With a background in photography and content creation, senior Riley Carbone knew she was qualified to help Chick-fil-A with social media. He “has knowledge of photography and content generation, so I thought he would be a good fit for the internship,” Carbone said.
Behind the scenes of the impossibly long drive-thru lines and lunch rush at Mount Pleasant Chick-fil-A North, senior Riley Carbone is hard at work as social media manager. Carbone is constantly brainstorming ideas on how to successfully market Chick-fil-A in her area, posting Reels on Instagram, and spending her time finding ways to involve the community.
“The marketing side of it caught my eye…I saw the job and thought it looked like a lot of fun…I mean, I’ve been on social media basically my whole life, and pretty much every platform. We've been using it, and it's no surprise,” Carbone said.
Carbone's job requires a lot of creativity and brainstorming to get the most out of his restaurant.
“This is a big part of ideation and reeling,” Carbone said. “What are other companies doing?'', “What are we doing that other companies aren't doing?'', “What are the things that resonate with my colleagues?'', “What are the things that I'm focused on?'' There’s a lot to think about, like, ‘What are the trends?’ It’s really interesting, and it’s also an idea that I can take and reinvent and connect it to my work.”
Carbon faces challenges in taking ideas and turning them into actual content.
“Trying to implement an idea is [of the biggest challenges]. “I think time management is a really big issue because you have so many ideas and trying to implement them takes too much time,” Carbone said.
Carbon obtained this internship through the East Cooper Center for Advanced Study's Lighthouse Keepers program. It gave him the opportunity to try new experiences and leverage his current knowledge of the marketing business while learning more along the way.
“They contacted Mr. [Kevin] necessity [a teacher at the CAS] “There was an opening for a social media manager position, and Mr. Sneed told me about it, so we all applied, we narrowed it down, and I got the job,” Carbone said.
Kevin Sneed is an ECCAS teacher as well as a leader among the lighthouse keepers. He organizes various opportunities to select students to teach leadership skills.
“I think it’s like AP Academy meets Warrior Ambassador… [for the internships] We wanted to reward the kids for going above and beyond. So I said to my instructor here at CAS, “I'd be happy if we could incorporate this into our credits.'' That way, it becomes an internship worth half a credit,” Sneed said.
Lighthouse Keepers has been working with Chick-fil-A throughout the year.
“One day, Chick-fil-A came to talk to us about opening a leadership academy here. [which] This is essentially a leadership program where you learn the qualities and principles of a good leader,” Sneed said.
Sneed expressed his feelings for the lighthouse keeper and wants other students to join the program.
“Students who want to get out and get back into the community, not just the typical classroom environment, should consider the Lighthouse Keeper program,” Sneed said. “It's also dedicated to the kids who are completing their programs here at CAS. So each program represents everything from cosmetics to automotive to bionics, and in fact just about every program. can be grouped.”
During his time at Chick-fil-A, Carbon experienced new and unique opportunities and appreciated his involvement in the marketing process.
“It's really fun to be able to connect with co-workers in a different way. When I go back there and I pull out my phone and I see everyone rolling their eyes, that person… You can connect with them,” Carbone said.
