The Power of Internships: From Short-Term Help to Long-Term Wins with Bella Clark

In this episode of The Delegation Download, Ashley Carlson and Nichole Hughes are joined by Bella Clark to explore the true power of internships and why they’re so much more than short-term support.

Together, they break down how structured internship programs can become a strategic advantage for businesses looking to grow, innovate, and build a future talent pipeline. From bringing fresh perspectives and tech-savvy ideas to creating meaningful, real-world experiences, interns can play a valuable role when set up for success.

Ashley, Nichole, and Bella share lessons learned from multiple internship experiences, including how to design programs with clear goals, provide mentorship, and avoid the trap of assigning “busy work.” They also discuss the importance of communication, inclusion, and feedback in shaping confident, capable future professionals.

Whether you’re a business leader considering your first intern or refining your current program, this episode offers practical insights on creating internship experiences that benefit both your business and the next generation of talent.

Takeaways

• Internships are a low-risk, high-reward way to test roles and support growth.
• Interns bring fresh perspectives, especially in content creation and technology.
• A structured internship program with clear goals creates better outcomes.
• Mentorship, involvement, and real responsibility are key to impactful experiences.
• Avoid “busy work” by assigning meaningful, results-driven tasks.
• Open communication and consistent feedback build trust and development.
• Internships can serve as a strong pipeline for future full-time hires.
• Culture, inclusion, and recognition significantly impact intern confidence and success.
• Legal and ethical considerations are essential when designing internship programs.
• Reflection and feedback create a two-way learning environment for both interns and leaders.

Connect with Bella Clark:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bella-clark/

🧰 The People Puzzle Workbook (Your free hiring resource) 

Download here:  https://elevatevbs.myflodesk.com/the-delegation-download-podcast-series2 

📲 Connect with Elevate Virtual Business Solutions

Website: elevatevbsolutions.com
Instagram: @elevatevbsolutions
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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Delegation Download Podcast, where business owners, CEOs, and leaders learn to work smarter, not harder.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

We're your hosts, Nicole Hughes and Ashley Carlson, here to share real stories, expert tips, and Welcome to series two of the Delegation Download, The People Puzzle, Building Your Dream Team.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

This series is your guide to hiring with clarity, confidence, and strategy because the right people don't just fill roles, they fuel your vision. Whether you're making your first hire or restructuring for scale will help you solve the hiring puzzle piece by piece.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

That's right. And I'm super excited about the guests that we have on the show today and the topic itself. So today we are exploring the part of the team building that is often overlooked, and that is internships.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yes, we're really excited to welcome a very special guest to me, to our whole team, Bella Clark. She was our incredible summer intern from Lehigh University, and she's going to share her experience and insights from her perspective as intern.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Bella, welcome. We're super excited to have you with us here today. So can you please introduce yourself to the listeners? Tell us your background and tell us what brought you to elevate this summer.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Hi, Nicole and Ashley. Thank you so much for having me here today. My name is Bella Clark. For those listening, I'm from Denver, Colorado, and I'm studying at Lehigh University. My major is going to be in management entrepreneurship, and my minor is in environmental science. So I will graduate in May of 2026. But yes, this summer I was able to remotely intern for Ashley and Nicole through a program my university put on where they basically find a cohort of students from Lehigh that want to go and live in San Francisco and work for a startup. And through like a mutual selection process, I ended up with Elevate Virtual Business Solutions.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

So I'm very lucky that I got to meet Ashley and Nicole through that. It's been a it's been a ton of fun. And there's so many things that we could go into that you helped us with over the summer and what you brought to the business. But Ashley, I'd like to start by asking you what made you make the decision to bring interns into Elevate?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

