Season 3, Episode 7 - The Virtual Intern Life

On The Heels of Innovation with Ted Zoller

With Zac Gonzalez, Carolina alumnus and former student intern at Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Entrepreneurship Center; and Asa Juhlin, Carolina student and summer virtual intern

In the early spring of 2020, many students at UNC-Chapel Hill and other universities had their summer internships set. Then the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. During this podcast, we’ll hear from alumnus Zac Gonzalez, who worked at the UNC Entrepreneurship Center to develop the Innovation Internship Program, which included many students whose original startup internships were disrupted or morphed into virtual gigs. One of those students was Asa Juhlin, a sophomore who spent his summer working virtually in Hillsborough for Darkroom, a full-service digital agency located in Los Angeles and founded by a recent UNC alumnus, Lucas DiPietrantonio. Gonzalez shares how the new internship program works as a matchmaker to identify meaningful, project-based opportunities at high-growth startup companies and pair them with self-starter students like Juhlin. Gonzalez talks about the benefits of interning at startups, while Juhlin describes living out those benefits firsthand as he navigated the world of online collaboration technologies and sales business culture with growing curiosity and confidence.

UNC students, faculty and staff, do you need advice about a virtual internship? Or something else related to entrepreneurship? Check out our new "Ask an Innovator" online platform that gives you a quick, simple way to get answers about your idea or venture.

""Ask an Innovator" - askaninnovator.protopia.co/