The BrandLab Summer At MentorMate

This summer, we opened our Minneapolis office up to the BrandLab — a non-profit with the goal of changing the voice and face of the marketing industry. Three days a week, we handed over a conference room to four high school interns and set them to work on a summer-long marketing research project. Through presentations from our resident experts, they had the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the custom software development world as well as marketing. They also joined us for all of our Wednesday lunches. Here’s what they had to say of their experience this summer.

Paul Vang, Senior, Como Park High School
My summer at MentorMate as a BrandLab intern has been great. First, I would like to thank The BrandLab for hiring me because I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with such amazing people here at MentorMate. Every Wednesday, HR cooks a meal for everyone and it’s new food to me which is nice because it’s always good to try something different. Writing emails was difficult, but with the help of my team it got easier over time. Every day of work is never boring thanks to having such an amazing team to work with. Everyone at Mentormate is so open and down to earth, it’s like being friends right off the bat. As for the work environment, you won’t even feel like it’s work. People are inclusive, talking about work, sports, travel, and always find ways to make working fun. Overall, it’s a wonderful and bright place to be, which is why it’s been such a fast and great summer for me.

Lisa Saechao, Senior, Como Park High School
When I was placed at MentorMate by the BrandLab I had no idea that I would be walking out with so much knowledge and hands-on experience. I came in thinking that the marketing world was all about creativity and designing but MentorMate has shown me that there is much more to that. I greatly appreciate the industry and the work that is put in behind the scenes. Behind every project is hours and hours of planning and research. I had one of the coolest and best experiences this summer, getting to do hands-on research along with interesting visual design stuff.

Gustavo Duran Garcia Daniel, Senior, Johnson High School
My summer was transformed when The BrandLab placed me at the gem that is MentorMate. All I wanted was a cubicle and a broken clock, but MentorMate was so much more. MentorMate has shown me a larger world I hadn’t known existed. I always felt comfortable sharing ideas with my fellow interns, who just recently were strangers, but became my lifeline in MentorMate. I want to thank MentorMate for being such gracious hosts and supplying me with ungodly amounts of cherry coke, and The BrandLab for introducing me to this new and mysterious world. I enjoyed shifting gears and attempting something new, and MentorMate definitely delivered. I personally see myself in a future career as an architect with words, finely sculpting every sentence in order to fit the larger picture. Without a doubt, I absolutely loved my summer.

Ong Vang, Senior, Como Park High School
MentorMate was a wonderful opportunity with great presentations, hosts, and dogs. I learned many new things including the front and back end of websites, Google ads, and how different companies work and evolve. The internship overall was helpful, even though not every day was entertaining it was an agreeable experience. Matt has been very helpful including the rest of the team and interns this summer. I also enjoyed the food, meeting rooms, and dogs. I’ve had a blast learning new skill sets for future pathways. Learning how to be professional in an office and agency, formatting slides, getting the hang of Google Suite, and Canva. Understanding the information and how the sources work behind the scenes are the amazing part of MentorMate.