Editor’s note: Patty Fernandez is part of the wowOwow Executive Intern Program, where experienced editors learn a new skill from our younger, Internet-savvy staff. The Intern program is our first initiative to wowOwow’s Think Up! program. Think Up! is our way to promote an idea that could inspire others willing to share a new career skill with some of the many who are seeking work amid the economic downturn. In her first blog post at wowOwow.com, Patty reflects on her experience thus far. Visit wowOwow.com again soon for her next blog post.  

I had been sitting on my couch for a few too many weeks when a friend mentioned that he’d heard through a friend about this new website that needed some help — unpaid. I was laid off last summer from my job copyediting for a major financial publication, but at the time, I actually hadn’t minded — I was even kind of excited. I got the summer off with severance pay! Plus, I had a good amount of freelance work coming in. But it didn’t last. Not long after the severance ran out, the freelance work seemed to dry up completely. I had nothing but time on my hands.

I had been told that this new website was still getting off the ground, so while I wouldn’t be paid, they did offer the experience of working on a website. All that sounded good enough to me. I was beginning to believe the general sentiment that print is dead and the future is digital. Hellooo, the present is digital. Anyway, at least it was a reason to get out of my apartment.

So I contacted this friend of a friend to volunteer. It was then that I first got the name of the website — wowOwow.com — and when I went online and saw what it was … well, my jaw dropped. My friend hadn’t mentioned that I’d be learning from SOME OF THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED AND RESPECTED WOMEN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD OF MEDIA.

So I was a little nervous. What could I possibly have to offer at such a place? But then, I figured, I’d be off in my own little corner copyediting, so I’d be fine. At the first meeting, I sat among others who had lost their publishing jobs with my blue editing pencil primed and ready — but it would be a while before I’d use it. As it turned out, Joni Evans, wowOwow.com’s energetic and visionary CEO, was taking a much more ecumenical — and inspired — approach. She wanted each of us to contribute in any way we could. She wanted our ideas and innovations, our stories and friends’ stories. She wanted us to imagine new ways to make things work and new ways to make connections.

My first thought — though fleeting — was, "Uh oh. I REALLY don’t belong here!" If I wasn’t going to be just copyediting, I didn’t see what I could contribute. But the more time I spent working with the staff, the more I began to see new possibilities. I said yes to everything I was asked to do, even if I had to figure it out as I went along. I allowed myself to believe not only that I belonged, but that all of my experience, professional or not, meant something.

Even aside the projects I’ve found to do, it has been incredibly valuable just to be off the couch and in on the conversation with creative, energetic people. That goes for everyone, top to bottom — from the women "of a certain age" to the twentysomethings just out of college, and everyone in between. It’s a new company and a new approach to business. But on a personal level, it has come down to a new way of thinking about my skills. The fact that it’s an internship gives us a lot of freedom, on both sides, to try new things. I’m looking beyond the pigeonhole of a job title. So the next time someone in the professional world asks me what I have to offer, I’ll have a lot more to say.

Want to learn a new skill, too?
Click here for more on wowOwow’s Virtual Executive Intern Program.
Click here for more on wowOwow Think Up! Program.