Internship Experience at Adhlal

Here begins my article about my internship experience at Adhlal,

To start, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Raghad Saad Al-Shehri, a Marketing student majoring specifically in Digital Marketing and Analytics at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. I learned about the fundamentals of business in general, and in my third year, I chose to specialize in marketing. By my fourth year, I became more focused on digital marketing and analytics.

I chose to apply for my internship at Adhlal over other opportunities because of its creative field and its contribution to its growth. I still remember my first search about Adhlal, I found that it contributes to the creative industry and has projects related to Saudi heritage and culture, in addition to collaborations with the fashion field. I felt that Adhlal combines everything that fascinates me in one place, so I decided it should be my first choice. I was fully convinced that this experience would immerse me in valuable creative opportunities and help me start building wide professional connections.

On my first day at Adhlal as a Marketing and Communication intern, I arrived at the office and was amazed by the trees and the garden overlooking the workspace. I sat and observed everything around me freely since no one had arrived yet; I might have been a bit too excited to come early. I saw a cat in the garden devouring a pigeon, and perhaps it was reminding me that I too should seize every opportunity around me. The place truly reflected creativity, craft, and design, whether from the bookshelves or the art on the walls. It took me days, even weeks, to fully absorb everything around me: gemstones, countless coloring pens, and research papers pinned on the wall. Later, the team members were present and I started the first meeting with them. Everyone welcomed me warmly to the point that I felt shy; I didn’t want to talk much but preferred to listen and get to know everyone and the work atmosphere. After the meeting, Lama, my mentor, gave me a quick tour of the place, and I quickly memorized it since every corner was distinct. The ground floor, especially designer Nazek’s studio, was truly impressive.

Lama and I sat down as she began explaining to me about Adhlal and its projects. She handed me a notebook and suggested that I write down my tasks and her notes. At that time, I disliked writing things down since I preferred memorizing after performing tasks rather than before. That turned out to be one of the key mistakes I learned from during my internship: the importance of organizing and noting tasks beforehand to deliver work professionally and on time.

As for my mentor, Lama, she manages the Marketing and Communication department and is actually the only one working in it. I was impressed by that fact, and still am! How can she handle such a huge workload? I felt like I helped lighten it during my time with her. I’ve always loved receiving words of appreciation from people throughout my life, and Lama’s constant encouragement was one of the pillars of support I had during my internship at Adhlal. I think I got attached to Adhlal in a way, it’s hard for me to imagine leaving it. Having such a supportive work environment is rare, especially in the capital, and I consider myself lucky to have found it. Mistakes are inevitable for interns, but what makes the difference is how mentors handle them. I can’t count all my mistakes, but I learned that adapting and getting used to the environment reduces them greatly and increases efficiency.

When I started working with Lama, I discovered that Adhlal has many projects related to fashion, which was a dream come true for me. I had never seen this field up close before, except in movies like “The Devil Wears Prada,” which has always been my favorite. I was also impressed by how collaborative and communicative the team was, it played a big role in the success of many projects and created an atmosphere full of warmth and teamwork. I even like to think that the gemstones around the Adhlal office helped enhance that positive energy! I’m deeply grateful to Lama and all the team members for always including me in meetings. That really improved my understanding, communication, and adaptation to Adhlal’s values and work culture.\

My first task was to translate the ready-made English content of Bara’a social media posts into Arabic. It sounded simple at first, but it was actually challenging, I almost spent my entire second day on it until Lama helped me finish. Like with most first-time tasks, I felt pressured by time and my slow performance. I used to take extra time to make sure everything was perfect. I thought it was just a personal issue until two months later when Jeroen told me that working slowly is a common challenge for everyone at the beginning, especially since it was my first real experience in my career path.

I frequently worked on content creation, which strengthened my skills. I started to develop an intuitive sense of how to connect with audiences on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, particularly Bara’a followers. Lama once told me, “Always assume that the viewer isn’t fully familiar with what we’re presenting,” and I now believe in that 100%. And of course, experience and consistent practice are the main foundation for growth and reaching a good stage. Attending the Bara’a workshops at the National Museum helped me greatly understand the target audience and the essence of the program. I used to film and observe participants both experts and children and engage with them casually or for short interview clips published on Bara’a accounts. Honestly, I was always most anxious about creating interviews, how to make the sound, visuals, and flow look good. Sometimes I was more nervous than the people I was interviewing. But this experience was truly a turning point in my personality. I never imagined in my life that I would one day interview a child and communicate with them so naturally and with full understanding. Of course, aside from the filming tasks that worried me at first, my ability to adapt and understand things quickly saved me every single time.

Some of the most important content tasks I worked on include: writing stories and post captions for Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter especially for Bara’a workshop at the National Museum, filming the workshops, editing videos on CapCut, creating and publishing Reels and TikToks, conducting interviews with participants and experts, transcribing audio recordings, and creating a content idea file for the “Adhlal Is Moving” campaign.

If I were to ask myself what the most memorable event during my internship was, I honestly wouldn’t know how to choose. I started every event feeling nervous and ended each one feeling improved and proud. Having Lama around always helped ease my anxiety and improve my performance. The only event I attended without her was the DRF25 collaboration between Adhlal and my university, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. The location felt so familiar, and seeing Princess Nourah Al-Faisal, Wijdan, and Jeroen there made me feel comforted. I was filming while seeing them around me, encouraging and supporting me; Wijdan suggested interviews with some students, Jeroen saved me with his power bank for the mics, and Her Highness Princess Nourah complimented me. Even though I was a bit scattered, I managed to complete everything on time. It was my first time directly communicating with media outlets like Al-Ekhbariya TV, Riyadh Radio, Al-Yaum Newspaper, and Arab News. I never imagined I would do that, but I felt proud and confident that day, it was a huge step up from my earlier events.

Of course, I faced many awkward situations, especially when communicating with people outside Adhlal. Like when an expert at a workshop said she didn’t want to be interviewed but somehow still wanted to, or when an influencer at the Adhlal Dialogues event made me redo her interview multiple times to make it perfect, or when some attendees asked me the next day, “Why didn’t you post my interview?” , and sometimes I’d respond with “Yes, sure!” to something I didn’t fully understand just to get things done. Honestly, as someone who’s spent much of her life independent and not very socially active, this experience was heavy at first, I thought it was too much for me. But in the end, I realized it grounded me and reconnected me with the real world. Mistakes in communication are inevitable, and learning to accept them is essential. Seeing Lama’s example and experiencing it firsthand taught me that. That’s why at later events, like the First Design Research Forum, I was much more confident and comfortable interacting with people.

In conclusion, my internship at Adhlal developed me academically and professionally. I’m completely certain that my experience under Lama’s mentorship will have a huge impact on my future career path. It wasn’t just about tasks and formal work, it was a journey full of moments that strengthened my confidence, clarified my priorities, and deepened my understanding of the creative industry. Lama treated me not as a subordinate but as a colleague, always explaining and guiding me on how to do things in the best way. Every week, I would review my work with her, discuss challenges, and share what I wanted to learn next. This internship truly opened many horizons for me, and I end this chapter with complete gratitude and satisfaction toward the Adhlal team for their support, inclusion, and continuous encouragement that helped me grow and be part of their success.