What a Summer Interning at MIJO Taught Me About Content, Culture, and Getting Comfortable On Camera

I was an intern this past summer for MIJO, a creative agency in New York City.

Before MIJO, I was already deep into content. I run a network of faceless Instagram accounts, so hooks, formats, what makes someone stop scrolling, that’s basically my day to day. I came in wanting to bring that to the table. What I didn’t expect was how much I’d end up learning just from watching how a real team does this stuff.

What I actually did

Street interviews, research, editing, uploading, a bit of everything. Honestly though, the thing that stuck with me most was how organized MIJO is about content. Every social page had its own detailed deck behind it, strategy, content pillars, all of it planned out ahead of time. I’m used to running my own accounts by moving fast and figuring it out as I go. Watching a team build that much structure around every single page made me rethink the difference between just posting content and actually running an operation around it.

The street interviews

A lot of my time was spent out on the street asking strangers about New York culture, for a project called Pizza, Bagel, Chopped Cheese where we ask New Yorkers to choose between iconic NYC food staples. That’s a different kind of pressure than posting from an account nobody can trace back to you. I’ve got a list of questions I’m trying to hold in my head, someone else running the camera, and a real account with real people watching, all depending on the footage actually being good.

One interview I won’t forget: right after we wrapped up talking to this guy on the street, he just started breakdancing. No lead up, no warning, we finish the conversation and he’s suddenly spinning on the sidewalk. You can’t script that. It’s stuff like that, the moments you didn’t plan for, that end up being the best part of the job.