That's a really great question. And it's something that I've reflected a lot on over the last few semesters doing this. And I think interns are a potentially low risk as far as investment in, especially with us being an employee model. So you can test new maybe positions or roles that I projects that I would like to delegate, things like that. So really a low tech a low risk testing, if you will, but really high upside way of testing all these things. Also, one thing that I for sure have learned is that interns bring fresh perspective, creativity. I always say Bella is way cooler than I am as far as she knows the trends. And we all know how as we get older, we are so surprised that the young folks out there pick up tech way faster than we do. And also just it's really great for special projects, uh, different content creation. Cause again, she knows all the cool trends. And there's just a lot of different facets of the business that we have seen interns be able to take and put a whole unique spin that we may never have thought.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah, absolutely. I think the the fresh perspective and being tech savvy has been a huge insight for us. So if you saw some of the reels over the summer, those were all Bella's ideas. So thank her for those. If they made you laugh or giggle, that was that was all Bella. But um, from your experience, Bella, over the summer, what made this internship feel valuable and effective for you as an intern?

SPEAKER_00 3:32

I think the biggest thing for me always is is the work I'm doing actually helping the bottom line. Am I actually making an impact as an intern? And so anything that I was able to do that I actually felt like really genuinely was helpful for you guys and actually took something off your plate or contributed to the business was always definitely the biggest thing that made me feel like very valuable and like definitely helped me grow. I think the other thing too is that, you know, a lot of the first conversations Ashley and I had when I joined the team were about, you know, here's what I'd like to have done. And then here, you know, Bella, what do you want to add in? What other things, you know, are you really interested in taking ownership over? Things like that. And so I felt like my voice was heard and I felt like different projects and things that I really wanted to do and be able to say that I had experience with, you know, actually really let me make it happen. So I think those are the two things that really stuck out to me.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, I think that it was I think a combination of what worked so well for us in this particular summer internship was the fact that I was able to say to Bella, hey, I I this is what I'm envisioning. But along the way, as you get into this, if you have ideas, please let me know and let's run with it. And that's that is kind of to the point that I was saying earlier of the beauty of internships is that they can, they can run with it. They, you know, and it is low risk as a company. And I I loved the ideas that Bella brought to the table and she was able to bring ideas to the table and take ownership because I think sometimes you do get people in general, whether they're employees or interns, that are hesitant to bring ideas to the table. And so I think the combination of me iterating that I wanted those ideas and Bella being being willing to throw those out really made us thrive in our internship relationship. So um, so Bella, I would love to talk about whether or not you've had other internships and what worked well in those, what hasn't, overall, maybe what has been your learning lessons over the span of internships?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah, I think I've had like quite a range of different like internships and different positions that I've been able to like experience and very different leadership styles and even cultural experiences. So I would say when I think about the main things that worked especially well for this internship and also other ones is a high volume of communication. Meeting, we met twice a week and then sometimes more than that, depending on you know what the plan was for the week. And I love the amount of communication because it helped me stay accountable, it helped us be on the same page. And it also felt like I was having time invested into me to actually take and learn and grow and receive feedback and things like that. So that definitely felt like an investment into me and also made me feel like I was always on track. And then I think the other thing too is I um I feel like Ashley especially is really amazing at like understanding people and who they are and what they want to be doing. And so internships where I think I like haven't been maybe like my boss just hasn't taken the time to know me as well or just know certain things that I'd really love to take on, things like that. It's hard when I have boring work, to be honest. And so I think Ashley and Nicole saw that really fast, and they helped me come up with ways to get things done, but still, you know, that maybe were less like high on my list of favorites, but still like have some creative freedom and fun with it. And so I think that was another thing. Boring work leads to boring results, and having a really creative opportunities is is very key.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Yeah, absolutely. Canva burnout is real. Bella experienced that during the summer. She can only do so much Canva at one time, and she had to take a break, and we were able to pivot and find something else that she really enjoyed. And that's the beauty of the communication, right? The open communication, talking, getting to know you. What advice, Bella, would you give to companies who want to bring on interns but don't want it to feel like busy work?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

