has been interning remotely from her home in New Jersey. She has specifically been working on a new Sisterhood Campaign for Burgess Sweaters, which was launched in response to the global pandemic of COVID-19.
The whole idea behind the campaign is to have women supporting other women. Burgess Sweaters is encouraging their customers to post photos of them wearing their favorite sweater on social media. After she receives the photos, Carrero puts the content into an email. She is actively learning how such campaigns help to support small businesses and grow their followings and how important marketing can be even during something like a pandemic.
“During a crisis like this, it is really nice to see smaller businesses doing so well,” she said. “Sometimes even seeing one sale makes my day, because it shows that even in these difficult times, people want to support their local small businesses.”
The owner of the company, Cathy Burgess, has been pivotal in Carrero’s internship. “Not only have I formed a special relationship with Cathy, but she has taught me a great amount about the business world, and I am so grateful for that,” described Carrero.
Whether or not Carrero ends up owning her own small business one day, the internship has taught her a lot that will help her in any future career in business. She’s been so grateful for the opportunities that Salve Regina has offered her to grow in experiential knowledge in her field before she leaves school, including internships like the one she’s currently completing.
Excited to return to Salve Regina for senior year
Though it has been a difficult to adjust to remote learning, Carrero is more grateful than ever to belong to the tight-knit community of Salve Regina. “It’s hard not seeing my professors and friends every day,” Carrero admitted. “But everyone is being supportive of one another, and that is making the adjustment easier.”
The tight-knit community and the location was what first attracted Carrero to Salve Regina when touring colleges back in her junior and senior years of high school. “It seemed like one big family, where it wouldn’t be hard to talk to anyone and befriend them,” she said.
Everyone says it, but they say it because it’s true – the community at Salve Regina is unparalleled. Carrero is looking forward to returning to that community in the fall semester when she begins her senior year.
Carrero with friends during a football game.
Salve Spotlights is a series of people-centered stories periodically featured on SALVEtoday. Check out the tag Salve Spotlights for more stories.
