Here's his blog in his own voice:
This summer I had the honor and privilege of interning for The Late Late Show with James Corden at CBS Television City in Los Angeles. I worked as an intern in the audience department of the show, working hard each day to coordinate members of our large studio live-audience, and working directly with our fans to create the most positive and stress-free comedy experience. This was not the first time I had worked at a television show as I had worked at the TBS late night show CONAN in spring 2016. However, my experience was still completely unique with all new challenges, responsibilities, and lessons learned along the way.
I’ve been very fortunate to have many internship experiences in sales, research, video editing, and communication, but if there is one word that could describe all of the lessons I’ve learned from these jobs, that word would be "Humility".
I felt especially humbled by my job this summer for many reasons. Helping hundreds of random strangers every day in the hot sun outside the studio was certainly not an easy job, when each audience member has 100 questions that you probably don’t have the answer to, and especially when we would have to unfortunately turn people away after filling every seat. This kind of crowd-controlling position was very new to me. My only other experience of working with so many customers was working retail at a local gift shop, and the rest of my experience was mostly at a desk in an office. The job was a challenge but nothing that anyone with a little willpower couldn’t figure out, but I often found myself comparing my experience to others.
Comparisons are one the of the largest aspects of our pride, along with thinking that we always deserve something better. The last time I worked at a show in LA, I had no idea and no care of what I was worth as an employee, what I deserved, or what I wanted. I slept on a small couch and rode my bike to work at a job that demanded long hours. But I didn’t care because it was my first experience in showbiz, and I was humble. Since then I’ve began a major in television and have worked hard to develop my industry skills and knowledge. But if you don’t keep your ego in constant check and remind yourself of how lucky you are, things will become miserable fast.
The beginning of my summer wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be. My job wasn’t as easy as last time. I was always thinking about what better jobs I could’ve gotten and there was little room for humility. It wasn’t until I began reminding myself of just how fortunate I was, that working became fun. I was reminded that no matter how difficult a day was, I was still getting to do something I loved.
Thankfulness is the difference maker for everything in our lives. If we choose to be needy, we will never be satisfied, but if we choose to be thankful we will always be satisfied. As an employee, especially in show business, no one wants to work with someone who always thinks they are deserving of more. Employers want to work with people who love what they’re doing and aren’t quick to complain about things or give up. Thankfulness leads to humility, humility leads to better attitudes, and a good attitude is the most sought after trait in any job.
Thank you to all of the staff at the Late Late Show, you were all incredibly kind, smart, and very funny people to work with!
Blessed,
Ryan Roe
P.S. From Mary Beth - Hope you enjoyed reading about Ryan's internship!
God Bless,
MB
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