I definitely loved there was kind of, we kind of already touched on this, but the structure that you guys provided where it was things that you really wanted us to be able to accomplish, and then kind of a list of things that I wanted to like take accountability on and like have fun with, or different projects that I was introducing. And then I think the other thing too is um I think the biggest thing that really made, you know, one of one of the biggest things that made this internship really successful is there was, you know, coming from both ends, like the list of things that really needed to get done and that I could really help with, and then fun ways that I could add a little bit of flair. And I think a lot of that came from also Ashley and Nicole being, you know, you guys being open to letting me in behind the scenes a little bit. So I actually had an idea of what was going on in the business and where I could maybe step up and support or different ideas or things that just could be improved. And so I think being willing to actually share with me what was going on in the business helped me to know more intuitively what I could be helpful and where I could be helpful and different things that I could add on. So I think those two things definitely made it really successful. And that's what I would say is is, you know, have that kind of communication flow and also, you know, let your intern in on the loop.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yeah, I think that, like I said earlier, I think it was just this beautiful combination of us being willing, but also you being willing to. So you mentioned earlier the communication, the feedback and the you having a list of ideas and all of that. We were only able to head in that direction because you were willing to shout out those ideas, right? We would have, we wouldn't have known where your interests were unless you told us. You know, so there was a really beautiful combination of us asking the questions, being available for you to ask questions, and you took advantage of that. You did ask questions, you did give ideas. And we have Slack where yes, we met with you twice a week, but we also had Slack and you were on there talking to us every day, asking for feedback, sending us reminders when we needed them, things like that. So there was this mutual accountability and communication flow both ways that I think really made this particular internship thrive. And it also, to your point, I was able to, because of your communication and the way we were working together, I was able to see where you were interested, where your strengths were. And yes, make sure you still were getting what we needed you to get done in the what we wanted you to get done in the summer internship, but also allow you the space to do the things you're really interested in. And there, and to your point, you mentioned like boring work is boring results. It's also work that excites someone and lights them up. The results from that are incredible. So I definitely think that in general, people who are leading people, they have to be aware of that. Yes, we can't make the perfect role. There's always going to be stuff that all of us don't like to do, that it's just impossible. Leaning, allowing people to lean into whether it's things they're good at or things that bring them joy, you have to give them that because overall the culture and the results that you get as a people manager is incredible. So, but yes, that was my part in it. But I want you to be aware that you took advantage of that too. And that's so that's just as important for a leader to be aware of, but also for the person to be aware of that if you have a leader that is willing to do that, or if you want the leader to do that, say it, you know. So people need to take ownership of their, be empowered to do that in their own roles too. So okay. So I wanted to talk about getting your perspective as an intern. And we have now, as Elevate, been through three semesters uh with interns that we're actually in the middle of our fourth semester right now as we're recording this. And there have just definitely been some um lessons learned along the way for me as a business owner, as an intern leader. So what things work and what don't. Um, and for me, I think that we've already touched on it a bit, but the most the reason for success for sure is structure. So I think sometimes people look at internships as a little bit too much of a test run that they don't put any structure in. So I think putting a purpose of the internship, what do I want success to look like at the end of this? What is my ultimate result? Because in reality, whether it is an intern who is through school and it's a non-financial commitment for the business, or sometimes there is a financial commitment for the business, but it's still minimal, right? So in general, we'll call we'll say internships are low cost financially, but it is definitely still very time consuming. So you are still, as a business, putting investing time in order for it to be successful. So I think sometimes people don't put in that time. And so then sometimes it isn't successful. So I think defining what success looks like, being really clear about what those outcomes are, not just here's a giant to-do list that I'm gonna dump on you. The point of contact has to be clear. So in this case, obviously with you and I, it was me. We were able to work together in person for a couple of weeks, which was awesome. And then also, like we talked about scheduling regular check-ins, face-to-face, one-on-one time is so important, especially with someone. Sometimes we've had interns who've never had a job before, too. So in this case with you and I, you had experience of what it's like to have deadlines and work in a professional environment, but we've had interns who have no idea about any of that. And so, in in that case, I think structure is even more important because they don't have that self-accountability. So, even though, yes, it's an intern, I think that in general, the structure that they need is maybe even more important than having an employee, right? So, in a different set, different sense, but expectations have to be very clear.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, you said it in the delegation shift series when we were talking about hiring your first hire. You have to define what done looks like, and you have to do that with interns too. You cannot just be like, here, you're free work, just do everything that I need you to do. It's important to treat any type of internship like a mutual value exchange. It's not free labor. They're your interns are getting something out of working for you, and you are also getting something out of having an intern there, whether that is a fresh perspective, whether that is tasks being checked off the list that have been sitting there for months because you haven't had a chance to get to it or you were unclear on where you wanted it to go. Bella, what do you feel like makes a great internship?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

