Inside the Capsule: Intern Spotlight on Ellen

Meet our New Business & Marketing intern, Ellen Pickering.

1. How did you get to Capsule?

I am a 2017 St. Olaf College grad originally from Milwaukee, WI and now living in Minneapolis. With a double major in Studio Art and Sociology/Anthropology, I started to explore what kinds of professions might integrate my two interests in design and the arts, along with researching and understanding people. I've tried out different marketing and arts related internships throughout college, including working as a PR intern at a non-profit science and technology museum, an art education and administration intern at two arts organizations, and a marketing intern at Northwestern Mutual. I’m excited to make the post-grad transition as the Capsule New Business/Marketing intern and add to my learning experiences and internship repertoire!

2. Why are you interested in marketing and research?

Marketing seems to be a perfect melding of my two areas of study, using creative new ideation and analytical research to solve problems and communicate an intentional message to an intentional audience. It’s fascinating to me that marketers have the ability to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct emotional connections of sometimes intangible things through language and visual content that can resonate negatively or positively with people. It’s also interesting to observe and research how these can resonate differently amongst various groups of people. I guess I’m also just a nosey person and love learning about people, picking apart their minds, and figuring out where the patterns are.

3. What do you bring to the Capsule team?

I’m just an inquisitive, thoughtful, artistic, hard-working, upbeat, and sometimes funny (at least my mom says I am) girl, so I hope I bring all those things to the team.

4. Go-to karaoke song?

Dancing Queen by ABBA every time. My mom and I have an affinity for the song (and we’ve already decided that we’re adding a mother-daughter Dancing Queen dance to the list of events when I get married one day).

5. What do you do when you are not at work?

I’m trying to get back into exercise (ugh) so HOPEFULLY I’d be running or biking…I also love photographing people, places, and odd little special moments and things I see around me. Either way you’ll probably find me legitimately lost somewhere – I’m beyond terrible with navigating and remembering where I am (my family and friends will attest to this).

6. Life motto?

Finding a life motto is on my post-grad to-do list!

7. What are you passionate about?

I love photography and reading about contemporary photographers and projects. I also have a passion for fashion and like staying up to date with the industry. I’m also big fan of drawing, playing basketball, going up north to my cabin, and podcasts more recently. Oh and I’m super passionate about my labradoodle, Ollie. Two of my friends and I proudly manage a shared Instagram account for our labradoodles @oods_of_doods (shameless plug)!

8. Hidden talents?

I make a mean bowl of guacamole and even have an embarrassing YouTube demonstration video from 9th grade speech class to prove it. But please don’t look up the video. It’s painfully awkward.