Good afternoon :)
Regulars may recall that back in November last year, I published this blog post in the search for an Intern. The appointment of an Intern was always going to be very much a two-way process for me; I didn't just want my Intern to come on board to help support and assist me, it was and always will be vitally important to me that they learned something of real value during their experience, that they are exposed to a part of this industry that might otherwise be unreachable, that they ended their Internship {sob, the thought!} feeling they have really gained something of value in terms of personal and, well, hopefully career development! So, before I go on and yak about how much I didn't realise just how important the role of an Intern was going to turn out to be, I'd like to actually introduce you to my rather fabulous new team member.
I think some of you may recognise her.
Say hello to Franky...
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Eliza Claire
**Please excuse me whilst I have a moment to literally explode with excitement!**
Franky has been with me almost from the start, checking in to Love My Dress on a daily basis to gather inspiration for her nuptials which featured on my blog last month. Indeed, due to a rather fortunate turn of events following this call out to professional wedding photographers, I ended up actually being present at Franky's wedding, shadowing Photographer Eliza Claire as she did her thing with an expensive Nikon.
And I cried. No, I mean I really blarted like a baby - ask The Wedding Reporter, she was there too.
Franky is everything I could ever have hoped for in an Intern. She is smart {just graduated only last month with an MA in English}, dedicated {she writes her own fabulous blog and achieved said MA in English whilst raising two beautiful children}, sweet, kind funny and she is the epitome of a 'Love My Dress' type of bride; a sassy lady with a penchant for all things glamorous. That includes red lipstick and ridiculously high heels - sparkly ones...
An extract from Franky's Intern application.....
"My reasons for applying for the role of intern are simple really. First, I adore writing. It's my dream to be able to one day make a living from it. I am happiest when I'm putting sentences together and finding the right vocabulary to express what's in my head. That's why blogging has been my favourite hobby for almost 3 years.
Second, I love immersing myself in everything wedding! Of course, I had no idea this was the case until I found myself planning my own! Stumbling across Love My Dress as a newly engaged woman was like a lightbulb moment for me. The brand you have created on the pages of this blog spoke to me in a way that no other website or wedding magazine had. Among the words and pictures on the screen, I suddenly found the wedding I didn't know I wanted. I went from a bride-to-be without a clue to a woman with a fairly clear image of how I could turn our wedding into something that reflected us as a couple.
Love My Dress has played such a defining role in our wedding plans, and I would love to be able to play some part, however small, in the plans of other couples..."
And lovely Franky's response to her new appointment...
"I feel very, very honoured, and incredibly excited, to have been appointed as the new Love My Dress intern. Annabel's blog played an enormous role in the planning of our own wedding that took place in January this year, so much so that I suspect we should have credited her on the order of service! Not only did my daily visits to the pages of Love My Dress aid us in selecting many of our key wedding suppliers, they also provided me with a wealth of stunning inspiration that helped give me the confidence to be the sort of bride I envisaged, and create the sort of wedding we really wanted.
Almost two months have passed since our own nuptials, and my obsession for weddings, and all the love and beauty they involve, shows no sign of dissipating! I hope that in my role as the Love My Dress intern, I can use this new-found passion to help other fledgling brides, and perhaps even play a small part in inspiring their day as much as Annabel did mine..."
To be honest, the term 'Intern' is rather a misnomer on this occasion. Franky is going to be rather a lot more than that...
Some of you may be aware that towards the end of last year, I took on administrative support in the form of the rather marvellous Emma Woodhouse, aka, The Wedding Reporter. Emma has been an utter god-send, like a great big comfortable life boat with sparkly bits and cushions and a cozy duvet, in amidst a sea of emails and submissions within which I was treading water. Only I was seriously beginning to flag.
But Emma's genius 'The Wedding Reporter' business is taking off to such an extent, that she needs to go and nurture her brilliant business idea and focus on taking her services on to the next level of business development. Rather than leave a gaping hole in my customer service and administrative needs, Emma happened to suggest it might be a good idea to ask if Franky would like to also become my 'Admin Angel'.
And what do you know? Several emails and chats later, I have myself a brand new Intern and Admin Angel all round into one, and I really couldn't be more delighted with this.
Franky will be fielding all my submissions {more on those in a bit} from here on and helping me keep on top of my inbox. She will be contributing features to Love My Dress and helping 'behind-the-scenes' too. She will also be representing me at events I'm unable to attend and assisting me with a number of projects I have on the go, including the Oxfam Photoshoot taking place in London next Friday {you can follow the hashtag #OxfamWeddingShoot on Twitter to keep up with all the excitement!}.
Franky, I am so completely delighted that you are coming on board and working with you on taking Love My Dress on to the next level.
Just a quick note to all the wonderful ladies who applied for an Internship. I've managed to find time to email around half of you back already, but everyone else, I'm very sorry I've not been able to make contact with you yet - I hope to have done so by the end of tommorrow. You are all so very wonderful and I cannot thank you enough for having expressed such a big interest in working with me.
So I mentioned earlier that what I didn't realise at the time of advertising for an Intern was quite how much support I actually needed in managing the daily demands of my business, and seeing to the requirements of managing my blog. Or actually, may be I did.
I need to do some contextualising here...