I definitely felt very valued when I was brought on, like to understand like what was going on in the business, or maybe like certain leadership meetings you guys would sometimes like let me come shadow and just listen in. And so I felt an immense amount of trust, you know, from the beginning in me and my ability to professionally show up. And then also I think I mean a great example of this is Ashley gave me my first business trip I've ever been on in my entire life in an internship. And I was able to fly to LA and work with her, and that was the biggest compliment I felt to me as an intern is that someone was willing to spend money to actually work with me in person and invest that amount of time with me. And so I think I just looked back at that and I was like, wow, like this is a group that really believes in me and my professionalism and my ability to execute on things. And to the point where I'm actually, you know, I don't laugh at the amount of money that you you all have spent on me as an intern as well. So I definitely um I definitely felt like that was one moment where I was like, wow, like I'm really making a difference and being brought in as someone that's a professional. So I felt like that was a good example. But it's not even, it's not even the big grand gestures like that, also. It is like including me in in different meetings that are maybe more like high stakes and bigger decisions and work, you know, walking me through the decision-making process on some serious matters within the business too. I just really felt involved in that kind of way and poured into from a perspective of this is actually how I run my business, and these are the decisions and the situations that I make making decisions on. I felt like those were like big things to me and honestly the most incredible feeling, you know, of value that has ever been provided through a work experience for me.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah, I think that it just goes the so just to touch on the fact that you just started joining our leadership meetings and in our leadership channel at some point through your internship pretty early on. That was because you were bringing so many ideas to the table that I said, hey, would it be helpful for you to just at first the thought was just be a fly on the wall and just sit and listen and see how internal leadership goes. And I just I want it to be clear that it's because you brought that idea to the table and because very quickly you demonstrated professionalism and trustworthiness. So it was, I had no qualms with letting you in those meetings and because your integrity was very clear. And I think that in very quickly, also in once you were in those meetings and all of that, you were able, like you said, to see the hard decisions. I mean, it was just you were just thrown right in there, and yes, you were a fly on the wall, but you were able to see some of the difficult things that we were tackling and the conversations, but you would come from those to say, hey, can I help with this? So you were able to show us where you were interested, even if maybe we talked about the things that brought you joy and maybe they weren't necessarily joyful, but you were interested in learning more. And I think in general for an internship, I think some people maybe just wanted to check off the box. You know, I did it, I got it done. I think that you really took the reins of this is such a like great learning opportunity, and I'm gonna grab every opportunity to learn along the way. And so I'm sure there were plenty of projects or meetings or things that you were a part of that you're like, okay, noted. I'm not interested in this in the future, right? But that's just I tell people who are in college all the time, distraught about they don't know what to do with their lives after. It is just as important to know what you want to do as what you don't want to do, or just as important to know what you want in a job or in a manager as what you don't want. And so I really think that what I want leaders and potential interns to hear is take the opportunity, go all in, grab, grab every opportunity to learn and like excel in the things you're good at and excited about, and just test the waters in things when it is relatively low stakes, right? So, okay, I would love to know, Bella, what helped you grow or explore your interests in like what would you say the opportunities, some examples of why you were able to explore all of your interests along the way?