The End of My Intern Era

Reflecting on my internship this summer at Starlight as the 2026 digital marketing intern.

To Starlight, 

Thank you for everything you have done for me this summer. I’ve had endless opportunities during my internship and have gained more hands-on experience than I could have anticipated. When people ask me about my internship here at Starlight, sometimes I find myself losing my words because I am overwhelmed with how amazing my experience truly has been. I have had the best summer and couldn’t be more grateful to Starlight and everyone who helps make this internship experience what it is. 

I started at Starlight one day after I graduated from college back in May. It feels like forever ago. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time and have gained valuable experience that I will continue to build on going forward in my career. I was fortunate enough to get a 4-week extension on my internship to stay on for Disney’s Newsies. And helping with Starlight’s production of Newsies has been an amazing experience. I have interviewed many of the cast members and even David Grindrod, the director of Newsies. What an experience and one I am just happy to be a part of! 

My Internship Experience 

It’s hard to sum up my experience in only a short blog, but I will try my best. 

I have had many opportunities at Starlight that have given me hands-on experience and helped me grow as a young professional. During my internship, my boss, Colin Bennett, was out for a week on two different occasions, and I was asked to fill in while he was gone. One of those times was my second week at Starlight, when I ran the social channels for Starlight. I also worked at my first concert that week and truly got to hit the ground running. I was once told the best way to learn is by doing, and getting thrown into things always helps me learn quickly.  

The second time was a week when we had a couple of scheduled interviews with CEOs around Kansas City. In that moment, I realized that while I am very young and felt underqualified, I was asked to conduct the interviews because someone believed in me: my boss, Colin. And everyone needs someone who believes in them early in their career.  

Through my internship, I got the chance to work with 13 other interns who worked in various departments at Starlight. Working with other early professionals around my age was a sigh of relief that we were all in this together. We even had an intern project throughout the summer where we planned an entire lunch celebration for all of Starlight’s staff.  

I shadowed the Fray concert with Casey Osburn, Director of Music and Comedy at Starlight. During my shadow experience, I made a couple professional connections and met many people involved in the concert world. It is one of my favorite things I had the opportunity to do at Starlight! Seeing the behind-the-scenes work of a concert, being a huge concertgoer myself, was so cool. I was a huge nerd the whole day, asking all the questions, and had no shame.  

During the run of the Broadway show A Beautiful Noise, I shadowed the operations interns and assisted their team throughout the night. Interacting with guests, assisting with show tasks, and using the radio to give my 20 (my location in walkie-talkie slang) was awesome. I felt so cool with the radio, and yes, it’s as cool as it looks. 

I’ve worked with actors, news outlets, local organizations, Starlight patrons, and more. The list goes on. I’ve gained experience in so many new areas of marketing that I will be building on as my career continues. 

Workplace Knowledge I’ve Gained 

Bookmarks. Monitors. Shortcuts. Those are three key things I am taking away from working with Colin. One thing to remember about the digital marketing world is how fast everything moves and changes. Efficiency is key, and creating a consistent workflow has helped me in many ways throughout the summer. 

Okay now for industry knowledge, I’ve learned so much about event marketing. The live music and Broadway worlds are crazy cool and have given me a good taste of what it’s like to work in event marketing. It’s not easy, I will tell you that. Selling tickets to a show before it happens is quite a challenge. A fun challenge that has taught me a lot about strategic marketing and messaging to various audiences. 

Social media takes a lot more time and tedious work than people realize, even myself before my role at Starlight. Running multiple social channels every single day on top of everything else the marketing team at Starlight does can be a challenge. But I have enjoyed learning how to balance all things marketing, like balancing spinning plates some say, and look forward to continuing to grow as a marketer.  

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by things in marketing because social media never sleeps. Knowing when to take a step back and say, “good enough,” is something I hope to learn with time. I just graduated college and need to give myself a little more grace because man, I really don’t know much, and that’s okay. 

Also, working with a marketing team has been a great experience and makes coming to work the best. I am sad to leave, but my time at Starlight has served me well. 

Oh, and the ‘other duties as assigned’ final line on your job description is there for a reason. I enjoyed my other duties at Starlight and honestly, it made the job more fun.

Advice for Recent College Graduates 

I graduated from college and then started at Starlight one day later. And now, I have entered post-grad life and look forward to wherever this next chapter of life takes me. This is a reminder to make the most of your time and take opportunities as they are presented to you.  

For anyone still out there reading this, I applied for this specific internship at Starlight twice because it was my dream internship. I was bummed out I didn’t get the internship last summer, but I didn’t let that stop me from reapplying for this summer. Sometimes, being persistent about things you truly want works out and not being afraid to try again. I have learned the worst thing that can happen is you’re told no, and you simply move on. 

If you only take one thing away from my sappy goodbye letter to Starlight as an intern, it should be my advice to apply if you’re looking for an internship! I cannot recommend this program enough. Make sure to check when Internship Applications open and lookout on Starlight’s socials @kcstarlight for updates.  

And always shoot your shot at opportunities; you never know where it’ll lead you. 

Final Notes 

I am incredibly grateful for my time at Starlight and will always cherish how special this summer was in my life. I grew both professionally and personally and have this place to thank for that.  

I will miss all the people I have had the honor of working with at Starlight, but one thing I love about Kansas City is how small this place can be. I look forward to fostering the new relationships I created while at Starlight and running into my old coworkers at a local coffee shop because that’s Kansas City for you. Haha. 

Here’s to the next chapter and maybe one day I will return to Starlight, just as many past interns have. This place is special and I will always remember my time as a Starlight intern. It’s been #real. 

Cheers, 

Taylor Mayne 

(I stole ‘Cheers’ from Colin who stole that from Danny (our department’s fearless leader). Shoutout to an awesome email signature and Danny). 

Cheers to Starlight and everyone who makes it special!

Taylor Mayne was the Digital Marketing Intern for 2026. As a recent graduate from the University of Kansas, she earned a degree in digital marketing communications, advertising, and public relations, along with a minor in business and visual art. Taylor enjoys listening to music, making jewelry and grabbing a coffee anytime of the day. She is grateful for the hands-on experience she gained at Starlight and looks forward to continuing to grow as she starts her career.

Peace out #ByeBye 🙁