Inspired at Any Age! What Interning at AARP Oregon Did For Me.

Hi! I’m Tiara! For the last five months I’ve been a communications intern at AARP Oregon, working alongside Joyce Demonnin to bring engaging content to the AARP Oregon blog and social media pages. Today, June 30th, I turn back into a pumpkin; Yep, it’s my last day in the AARP Oregon office. Since I’ve been assisting with curating the office’s blog and creating new content for it, it seems only fitting that I wrap up my time here with a short reflection:

I graduated just a couple of weeks ago with my Master’s in Strategic Communication (I studied marketing, public relations, leadership and management, etc.) from the University of Oregon (Portland), and I’m on track to graduate with my second degree, an M.S. in Multimedia Journalism (written, visual, and audio storytelling). Money, finances, retirement, entrepreneurship, these are all topics that were brushed over in school and at home, but not so at AARP. Here, everything I’ve done in the last few months has been either directly or indirectly related to those important topics that drive AARP’s overall mission. I’ve been compelled to think about them and what they mean to me personally as well as to all of us here in Oregon.

The most exciting and impactful part of this internship was working with long-time AARP volunteer, Carlos Romo, and others to bring you the stories of amazing solopreneurs. These are the folks that have been featured in our ongoing Encore Entrepreneurs blog series which started earlier this month (and will run through September). Becoming “CEO of me,” as solopreneur, Sunit Rikhi put it, is a dream I only fleetingly thought about as a future option for myself. However, my mindset has changed over these last few months. I’ve been inspired by the stories of women like Janet Freeman of Betty Rides, and Chris Pero of perodesign. I've learned from them that it's natural to have doubts, and to face challenges that seem insurmountable in starting your own business. But they also have shown me what happens when you press on and persist. They remind me of one of my favorite sayings, "there's nothing, nothing, nothing, two women can't do before noon."

Because of folks like them, and the team at AARP Oregon I've been fortunate to know, I’m thinking more intensely about what my next steps after graduation will be, what it will take for me to achieve my goals, and what I can be doing now to put myself in a better position to start something of my own in the future. I was recently talking with a friend and person I admire about my degrees and branded content, which is the type of work I'd like to get into and he said to me: "A good story can only get bigger. Stories are one of the few things in this world that have infinite potential to grow." My goal in having these two degrees, and in being inspired by my time at AARP Oregon is to help local small-business--especially minority-owned ones--tell their stories. That’s important work, and it’s also purposeful work. I’m ready to get started!