Though she has not worked directly in marketing before, Neely said that the transition felt very natural. “Social media stuff was very helpful because I was already familiar with what they were asking me to do,” she said. Some of these tasks include editing television clips for YouTube, working with NBC’s other social channels, and conducting research for new shows.
“I’m technically on the marketing team, but we also have a digital team, and I sort of work for both of them,” Neely said. “Even though marketing is my main designation, it’s helpful that I can straddle the line.”
Zoe Neely ’25
Major: Literature & Creative Writing
Hometown: Shaker Heights, Ohio
High school: Hawken School
Neely’s internship is on a hybrid schedule, meaning she works at NBC’s buildings in Stamford, Conn., and New York City a few times per week. When working at home, she typically juggles several digital projects; when in person, different projects take priority, interspersed with meetings. Aside from this, the internship program entails a group project and a personal project, longer-term responsibilities that Neely takes up “slowly, on the side,” she said.
Recently, Neely helped out with a television pilot, an experience that she found thoroughly enjoyable. “It was three days of filming, and I got to be on set,” she said. “I was a PA [production assistant], and so I did whatever needed to be done — lots of Target runs, getting coffee.” Even though the shoot was only for a pilot, not a full show, Neely was struck by all the moving pieces. “A lot of people worked on it … it was a really fun experience,” she said.
Now a creative writing major at Hamilton, Neely previously studied animation at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. “The main reason I transferred was that I wanted a more general liberal arts education,” she explained. “I missed writing and the humanities.”
While she has not taken any business-related courses at Hamilton, Neely has nonetheless developed the necessary marketing skills to succeed in roles like her NBC internship. “There are a couple of other interns, and they’re all business or marketing majors,” she said. “I learned a lot of this stuff by doing it, picking up as I go.”
As a former art student, Neely spent a few years doing freelance illustration, experience that “helped me build a portfolio and learn how to work with clients,” she said. While her career aspirations have now shifted firmly toward marketing, Neely knows that this does not mean abandoning her creative side altogether. “I went to animation school thinking I wanted to make movies,” she said. “I discovered it wasn’t for me — but now that I’m doing marketing, I can still be around the industry, even if not on the production side.”
