Alexa's Internship Journal Entry
- Alexa
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
When I first started the internship with VenturaVie and was being interviewed by Renee, I was a little intimidated. I was scared she wasn't going to accept me, because maybe I wasn't a good fit for VenturaVie, but once I was approved by Renee and Victoria, I felt like I was ready to gain a new experience through this internship.
Working at V Boutique was a new experience for me. I learned how to merchandise and price clothes. I also learned how to do inventory by counting the coats, brooches, and kimonos. My favorite thing was meeting all of the customers from ALL over the world and, of course, dressing up in V Boutique clothes for social media content.
When I got onto a Zoom call with Renee and Leslie, my co-intern, Renee talked about ideas for the salon project. Working virtually, Renee went over many references about the previous salons that previous interns did. As I was thinking about ideas, Leslie came up with an idea, Sustainable Fashion, because of the boutique. I also came up with a similar idea, so it would complement Leslie’s idea, Journaling. It took a while for me to come up with an idea since I had so many in my head, such as scrapbooking; I wanted people to also have a hands-on experience. Renee and Victoria wanted something that didn't cause too much of a mess in the shop, such as glue or cutting fabric and paper, so we came up with questions for our journal and decorated them somewhere else that isn't at the salon. We asked CYC(Community Youth Center SF) if we could borrow their place, and they lent it to us, so we could work on decorating the journals there.
Making Journals at CYC
And we also had virtual Zoom calls with Renee, we worked on promoting our salon by making posts on the VenturaVie and V boutique social media posts. And I also learned how to use Canva with the help of Renee. But as days went by and the date for the salon was coming, we needed a panelist, someone who could share their story about sustainable fashion. As Leslie kept reaching out to people and organizations, she was able to reach Tobi, ( @tailormadeculture ), a second-year university student at the Academy of Arts, who studies fashion and is incredibly talented and knowledgeable about sustainability. We also asked Victoria to be a panelist since she has so much knowledge about this topic and is a business owner.
On the day of the salon, we were worried that not many people were going to attend the salon because we had very few people who RSVP’d to the event, but some of our friends attended the event, and some of our friends attended even though they were very late. We still appreciated that our friends came to the event. Through Leslie's Q&A, as she was asking Tobi and Victoria questions, they were very interested in how they answered the questions. Some of the questions were difficult to answer. How can we reduce the usage of fast fashion? I really liked the realistic answer of Tobi: “Although we cannot change that people are wasteful and we can't change that the landfill is filled with clothes because of how wasteful we are, we can change how we buy clothes.”
Instead of overconsumption, we can be more considerate about what we buy and try to shop more sustainably—no Shein, no H&M, and more vintage stores such as V Boutique. Overall, the event, although small, was enjoyable for everyone; many seemed to enjoy the journaling part because they were able to reflect on their actions and process the information given to them by Tobi, Leslie, and Victoria.
After the salon, on Sunday, VenturaVie had its 6th Annual Community Mentoring walk with Victoria, Renee, and student volunteer Heaven, who hosted the event. I was able to learn a bit about each person who came to the event, and they all had something in common: they all love their community and family and show their appreciation in different ways. I learned from Heaven that although there are times when family and community can't be reached, there are still ways to spend time with them. Through this walk, I was able to gain a lot of support and motivation from people who have more experience than I do, and in a way, they were also mentoring me.
6th Annual Community Mentoring Walk 2026
Through this internship, I have become more confident and self- assured when it comes to making a decision I want for myself instead of feeling pressured to make a choice. Victoria and Renee taught me that I have the choice to either stay the same or try to improve myself. They also taught me that any idea I have is never stupid, and they are always willing to hear me out. I am happy that through this internship, I was able to change instead of staying the same.
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