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Yeah, definitely. I would say one thing, there was a lot of new technology you introduced me to and different things that I just hadn't used before. And I felt like always very encouraged and like you all were willing to give up some of my maybe like work time for me to actually take a moment and play with the tools and actually go through, you know, click up university as an example and actually experience what it was like to work with those tools and try to have like a greater understanding of what was going on. And so I felt like that definitely helped me realize what tools I enjoyed and like what kind of different educational programs like I wanted to continue on with. So I was grateful for that because I definitely felt like I actually learned very tangible skills, and that definitely helped me to explore maybe things that I was good at or maybe things that I wasn't as good at. And then I think the other thing too, and we've already kind of touched on this, but Ashley, you gave me this analogy of having everyone on the right seat of the bus. And I do know, like, especially personally, my work that I produce from a place of like real passion and enthusiasm is really, really like effective work. And so I think anytime that Ashley or Nicole saw a project and like the light bulb went off, and I was like, oh, this would be a great one to give to Bella because she'll really enjoy this and like be able to take ownership of it. And so I think that definitely helped me to understand what I was good at and what I was interested in. And I also learned a lot of tools along the way and learned like how to use different like apps and things like that. And so now I feel very like confident in some more like technical skills as well that I had never been able to touch before.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Yeah, I love that. Um as you were talking, I know we mentioned earlier how you got Canva burnout for sure at one point, um, because you were in there so much. But I'd as you were talking about where you would want to learn more, I just wanted to mention it to you and to anyone who's listening that Canva now has a university. So if you want to take more Canva classes, Bella, I highly recommend. Anyway, um, well, we definitely have seen interns help uncover what is scalable in a business, especially when it comes to for us content creation, onboarding processes, project-based work where there's clear deliverables and interns for us have been part of our success for sure.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Yeah. And when it comes to interns and when it goes well, those people can become either your part-time hire or your full-time hire or contractors that you hire on. And it's a great way to build the hiring pipeline because they are seeing it so they can give their feedback. They know what the business is doing, they know how you want the business to run. They're already invested in the business and they know what's happening. So it's a great way to also test your leadership skills.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Bella, what kind of feedback or reflection opportunities for you felt the most helpful to you throughout the internship at LAV?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I think it can't be said enough, like actual time with you both, like getting feedback. And I really felt like you both took the time to just understand who I was and what motivated me and things that I was, you know, really good at or interested in. And so, like actually taking the time to figure out who I was and what I could maybe help with, I really felt seen in a workplace, which I've never like felt before. And I felt like you both were also invested in actually developing my skills and building my professional confidence and kind of looking out for other opportunities for me always, and and being willing for me to like go and and try new things, things like that. I think that's the best, you know, thing I can say is that the feedback and the reflection came a lot for me from just speaking with you both and genuinely feeling like you were both taking the time to, you know. know, make me someone more skilled and someone more confident in in professional spaces.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

