What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?

I studied Journalism at Ohio University.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten program?

I wanted the experience of working for an international company and immersing myself in London. I knew it could either propel my career or just be a great experience that would help me grow as a person and luckily for me, it did both.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.

My placement was with HSBC, a bank with dual headquarters in London and Hong Kong. I worked within the Emerging Talent Attraction team as well as for the Global Banking & Markets business line, assisting with marketing and programme/event support. Essentially, I worked to both market HSBC as a great place to work for young talent and help to ensure the talent on the programme had great experiences.

What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?

The highlight of my year was working and filming at the two-week induction for the 2025 global graduate class in Reading. There were attendees from 11 countries, and I was able to coordinate the concept and filming of 60+ graduates to feed into our social media campaign used to attract young talent to HSBC. I stayed on-site with the graduates and the rest of the Emerging Talent team, so we had productive days and fun evenings enjoying the summer weather.

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?

I could never choose just one, but the broad highlights were traveling to 11 countries, spending sunny days at the park, live music at the pub, and getting the chance to live in the same building as people I became best friends with.

Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship

In terms of work, get stuck in. Find/create the gaps that the team you’re placed on needs filling and add value in that area. Meet as many people within the office as possible! As for the lifestyle aspect, do and see as much as you can since this is a once in a lifetime experience, but also find the little, relaxing things you love within the city and do those often too. Oh, and take a warm weather holiday between January and March to help boost your mood during the rainy season.

Upon reflection, what do you consider has been the biggest impact of your Mountbatten year?

Everything about my Mountbatten year was impactful, but the main thing is that I still live in London, and I doubt that would have happened without this experience.

What happened after completing the year – what did you do next?

I ended up getting hired onto the Emerging Talent Attraction & Employer Brand team as a Channel Content & Campaigns Lead for HSBC. I took a trip to Switzerland, went home for a while, spending the holidays with family and friends, and later moved back to London with my new visa.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?

I’m nearing 6 months into my official role with HSBC and my day to day consists of leading out on the creative and content strategy alongside agency partners for our social media campaign, website, as well as a few partnerships. I oversee the content creation for our newsletter and employee advocacy channel in addition to working directly with graduates to understand their experience with us so we can better represent what it’s like to work at HSBC to potential applicants.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?

I try to take things year by year in a post-pandemic world, but I’d like to keep flexing my creative muscles at HSBC for a while and stay in London for as long as makes sense for me. I see myself growing within marketing and content roles, wherever that takes me. I’ve happily built a bit of a life for myself here in London, so I want to keep growing my circle of friends and have new experiences all over the world.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

They might be surprised to find out that I started the programme at 28 and was (just barely) the oldest in my cohort! I almost didn’t do it because I was afraid I was too old and I’m so grateful now that I didn’t let that stop me. They also might be surprised to learn that I’ve been to 32 countries and London is still one of my favourite places in the world. Which actually says a lot because I’m a sun child who moved here from Austin, Texas. I miss the sun when it’s not shining, but that’s what Ryanair is for!

Is there any other information that you would like to be included?

I think that about covers it!