Thank You Letters to my Supervisors at BrandSpeakAsia
Judging by some of the stories I’ve heard over the years from Enderun alumni, older students, and fellow classmates, I was very lucky to intern under a company with such a helpful staff. Presented below are the thank you letters I sent to each of my immediate supervisors.
First up is Miss (soon to be Mrs.) Deniece Pineda- addressed by everyone as “Ms. D”.
Dear Ms. D,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the time I spent with BrandSpeakAsia. I know that those grammar and copy writing workshops will be a real help in the future, especially where business writing is concerned. I’m very grateful for the part you played in making my internship an educational one.
Sincerely,
Kyra Caral
P.S. I’d also like to follow up on my internship evaluation. Could you please update me on the status of that particular document, and possible send it to me by tomorrow if possible? Thanks again.
Admittedly, she wasn’t quite as hands-on with the daily guidance as some of my other supervisors. However, (as noted in the letter) she took the time to host two business writing workshops for the office during my time there. She had a nice sense of humor, and also had the patience to clear up some of my own hangups with the English language (namely, when to use British or American grammar. I was taught and am familiar with both, so the minute rules have jumbled up a little in my head). Ms. D also let me rewrite the poem she wanted me to edit- the one she planned to send out to the people on her wedding guest list concerning gifts- so that the rhythm flowed better, which was really cool of her.
Now I’m just waiting for the internship evaluation I asked her to fill out during my last week. Hopefully, it’ll come sooner or later, as far past the deadline as I currently am. (Ha ha ha. Ha).
Next up is Ella Jaruda, my immediate and direct supervisor during my time with the Accounts team.
Dear Ella,
Thank you so much for your guidance during my time with BrandSpeakAsia. I apologise if I annoyed you one too many times with all the questions I had and re-affirmations I needed. Your patience in the face of those questions was very much appreciated.
The persistence with which you tackled your work was a real eye-opener. If I’m one day able to regularly muster up half the tenacity you use to get through your daily workload (and thus overcome some of the hurdles put up by my ADHD), I’d call it a miracle. Thanks again.
Yours truly,
Kyra Caral
Now that I’m looking at it, my thank you note to her really should’ve been longer. She was a fantastic mentor; the help she provided can’t be overstated. If you (whomever the reader may be) haven’t read through my weekly entries yet, I have ADHD (which I take medication for- as of this month, a daily dose of 36 mg of Concerta). I’ve also got Asperger’s, but I try not to mention that since people tend to look at me bit differently for a while after I say that I have it. Neither makes work a cakewalk. Both play their part in making my first step past the starting line the equivalent of a jaunt up and down Mount Kilimanjaro.
Whenever my brain took a siesta and my unproductive periods stretched on for way too long, all it would usually take was a gentle reminder, or more often, a few too many looks at Ella working round the clock while I was wasting time, for me to get back on track. She played a big part in helping me acclimate to the 8 to 5 schedule.
Maybe after I’m done with all these requirements and I come up with the proper words to encapsulate my gratitude, I’ll send her a longer thank you note.
My next letter went to Stephanie Tan, my immediate supervisor under the Business Development department.
Dear Steph,
Thank you for your guidance and direction during my time with BrandSpeakAsia. I’d also like to apologise for all the times I fell short of the goals you set, or settled with the bare minimum; ADHD issues aside, I have to admit that the thought of disappointing you was a great motivator. That said, I’m very grateful that you eventually let me broaden my contact pool beyond already-existing events, conferences, conventions, and the like. It made making those calls a lot easier.
In particular, I’d especially like to thank you for pushing me to set meetings during my calls. Though I didn’t contribute much to the meeting with CCI France myself, I’d originally thought that setting a meeting over an initial cold call to a stranger was an impossible task. I’m very glad you helped me break past that perception of what I could expect of myself, and from other people.
Sorry I wasn’t able to meet your set quota of one meeting set over the phone per week. I hope you’ll be able to make use of the contacts I made who seem interested in what BrandSpeakAsia has to offer. (Strangely enough, judging by the replies I’ve gotten and the ones I’m still CC’ed in, most of those interested companies seem to have come from my last three days. Beyond my figurative grave, I might just muster up the number of meetings you set after all- albeit well past my given deadline, and only in spirit).
Sincerely,
Kyra Caral
I’ve got a lot to thank Steph for. She was often busy, and out of the office a day or two a week on average, but she took the time to enforce a daily quota of calls to make per day. Initially, I was satisfied with just meeting that quota (especially since identifying existing events online to call that weren’t already engaging in a long term partnership with another marketing/events company was so difficult). Very quickly, I began to feel frustrated about my inability to do better. After she made things easier by letting me contact companies instead, I began calling past the minimum she set.
Finally, my last letter was for Renzo Jiminea- an Enderun alum, and the head of the Digital Marketing department.
Dear Renzo,
You probably weren’t expecting this letter from me. However, one of Enderun’s (many) new internship requirements that have come around since your graduation includes thank you letters to each immediate supervisor. (I’d really prefer that you didn’t tell the others that if they don’t know, but it’s your call). For starters, I’d like to thank you for the guidance you provided during my internship. We didn’t exactly talk much, but you were always nice about giving me help when I needed it. Having an Enderun alumni present in the office for internship really eased my mind during the whole thing.
Secondly, I’d like to apologise for not quite fulfilling the pre-ordained fifty hours with Digital Marketing. I ended up splitting the majority of my internship time between Accounts and Business Development, which had the unfortunate side effect of edging out a chunk of my time with your department. Admittedly, Digital Marketing and social media aren’t exactly in my wheelhouse, but I had hoped to gain more hands-on experience with the topic- something that might’ve been solved with better time management on my part.
Lastly, thank you for making my experience with Digital Marketing an educational one. Hopefully, I absorbed something from those boot camp sessions. I’d also like to thank you for the tasks you gave me (generating traffic on Instagram, sorting through and categorizing BSA’s social media output in the database, etc.) during the hours I spent with your department. They and the sessions you gave provided some of the exposure I’d wanted into the field in the first place. It helped me gain some much needed insight into what goes on behind marketing campaigns on social media, which I really appreciate.
Best wishes,
Kyra Caral