And I think it's important to make sure, and we've talked about it before on other episodes, but it's that open communication, allowing your intern to ask questions and also as a business owner who has an intern to ask them questions. It's a two-way street. So there has to be a conversation. It cannot just be one person talking to another person. And when it comes to having your intern, there's a quick important note that we have to say is that if you're offering any unpaid type of internship internship, excuse me, especially if you're in a for-profit business, there are legal guidelines. So you want to make sure that you're following those.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Yeah, you want to make sure that the internship is supporting the intern's own goals, provides mentorship and complies with local laws. We've looked at the we go through Lehigh University, as we mentioned currently that's where so far our intern relationship has worked really well. So they are getting school credit. There's a financial obligation to supplement the school's investment and things like that for us. And so you just want to make and so they take care of the legalities there for the students. We sign contracts there's this whole thing. But if you're thinking about potentially creating your own internship program, just make sure you're looking into the local laws. I know for us, for me here in California, it's there are strict laws for internships that you create yourself. So just we just want to make sure that everyone is following whatever the local laws are for interns. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

All right Bella, I have a really big question for you as we wrap up our conversation but what is one big takeaway from this whole summer experience that you will take into your future career?

SPEAKER_00 23:47

I think, you know, if it's not clear from this podcast or just this conversation yet already, I think culture is above all and the people you work with, the environment that you're doing the work in and the overall mission of a company is just something I'm never going to be able to negotiate on. Even being a remote intern, even being you know very young and in a more like professional and corporate space, I felt so welcomed, I felt so celebrated, I felt very seen and I felt like everyone wanted to include me and was cheering for me. And I cannot imagine working in an environment that does not make me feel that way in the future. And it's currently as I look for new roles and forming a lot of what I'm looking for in companies. If I if I feel like it's a bad culture fit, I know that at the end of the day it's not going to be something I want to get up and do again in the morning. And the closer I got to Ashley and Nicole and the business and the rest of the team, the harder I wanted to work and the more passion I had for the business. And so I think that's the biggest takeaway is if the company and the people you know executing the mission are not on the same page of creating that warmth and in the hard work environment, then I'm, you know, I don't think I'd be able to commit as much to it myself.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

Yeah, I think it reminds me of at the end of your internship and we do this for all of our interns, but at the end we have them present to the whole team what they worked on because we feel like we have been right alongside them. We know what they've been working on but and we've been sharing it with the team but we want the team to hear it from the intern themselves and it's good practice for you guys for your own presentations that you have to do for your class. So I just remember at the end of your internship or at the presentation it was just so I felt like all of us had the foam number one fan fingers on. We all were just so excited to see the impact that you made. And I think what that makes me think of is that I think in general any as when you are working professionally you are spending a lot of your time at this job, right? So and then you're also you know putting in a lot of just not just your time but energy and resources and all of that. And I just think that it is so important that every single person on a team in a business genuinely feels like they are putting they are a reason why there is progress, there is success and all of that. And so I think to your point, you were for sure without a doubt a reason why we were able to accomplish what we were able to accomplish in the summer of this year. And so I think that any team member should feel that right like I am a part of whatever the success is happening in the business. I think that that is really important. We don't just want to be a seat that could be filled by any Joe Schmo off the street, right? Like we want it to feel in a company that we we're personally as a human are a reason for these successful things to be happening. So I love that you felt that that makes me happy um okay I have one big question too well it's a two-parter. So what advice would you give to another student who is heading into an internship and I would also like to know what advice you would give to a business owner or a leader thinking about offering an internship.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

For sure I think for the incoming intern, the biggest thing is I would say off the bat, just prove that you're there to show up and work and support and then as you build trust then there's more of a two-way street or an ability to grow in your role. I thought that was very evident in several of my internships and this one also like just show up and work hard and then gain that trust and that's where a really beautiful relationship can blossom from that. And then I think for business owners taking the time to actually get to know your intern and making them feel like they can actually impact your business and can actually be a part of your business you know I'm I'm a fan of elevate and tell people about it all the time now for the rest of my life. So you know it's one of those things where I think if you invest and actually take the time to know who your intern is and support them, then I I feel like it's it's a lifelong investment.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

I love it. So internships what I heard you say is also an opportunity to build a fan base of your business. Yes. Forever lifelong fan. I love it. Well Vela, thank you so much for talking with us today. Your insight is so valuable I'm sure to interns and leaders alike and you know that we have loved having you over summer and are so thankful to continue to have you on our team helping the marketing department.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

So you know we're your number one fan too yes absolutely well that wraps our conversation for today so thanks for tuning in to the People Puzzle series on the Delegation Download. If this episode brought you one step closer to your dream team hit follow and share it with other leaders who are building too and don't forget to grab your free hiring resources in the link in the show notes and remember you've got this thanks for listening to the Delegation Download podcast.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Don't forget to subscribe leave a review and follow us at Elevate VB Solutions for more tips to help you lead smarter and live better.