After finishing up my second summer internship working in media and advertising, I was confident that I wanted to continue to work with agencies in some type of creative marketing role. Upon arriving back to the University of Colorado at Boulder to finish my final year of undergraduate studies, I decided to look for internships in the advertising industry to continue this pursuit of my career aspirations. I remember looking through pages of job listings, company websites, and the work they had done, searching for a company whose work and culture aligned with my interests and values. I’ll never forget the first time I happened upon Bottom Line’s website. Instantly, the design and humor piqued my curiosity. As I looked through the rest of the site, I further got the impression that the company culture was fun, collaborative, and creative; I mean, who’s weird enough to make their employees’ profiles their kid pictures?
When I was asked during my interview if I had any knowledge of the jewelry industry, I thought I could kiss my chances at a job with BLM goodbye. I didn’t have any prior experience working with, or even thinking about purchasing, jewelry. While this scared me at first, the wonderful goofballs that make up the Bottom Line family quickly eased all of my worries. By the end of just the first day, I felt like I was already part of the team. Since then, we’ve been through a lot together! From new additions to the team, holiday parties, and happy hours, all the way to working through the tough times of quarantine. They’ve grown to become not only great friends, but supportive mentors as well. Oh, and I can now say (to the pain of my wallet, and the joy of my girlfriend) that I know a thing or two about jewelry.
Growth, both professionally and personally, is an important core value of mine; Bottom Line’s culture embodies just that. Not only is the growth of the company exciting to witness firsthand, seeing the growth that happens each day on an individual level is truly incredible. New projects and clients are always giving us different opportunities to come together and figure out new ways to deliver better marketing solutions. This collaboration allows us to create the impactful and engaging messaging that we do, and with collaboration we are able to learn from one another and grow as a group.
The best part is, we have fun while we’re at it! Whether we’re plotting a prank on a coworker who’s out of the office or renting a room at a karaoke bar, there are always plenty of laughs and smiles around the office. Being fun and quirky in everything we do is part of BLM’s identity, and it starts with having fun with each other while we work. Not to mention the on-site therapy dog and office mascot, Ringo! Being in an environment where you can relax and joke around with your peers definitely makes it feel less like work, and helps us stay true to our values of having fun and breaking the status quo.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of this group for almost a year now and have had the chance to learn and gain experience across a multitude of different job functions and departments. As a senior about to graduate college, I felt confident in my technical skills, but didn’t have as much experience in practice. With BLM, I’ve had the opportunity to improve my writing abilities, assist with the production process, and work on refining my design skills, all with the guidance of my amazing mentors. In particular, their help with improving my writing has already proven invaluable. They constantly push me to think in new ways, and my ability to write compelling and engaging copy has drastically improved as a result. I’ve helped work on such a variety of projects that it’s hard to choose a favorite, but the highlights that come to mind are helping make GIFs for a snapchat sticker concept, designing the print and digital materials for National Rarities, and working on blogs with our senior copywriter.
Unfortunately, I’ll have to spend some time away from our Denver office in the coming months. While I’ll miss getting to be in the office each day with everyone, I’m very excited and proud to announce that I have been accepted to continue my studies at Michigan State University! I’ll be earning a graduate degree in Marketing Research, currently ranked as the #1 program of its discipline nationwide. It’s sure to be a rigorous program, but armed with the new experiences and knowledge I’ve gained from my time at BLM, I feel confident in my ability to succeed and take on this new challenge. These new analytical skills that I will learn from the program, paired with my background in marketing strategy and experience with the creative department, will put me in a position to help ensure that our future marketing campaigns connect with our customers as effectively as possible. Not only do I hope that market analysis will improve our messaging strategy for current clients, but also that it will aid in identifying potential new clients to approach. My focus always returns to growth, and I believe this next chapter will allow me to grow my professional skill set while contributing in a more meaningful way to BLM’s growth.
It seems like each week there’s something new for me to learn or take the lead on, and I’m ready to keep taking on opportunities to grow alongside my BLM family. I’m happy to say that I’ll be able to continue working part-time remotely, and hope that I can return to Bottom Line and our Denver office once I’ve finished my studies, to help in new ways. It’s been an amazing experience so far, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for Bottom Line!
Gabe Penegor