The Basics
I’m a 20-year-old senior Marketing major at Ramapo College of New Jersey. I live in Ringwood, New Jersey with my family who has always been very supportive and loving. I also have a Jack Russell named Shmuley (my idea) that likes me way too much. If you know anything about Jack Russells, you know that means more work for me.
What I’m Into
I’m always looking for ways I can improve myself, whether it be through constantly reading, teaching myself new skills, or getting a workout in early before most people wake up.
I was extremely interested in politics before the insane 2016 election cycle made it cool to be. Somewhat unfortunately, I still am.
I’ve been into music ever since I was very young. I’ll always remember my Godfather Sean (below) giving me the album Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi. (This was before the days of Spotify – see I’m not that young!) I was blown away by it.
He later taught me how to play the guitar, and I’ve been fortunate to see some of my favorite artists like Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day and Paul McCartney in concert.
I’m a lifelong lover of sports and bleed the various shades of blue that make up the uniforms of the New York Giants, Rangers and Yankees. I love the winning culture that New York sports represent, and I love how fans consider any season that doesn’t result in a championship a failure.
How I Found Marketing & DSM
It all started when Mad Men was added to Netflix.
Just kidding. Although, Don Draper is definitely one of my style icons.
I was very into video games during middle school, and I would listen to a PlayStation podcast by IGN called Beyond. The guys on the podcast would frequently talk about PlayStation’s marketing strategy and the job functions of marketers.
I picked up that marketing was a fast paced job where you can be innovative, and that you could potentially work with brands that you admire and believe in. Marketing can make a huge impact on people and the world.
Flash forward to my freshman year of college, and I’m reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs, where he was quoted as saying “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
This made me realize that money isn’t the most important factor when choosing a career. You have to find a job that makes you look forward to coming into the office every day. You’re not going to live a fulfilling life if you can’t find happiness in your work.
I want to be in a competitive environment that allows me to come up with new ways of solving problems. However, I also don’t want to work in a stuffy corporate office, surrounded by people that don’t think like me. Marketing is a great fit for me because I love the culture and ideas championed by many ad agencies.
The work you do matters and can truly change the world. Look at the campaigns that challenged drunk driving and cigarette use, which resulted in fewer deaths from both. The 1984 ad by Apple led to the personal computer revolution. Hell, you could even argue ads run by Lyndon Johnson in ‘64 and HW Bush in ‘88 swung those elections.
This past fall, I was fortunate enough to get a LinkedIn message from Jason Diller who invited me to apply for this internship. Fast forward a few months, and now I’m in a great position to learn under Dan and Frank on the digital marketing team, as well as the rest of DSM.
The more I think about the opportunity in front of me, the more fortunate I realize I am. Now, the only thing left to do is work hard and reward the agency for taking a chance on me.
