Chase Zreet
- Associate Creative Director
- The Martin Agency
School Information
School: University of Texas at Austin
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2011
Career Information
Working For: The Martin Agency
Title: Associate Creative Director
Industry: AdvertisingWhat Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?
Being able to say I ran my own business. Also hitting that 25+% profit margin wasn’t too bad either.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
College Works Painting allowed me to push myself to the limits, and come out the other side with resounding ambition and indomitable self-confidence.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
College Works Painting most definitely helped me get my internship. Without fail, in every round of the interview process, as the interviewer was working their way down my resume, College Works Painting was an immediate item of interest. I talked more about my experience with College Works Painting in my interviews than anything else in my occupational or academic history. They were very impressed with the knowledge and accomplishments I gained through my College Works Painting experience and I have no doubt that it played a significant role in swaying their preference in favor of me over the other potential candidates.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
I don’t recall the gentleman’s name at the moment, only that I called him The Colonel. I’d tell him that I have never wanted to impress someone more, and I have only a few times been so afraid for my life (joking…kind of). Working for him was a huge lesson in personal accountability.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
Self Accountability and the ability to think on my feet when there are real world consequences for failure, and real world rewards for success.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
The College Works Painting internship is not easy. Odds are, it will take more commitment and perseverance. If you’re deciding between this and a summer job at the coffee shop, you might want to reconsider applying. This is NOT a summer job. This is the opportunity to run your own business and experience all of the highs and lows that come with it. There will be many days where everything goes wrong. There will be days that will make you want to quit. There will be plenty of days where you’ll have no idea how to handle the situation you’re confronted with. However, if you persevere, keep your wits about you, and listen to the advice of your managers (they know more than you do, trust me), there will be a day at the end of the summer where you look back at what you’ve made, and you will realize that this internship is just as rewarding as it is difficult.
Many college students struggle to choose between an internship specific to their target industry or doing CW. What advice would you give them on this subject if they wanted to enter your career field?
Never lose sight of the fact that you are running a business, and there are consequences to every action, good and bad. This business is real, your responsibilities to your client, your managers, and yourself are real, as long as you keep that in mind, you’ll do fine. Also, realize that no matter how stressful it gets, plenty of people have been where you are and made it through. Finally, hang out with the other interns, get to know them, embrace them, have fun with them. They will be the only ones who understand your life this summer, and in my experience, they will become some of your best friends. Working hard and playing hard is the College Works Painting mantra, and the latter is much more enjoyable when you know how hard you’ve been working, and that the people around you have been working just as hard.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
See above. Which story would you rather tell in an interview?
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
What happens at the DMs’ houses stays at the DMs’ houses. You’ll find out soon enough.
Last words of wisdom?
You’ll be alright.