To Do: Internship

Hi there! I’m Emily Nauseda, Frause’s newest summer intern. I currently attend Seattle University, majoring in Strategic Communications with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Besides the obligatory personal background (my favorite color is green, I’m from Santa Cruz, California, and my sign is Aries), I thought I would share one interesting fact that has shaped my life in a massive way: I am obsessed with lists. You will never find a blank sticky note in my house, and to further my addiction, I color code everything with my trusty multi-colored pen.


I have already received a few questions about my color system and ever-present Swiss Army-style writing implement here at Frause. Checklists and color coding are important to me because they remind me of my goals, and what it takes to reach them. Checking a task off of my list is my ultimate form of euphoria, so you can only imagine how happy I was when last month I crossed a few big red words off of my master list: “get an internship at Frause.”

Frause’s internship program has been on my master list for two years now. I discovered Frause when I met Richard Kendall through Seattle University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter. Upon touring the Frause office, it was clear where I wanted to end up as an intern. And after countless networking events, meetings, club tours and visits to Frause’s website, I am proud to be the new fly on the wall in Frause’s office. My internship has already been full of the unexpected.

Nothing here is mundane, which makes it perfect for my list addiction. Every morning I come into the office, and even before our morning meetings, I have at least five things to do. By the end of the day, my list is transformed into a beautiful, multicolored work of art, although I doubt anyone would want to buy it. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here are some excerpts from my list yesterday:

• Meeting 1, meeting 2, meeting 3, meeting 4
• Get watch (things move fast around here)
• Research client’s restaurant
• Attend video shoot about picking up dog poop
• Call Facebook (sounds a lot easier than it is)
• Write press release
• Create media list
• Brainstorm blog post

I felt like a pig in Angry Birds getting all of these tasks hurled at me, but it was exhilarating. To me, lists like the ones I am creating at Frause are the breeding ground for innovation. They enable you to generate ideas, get them out of your head, on paper and into the world, all while saving your sanity. A menial checklist may not seem like it holds much power, but it is the key to accomplishing goals. Frause’s aptly named blog, “Write This Down,” reiterates this. During my time here, I hope to not only check many tasks off my list, but add new ideas to it as well. Stay tuned for more highlights of my master list here at Frause!

-Emily Nauseda