Interns at Cherry Republic help shape the popular local businesses online identity through marketing and graphic design.
Grace Marshall, Julia Roberts, and Molli Roberts have been handling the internship tasks that will help them move along in their career.
“They have great attitudes and I look at the opportunity for us to help them,” Cherry Republic Owner Bob Sutherland said. “We try to look at ourselves as a springboard. it would be great if these guys stay forever, but we have this belief that wherever they go, they’re springboarding onto bigger and better things.”
Roberts is in her fifth summer working at Cherry Republic. She comes from a lineage of Cincinnati natives that come and visit Leelanau from their Big Glen Lake cabin.
“We were eating dinner right when the restaurant opened in 2018 and I had this amazing experience with the server … The next summer, I applied, and I came here,” Roberts said. “Working at the restaurant, I loved it. Then I wanted to get more of the business side of Cherry Republic. It’s definitely a family up here.”
Roberts along with her coworker Marshall specialize in marketing for Cherry Republic, as Molli is getting her experience in graphic design.
“Since the day we got here, Grace and I were giving a very holistic perspective on the history of Cherry Republic and sort of connecting the dots for us, where I think that was a pretty rare experience, just having that one-on-one and helping us understand,” Roberts said.
Roberts loves connecting with the company, every Tuesday they play pickleball with the executives that bridges that gap between multiple departments.
Marshall is a Hope College senior studying business as a major and communications as a minor. She has always visited northern Michigan with her parents in Acme. Throughout her adolescent years, sports and school would keep her away from staying all summer.
“It’s everything you think it would be about working here. It’s such a northern Michigan company,” she said. “They’ve trusted us with a lot of things and I think we’ve really helped them take a lot of things off their plates because everyone here is so busy ... it does feel like what we’re doing is very valued and it’s not like they’re just giving us busy work. It’s things they genuinely need help with.”
In the grand scheme of things for Marshall, she wanted to get experience doing anything possible, unlike being at a massive corporation and being pigeonholed to one sector.
“We do feel trusted and valued and what we’re doing matters,” Marshall said.
Molli Hands, a Ferris State University senior, is doing this internship before moving onto graduate school. Hands found the opportunity by navigating LinkedIn and using savvy online skills.
“I found it on LinkedIn and then had a few calls and interviews, and it went great ... Living here has been so fun, and I love it so much,” Hands said.
Hands is originally from Hudsonville and has been improving her graphic design skills. Hands has created two new labels for products coming out as well as crafting Cherry Republic Sunday promotional emails.
“They say their values a lot, which I think is really important. Everyone knows them and feels them at this point,” Hands said. “Another thing I wanted to get out of Cherry Republic is my personal design style is very different. Cherry Republic’s is geometric and bold, and I feel like Cherry’s is more traditional and a lot more detailed.”
Hands, Roberts, and Marshal are looking forward to the tasks ahead including images and illustrations, product descriptions and working on fall and holiday catalogs.
