Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about Bellisario College students completing summer internships.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — He’s a creator and a connector, consistently striving to make a positive impact, and as he prepares for his career, Joe Yonke keeps making the most of every opportunity.
This summer that includes an internship with Giant Spoon — an agency with offices in Los Angeles and New York that strives to push creativity to its limits and make an impact for ambitious brands and partners.
It’s a perfect pairing: an aspiring creative professional from Penn State and a full-service agency that has a decade-plus of achievements and success to its credit while working with some of the world’s most familiar and successful corporate partners.
It’s gone well.
“I really like Giant Spoon,” says Yonke, a rising senior majoring in advertising/public relations. “There’s a great dynamic — everyone is welcoming, and they work hard.”
Yonke, an artist whose creativity and hard work shine through with his high-quality paintings, earned the internship placement as part of the prestigious Vance and Betty Lee Stickell Internship Program coordinated by the American Advertising Federation.
A media buying intern, has been working with one of Giant Spoon’s longer-term clients, MassMutual, as the agency plans for the third quarter of this year.
The practical aspects of the internship provide an important complement to Yonke’s minor in digital media trends and analytics. That combination, along Yonke’s drive and skillset, makes him additionally appealing to potential employers.
“Entering my senior year, and with this internship, it’s a chance to work on the hard skills and soft skills that are so important,” Yonke says. “Knowing how to work with data and technology is important and interacting with people is vital as well.”
Although he still has a year of college remaining, Yonke has had lifelong influences — especially his grandfather — who have led him toward a career in advertising. At Penn State, he has complemented course work with experiences gained through time with the Ad/PR Club, the American Advertising Federation, Happy Valley Communications, and more.
Last year he served as the research and strategy chair for Penn State’s AAF team that competed for in the National Student Advertising Competition. After nearly a year’s worth of preparation, the team presented its work on stage in New York City. This year, he’ll be involved with the effort again, probably in a leadership role but probably not as a presenter.
“What has impressed me most about Joe is that he’s a dedicated student who is very passionate about advertising. He’s purposeful in his work and he understands that advertising first needs to be grounded in strategy before working toward execution,” said Dave Wozniak, the Donald P. Bellisario Career Advancement Professor of advertising/public relations who served as adviser for the AAF competition team. “That’s something I encourage all my students to appreciate and understand as that is something that will serve them well in their careers after graduation.”
With all he does in class and out — and his artwork alone requires six or eight hours of administrative and planning work during the week, before he paints for at least that long each weekend — Yonke thinks time management might be his most important skill.
“It’s just really all about having the discipline and making the right sacrifices,” Yonke said. “It’s been beneficial in every aspect of my life to manage my time well.
“Painting has been very beneficial. Obviously, I’ve learned a lot about marketing, building a personal brand, developing a website to optimize searches and web links as well as social media or even just basic media tricking,” Yonke says. “It sounds like a lot, but when you see how it works it’s a lot less daunting.”
Likewise, he has distilled his career path into something comparatively simple. He does his best and works hard, every day. So, when the internship winds down on Aug. 10, he’ll be ready to take the next step toward his career.