By: Rachel Boorse

Josie Nicholson is a senior Corporate Communication major from Raleigh, North Carolina. Editor Rachel Boorse had the chance to sit down with Josie and talk about her experience interning at Nashville agency MP&F Strategic Communications.

What is MP&F Strategic Communications?

MP&F, named after the three founders McNeely, Pigott, and Fox, is a full-service agency in Nashville that specializes in PR, advertising, and marketing.  Some aspects the company works in include media outreach, branding, marketing, event planning, earned media, owned media, employee recruitment, influencer campaigns, and advertising. Now, the agency is all female owned and has about 85 full-time employees.

Background on MP&F

The agency was founded in 1987 by the three founders who were all former reporters for newspapers and wanted to use their communication skills to advocate for local organizations and companies in conversations. It’s a very competitive agency that has numerous clients such as Job Corps, WGU, BlueCross BlueShield of TN, Walmart, and Acme Feed and Seed to name a few. In addition to these clients, MP&F also does pro bono cases for a select number of clients.

How did you find out about MP&F?

I was researching agencies in Nashville and found the company. From there, I used Belmont’s LinkedIn and was able to see if any Belmont alum interned or worked there and found out that an alum I knew did the intern program and then got hired on full-time.

What made you want to work for MP&F?

I was immediately drawn to MP&F because of their reputation. The agency is well-known in Nashville and nationally. Plus, their intern experience is like no other. The company allows interns to be placed on seven to ten client teams and provides opportunities for interns to actually do work that is presented to clients, which I really liked. I also really liked that a majority of their employees were previously interns for the organization so they understand what it’s like to be an intern and truly do care about their interns. Additionally, you get assigned a mentor who constantly checks in with you and provides you guidance. Essentially, there a safe person for you to confide in if needed. After learning all this information, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and see what happened.

What was the application process like?

MP&F’s internship program is a very competitive program, which leads to a very competitive process. The internship program has three seasons: fall, spring, and summer. To be eligible to intern, you have to be able to dedicate 30-40 hours a week; however, it’s a paid internship. The actual process requires you to submit a resume and cover letter in addition to answering three writing prompts. From there, if they like your application, you are invited to interview. After the interview, you’ll be notified if you received the internship or not.

You’ve been at MP&F for two semesters now. Are still working in the same department or have you transitioned to a different department?

For their intern program, interns aren’t allowed to pick a specific focus, rather they want you to learn everything and be exposed to a variety of areas of the job. I’m still in the same role as a communication intern and in the same area of the office, however, I’m on some new client teams and was able to share with the company some areas that I’m interested in learning more about such as earned media, pitching to outlets, writing press releases, media lists, and op-eds. I also expressed interest in being part of a grassroots campaign, and MP&F has helped work with me to give me experience in these areas. Since I’ve been at the company for a while now, I also am the team leader for the all intern client team, which has been amazing!

What does a typical day at MP&F look like for you?

MP&F requires you to be in-person, so I get to work in downtown Nashville. I work a typical day from 8am to 5 pm. I arrive at the office and begin clippings, which is when I go through the various media outlets I’m assigned and pick the most notable impactful headlines that I then send to the rest of the office. After that, I attend my meetings and do industry research on topics for my clients which we’re then able to present to them and explain how this impacts them. Some other things I do during my days include brainstorm sessions, social media drafting, writing, and creating media lists.

What advice would you give to a student who is going to be interning at MP&F?

Speak up and ask for work! I’ve learned that some teams are really great at assigning me tasks while others, I need to go and ask them if they need help. From this, I’ve really been able to learn the dynamics of working on different teams, which is important because every team you’re on has a different way of running. I’ve also learned that agency life is very collaborative and you have to communicate with each other a lot. Furthermore, being able to anticipate needs of your team and clients will make you stand out. While it may seem very intense, MP&F is looking for someone who was work ethic and who they can help make a better communicator and standout employee when applying for future opportunities. From this internship, I’ve been able to create an entire portfolio of work that makes me more confident in the job search process.

Last question: what has been the highlight of your internship?

I got to work on the team putting together the Acme Feed and Seed Dolly Parton Mural reveal. I helped with the media outreach and event management. For the event, we had 100 influencers attend the rooftop party after the mural reveal. It was an incredibly successful event with 47 media hits in local and national news coverage.

For more information about MP&F Internships, go here.