There’s something uniquely exciting, (and super scary) about starting your first internship. If you’re anything like me, your worries might have consisted of wondering what your days will look like, whether you’ll know what you’re doing, or if you’re dressing for the part correctly.

That was me at the beginning of the summer…

Hi! I’m Olivia Lam, and I spent the summer interning with RingCentral’s Go-to-Market team. As a remote intern, I didn’t have the traditional first-day walk into an office. However, from day one, I was a

part of the team. I shadowed sales demos for RingCentral, helped build campaigns, put together competitive analysis decks, and got a firsthand look at everything that goes into bringing products to market. Every week brought something different, and usually at least one moment where I had to learn something completely new on the fly.

Looking back, I’m incredibly grateful to the team, for trusting me, allowing me to ask questions (even the ones I thought were dumb), and having me contribute to real work. I’ve sharpened my professional skills, grown my network, and learned about team collaboration and communication. This experience gave me real-world exposure and has shaped the way I think about my career moving forward.

Page turners and pep talks

Going into my first internship, I pictured something very buttoned-up and professional… lots of quietly taking notes, sitting in on calls, and maybe being trusted with a spreadsheet if I proved myself.

Reality check: not even close.

From week one, I was given meaningful projects. And despite being remote, I never felt like I was learning from a distance. I had consistent mentorship, plenty of opportunities to ask questions, and, unexpectedly, a book club with my mentor Jordan Arnold and his team! Each week, we talked through Stupider People Have Done It by Jay Schwedelson. Our discussions included some of the most honest and human conversations of my internship. It was super refreshing to discuss careers, confidence, and taking risks.

One idea from the book that really stuck with me was not putting so much pressure on yourself to find your “dream job.” Careers aren’t one-size-fits-all, and sometimes figuring out what you want also means figuring out what you don’t want. For me, this internship felt like the first real stepping stone in that process. I may not have my entire career mapped out yet, but I’m walking away with a much better sense of what interests me, what I want to keep learning, and where I might want to go next.

My highlight reel

The first highlight of my internship was that I was trusted with a campaign tied to an event with a very real audience behind it. After Eventastic 2026, the world’s largest virtual event about events that connected more than 14,000 event professionals, I built RingCentral’s follow-up email campaign focused on turning event engagement into conversations with our team.

No pressure, right?

I researched email marketing best practices, spent time in HubSpot Academy, and used AI tools like Claude to test different messaging angles. There was plenty of “this could work,” followed by “actually… maybe not,” before landing on the approach we felt had the best chance of driving clicks and conversions. Having multiple edits and drafts gave me a new appreciation for email marketing strategy.

And somehow, the scale only got bigger from there. I helped brainstorm RingCentral’s presence at Ai4, North America’s largest AI industry event, which brought together more than 12,000 attendees, 1,000 speakers, and 400 exhibitors, all from 90 countries!

It was also RingCentral’s first time ever attending, which meant there wasn’t a playbook from last year to fall back on. We were figuring out how the company should show up, stand out, and make an impression in real time. Being included in conversations at that scale taught me that you don’t need to walk into the room with the most polished idea to add value. A few months ago, I probably would have kept an idea to myself until I was 100% sure it was “perfect.” Now, I can comfortably raise my hand, throw an idea out there, and see where it goes.

Posting my way to a network

One of the most unexpected wins of my summer had nothing to do with a campaign or a deck, it happened on LinkedIn. In just two months, I grew my network from about 100 connections to more than 400. For something I initially dreaded doing, posting quickly became one of the most rewarding parts of my internship.

Although I felt awkward posting at first, the more I shared what I was learning, the easier it became. Then people started mentioning my posts in meetings and recognizing me from what I shared online, which was so surreal! Posting taught me not to wait until I had a bigger title or more experience. I stopped thinking of myself as “just” an intern, I had a perspective and that experience was worth sharing.

Takeaways and networking

A few key takeaways from this summer:

  • GTM is a team sport. Behind every campaign, event, launch, and “simple” idea is a lot of people working together to make it happen.
  • Showing up with ideas matters more than having all the answers. You don’t need to be the most experienced person in the room to contribute something valuable.
  • LinkedIn is a skill, not a talent. Sometimes finding your professional voice starts with being willing to use it before you feel completely ready.

But the biggest lesson I’m leaving with is this: nobody is going to advocate for your growth, your ideas, or your career quite like you can.

I started this internship wondering if I would know enough to keep up. I’m leaving knowing that you don’t have to know everything to be in the room, just be willing to learn, speak up, ask the question, share the idea, and take the opportunity when it’s handed to you. In just two months, I learned about GTM, campaigns, events, AI, sales, and LinkedIn. But more importantly, I learned a lot about myself.

This experience didn’t give me a perfectly mapped-out career plan, and I’m glad it didn’t! It gave me something better: confidence in my voice, curiosity about my future, and proof that I’m more capable than I gave myself credit for when I started. Now this is me at the end of this summer!

To everyone at RingCentral who gave me a seat at the table this summer: thank you for making me feel like I belonged there. Now that my first internship has officially come to a close, I’m excited to use my lessons both in and out of the workplace. On to the next!

Originally published Aug 21, 2026