Two Southern University students land advertising internship with top company

Vannia Joseph
·3 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Two Southern University students have been handpicked for the opportunity of a lifetime, and now they’re hoping to shake things up in the world of advertising.

“Being born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, you don’t have a lot of opportunities out here,” said senior Southern University student Jodeci Ashford.

When an opportunity came knocking, she and Ashley Lovelace, another student, quickly opened the door.

“AdMagic is a cohort like no other,” said Lovelace. “Going into this when we were told that this was a first-time thing for Southern and Southern students it was like okay, we now have the weight of our school on our shoulders. Wieden and Kennedy is one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world, like globally.”

The ADMagic program, founded by Charity Pourhabib, is open to all current HBCU students and provides access, memorable experiences and impactful opportunities to prepare students for the advertising world. Ashford and Lovelace now have direct access to a creative agency that advertises and brands big-name companies like Nike.

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“It wasn’t your typical experience from, you know, an email. Like no, they come to you. They introduce themselves, and they make sure that we feel how it normally feels for a person that’s stepping into this creative agency,” said Ashford.

Supporting and mentoring HBCU students, this crash course in advertising explores areas such as brand management, strategy and design. It also comes with a change of scenery with travel opportunities to three of the program’s top offices with a first stop in Portland, Oregon.

“We went to lunch and they were like ‘It’s your first time in Portland?’ We’re like yeah, oh my goodness,” Lovelace said. “And the locals want to get to know you, and so when you walk into the office, the office in Portland is reflective of the culture in Portland. So now, I’m excited to go to Amsterdam, I’m excited to go to New York,” said Lovelace.

They’re hoping to diversify the playing field one city at a time.

“We’re Black women in these spaces, we’re creating something that you see on the regular whenever you turn on the TV or if you pick up your phone, you see that advertisement,” said Ashford.

For Lovelace, this opportunity has been a second chance at a dream delayed, not denied.

“This is my first time back in school in about 12 years. So, coming back and diving in headfirst, I had a plan, but I also remember what it was like for me at 18 and 19 and you’re in college and you’re like, ‘I’m here but like, I don’t know what to do, where to do it’,” said Lovelace.

Now for her and Ashford, the future looks bright and the options are endless.

“I didn’t know that there were so many journalism-adjacent careers in advertising, I had no idea, so it’s really just about diving deep into these areas to see what feels most like home,” said Lovelace.

“It’s a humbling experience to actually be in this space and say, ‘Wow, like, you can do it’. You can definitely do it and you can trust the process,” said Ashford.

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