Meet Morgan von Gunten. She’s a Praxis grad. From taking a creative approach to her deliverables to working on her own novel, Morgan’s Praxis experience has been one-of-a-kind. She currently works remotely for Crash, the career launch platform. We recently interviewed Morgan about her Praxis experience. Here’s her story:
What was the most valuable part of Praxis to you?
The community was huge–because I like a good bit of competition (it helps me grow). I suddenly had a network of professionals who knew so much more than me–or were learning new things right alongside me. They’d challenge me on a weekly basis, help me sort through ideas when I felt stuck, and push me to go further than I thought possible. That, combined with curriculum and deliverables, made Praxis one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
What company did you work for? What did you do there and what did you learn?
I got to do my apprenticeship at Crash, the career launch platform. I’m their content creator and community manager (I usually tell people I write tweets and make videos). I love it. I’ve learned about SEO, SQL, how to build a brand, how to grow social media accounts, how Facebook ads work, and how to pitch startups to investors. I’ve been able to write stories and blog posts, interview job-seekers and turn those interviews into content, launch a product on Product Hunt and do outreach to bring in more users. I’ve made videos that have brought in over a thousand views, and I’m learning how to build a community people come back to. Most of all, I’ve been able to learn marketing by doing–by jumping in and giving 100%. I’ve been able to get so much more out of Praxis than I could’ve expected.
What were you doing before Praxis? What are you doing now?
Before Praxis, I was writing a lot. I took an internship and worked summer jobs. I was also trying to figure out if I really needed college to learn how marketing and startups and business works. It was confusing and a little scary sometimes.
Now, I’ve dived deep into startups and business and I’m doing it to figure out how it all works. I’m also writing with a bigger goal in mind and learning constantly.
What was most surprising about your program experience?
I don’t think I could’ve fully known how much I’d grow. I didn’t know that now, a year later, I’d be doing things that used to paralyze me–posting daily on social media, writing publicly, creating content and getting feedback on it, putting a brand out into the world and trying to get it seen by as many people as possible. What’s logical and normal now definitely wasn’t something I was able to do a year ago.
What advice would you give to someone starting the program?
Praxis is hard. You have weekly deliverables. You have to continually push yourself to not be a perfectionist and instead create the best work you can under a deadline.
But Praxis is good. It really is an accelerator program. Your professional development, your writing skills, your content-creation skills, your knowledge of the ins-and-outs of startups, so much more–that’s all going to speed up exponentially during the year you’re in Praxis.
You’ve got to give Praxis 100%, to go all in. Because you’ll get out of it what you put into it. And you can get so, so much out of it if you give it 100%.
What are the top 3 skills you gained from your apprenticeship?
I learned how to work collaboratively, on a team, while taking full ownership of my own projects. I got a lot of practical, hands-on skills in marketing and social media management and figuring out how to test things to gain traction. I also learned how important it is to just do things. To try them, see if they work, and learn from whatever the result was in order to grow.
What are your career goals moving forward?
Work with Crash for as long as possible (because it’s awesome here). When I got hired on full-time, my supervisor (also a Praxis graduate) told me to do work I enjoy. To spend time working on my own projects and not just do work for Crash. To use the time spent working for Crash as a way to grow the skills I want to grow, to pick up new skills I don’t have yet.
So I’m working on learning as much as I can so I can move toward starting an alternative publishing house. Eventually, my goal is to write stories and travel the world. (And tell more stories while I’m doing that.) So right now, I’m trying to work on stories in the evenings. I’m also writing down ideas for the publishing house whenever I can. It’s a daily thing, to grow a new skill and work toward a goal. And I have to stick with it and do it and not give up to make it happen. But I can’t wait to see what happens.
What was the biggest thing you accomplished because of Praxis?
I got a job in marketing with no resume and no experience and no idea what I was getting into, and I’ve absolutely loved it.
