Interim Internships

At the beginning of the School year, Dr. Jacobsen spoke to the Mount Vernon community at Convocation about bridges, specifically around how they are able to connect people and places. Through that, he encouraged us all to be connectors this year – to close gaps, to remove the space between one side and another, thus connecting people and ideas. 

During Interim Term, students are able to participate in weeklong internships. Upper School teacher and Interim Internship Coordinator Marie Graham connected two Mustangs with similar passions and ideas, Class of 2022 Livi Sweeterman and MV alum, Class of 2017 Wells Maley (UGA ‘21), which led to an amazing experience for them both.

After studying fashion merchandising at the University of Georgia, Wells went out on her own, starting her own business in the fashion industry. Livi, planning to attend Colorado University Boulder, hopes to also pursue fashion as a career in her future. We recently sat down with them to learn more about their week together. 

MV: Wells, tell us a little bit about your company and how you got started: 

WM: Swells of Splendor started while I was home from college during Covid during my junior year at University of Georgia. Originally I just did it for a fun passion project and carried it through senior year. Just before I graduated, I decided to go for it full time and pursue it as my career after UGA. 

In the summer of 2021, I was in an intensive business bootcamp and after that things kicked into full gear. The main bread and butter of Swells of Splendor is silk scarves. I design textiles that are then printed digitally onto silks or fabrics by the yard for upholstery, and the whole business revolves around that artwork.

MV: Livi, how were you and Wells first connected? How did this Internship come to be?

LS: I’ve always known that I want to do something regarding fashion that allows me to be creative in the future, but I’ve never seen what the business side of that might look like. While planning for my internship, Mrs. Graham told me about Wells and her company and she connected us. 

MV: Walk me through your week together. What did you do? What did you accomplish?

WM: It was an exciting week! We did a pop-up shop at a sorority at Georgia Tech. Livi assisted with research on resale shops and locations we could hold future pop-up events. Marketing is a big part of the work – Livi brought a lot of creativity, thinking through how we could use Spotify and Instagram reels. One of the days we spent creating content around the city. She really got to dabble in all of it. 

LS: We had so much fun!. We had a set schedule of what we wanted the week to look like and what we wanted to accomplish. One of my jobs was to find boutiques around the area that would be interested in selling Wells’ product, so I found a few unique shops and connected them to Wells for future business. 

We did a lot of Instagram promotions through reels. I learned a lot about advertising and the public relations team that she works with, too. The last day we were together we got all dressed up and went around Atlanta taking photos and videos to showcase the product. 

MV: Wells, what was this experience like for you? I’m sure it was a learning experience having an intern for the week. Livi, how do you feel MV prepared you for this experience?

WM: I said so many times throughout the week that I was so impressed with Livi. She brought such a standard of excellence to everything she did – it was wonderful! It was great to have her fresh perspectives, too. It helped re-spark my passion and motivation. 

WM: Mount Vernon fosters so much creativity. Through these internships but also through iProject. Livi shared her previous iProject with me and there are so many skills and talents she was able to grow during that experience.hose skills were there and helpful when she came to work with me. 

LV: Mount Vernon has been so helpful growing our skills on the business side of things, for sure! 

Students participated in a myriad of different internships during Interim Term, taking the opportunity to explore their unique passions. Check out a few other highlights below. 

Class of 2023 Lyndsey Franklin, The Boys and Girls Club of America

“I loved working with the Boys and Girl Club of America because I not only got to see what work is put in behind the scenes, but also how well it translates to the children they take care of! I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity to help and learn more about this community.” 

Class of 2025 Amelia Katz, Schauben & Co., Americasmart 

“My goal going in was to add value to the Schauben & Co. showroom at AmericasMart by being professional and to learn as much as possible from merchandising and sales to customer service and inventory.” 

Class of 2023 Maggie Sims, Mount Vernon Studios 

During Interim, Maggie worked with Vann Thornton at Mount Vernon to write and produce a new original song If You Had Known. 

“This song is one of my favorites of all the songs I have written. When I write lyrics, it is more so a story than a song. I construct songs based on my own experiences and how I am feeling, but also from stories I hear on the news, on social media, or tragedies or successes my friends and family have experienced.” 

Maggie’s first EP, Stay, can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, or anywhere you listen. 

In case you missed it, check out more on Interim Term in the Upper School, in the Middle School, or a sampling of both on this episode of the Made in MV podcast