Lettering illustration by Jessica Kusuma, Prevention editorial intern
Every summer, I get the chance to meet with all of the new Rodale interns, and they get to ask me anything they want. I do it once in New York with our “city” interns and once in Pennsylvania with our “country” interns.
It’s always one of my favorite “meetings” because first of all, all I have to do is answer fun questions, and second of all, it always gives me hope for the future to see so many young people interested in what we do—and interested in the media in general.
Of course, I always use the opportunity to remind them that it’s important that they learn to pay for content, or else we will never be able to afford to pay for people to create it.
This year, I’m starting a new tradition. I’m going to turn over my blog to our interns. So the rest of this week, you will be hearing directly from them! It will give them an opportunity to try blogging (although I’m sure many of them already have their own blogs) and also a chance to speak to all of you, my dear blog readers, on a variety of topics.
In the meantime, here are three of the types of questions I’m often asked by interns, along with my highly condensed replies:
1. What do you look for when hiring employees? I look for passion, curiosity, and determination! Self-motivation and self-awareness are also very important.
2. How do you do everything you do? I focus on doing what I love and enjoying it. The diversity of everything I do is what gives me energy to keep motivated. I adore my three kids, but I also thrive on having a career—had I been a stay-at-home mom, I’d have needed to start a business from my kitchen table. If I just worked all the time, I would also bore myself to tears and would probably be terrible at what I do. Everything I do serves a purpose to keep me learning, interested in life, and growing. If it doesn’t, I stop doing it.
3. What’s been your biggest professional accomplishment? Getting us all through the Great Recession and the Great Disruption has been my greatest work accomplishment to date. It wasn’t easy or enjoyable, but we made it this far, and now we’re starting to have some fun! But my greatest accomplishment of all is raising three incredible daughters who are passionate, curious, and determined! (And also self-motivated and self-aware). And I get deep satisfaction from writing and communicating with people—whether it’s through books like Organic Manifesto or this blog.
So… let’s hear it from the interns!
What a great idea!! I am really anxious to hear what these young, intelligent, and good hearted folks have to say. The more young people I meet these days, the more I am impressed by how mature and courageous they are, and how they want to make this world a better place for all generations!! Thanks for doing this, Maria!