Success Stories: Anna Ageenkova & Calori

Welcome to the highlights of our Growth Hacking Internship program! ✨

The second cohort of interns is about to finish their internships, leading to more success stories emerging.

We interviewed Anna Ageenkova, a student at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and a current Growth Hacking Intern at Herizon.

Anna collaborated with Calori, a meal prep delivery company, and here are Anna’s thoughts on her collaboration with her company and Herizon over the past two months.

Here’s a highlight that Anna shared with us:

This internship turned out to be different from my initial expectations, but it provided valuable insights into my strengths. I discovered that I thrive in fast-paced environments more than I had previously realized, have good skills in stakeholder communication, and confirmed that transitioning careers was the right decision for me.

How has the collaboration been with your case company? Share your growth hacking progress, examples, learnings and observations.

During this internship, I was immersed in the dynamic environment of Calori, a young and evolving meal prep delivery company. Given the company's rapid growth, I had to quickly adapt to changing circumstances week by week.

Over the course of my 10-week internship, I had the opportunity to engage in a variety of tasks, including reaching out to businesses on LinkedIn, crafting copy for B2B advertisements, planning and filming Instagram reels (one of which got 2,000 views), developing story content, writing advertisements aimed at seniors, collaborating with SEO experts, and contributing to product and service development.

Observing Daniil, one of Calori’s founders, exemplifying exceptional people skills along with his impressive sales drive and fearless approach to business development were particularly inspiring.

How has the collaboration been with Herizon? Share examples, learnings and observations.

I enjoyed the guest lectures, especially one about LinkedIn and personal branding on that platform. It came in handy when we were told to post more there to get better recommendations at the end of the internship. 

Have you had any success cases at work that you'd want to share?

I had one successful case that I consider the highlight of my internship and something I am very proud of. Over the span of three weeks, I engaged in Customer Development and product and service design. During this time, I crafted interview and questionnaire questions to gather insights from three distinct target groups. By listening to their needs and experiences, I collaborated with shareholders to update the company's vision and mission, and we initiated an experiment to gauge the potential of a new product.

Drawing from an idea I encountered in a Udemy course I took for personal development this summer, I created a "fake landing page" for a product that garnered interest in the questionnaires. I encouraged Calori's Instagram followers to visit the page, which instead of showcasing the product, invited them to subscribe to the newsletter for future updates. This approach generated interest, with one individual even providing their email address.

How could Herizon have made your experience as an intern even 1% better/easier/etc?

One key initiative would be having an agreement between Herizon and the companies, ensuring interns focus on the OKRs set during the first week throughout their internship. This approach would allow us to concentrate on developing hypotheses, conducting experiments, and consistently measuring the results over 10-12 weeks.

If you would join the program again, what would you do differently as an intern? All thoughts help us to give better support to other interns.

If I would join the program again I would treat the first meeting with the company as a sort of interview for both sides to see if we are the best possible match. Asking questions about the future role and expectations, as well as setting boundaries for the upcoming weeks.

Would you recommend other students to join this program as well? If yes, why?

I would recommend this internship to the people studying marketing and sales because they get to put the knowledge they got in the classroom to the test and get new valuable skills along the way. Back in 2017 when I was earning my first degree which was Sales and Marketing, this internship would have provided me with an excellent starting point and insight into my chosen career.

For Business IT students like I am now, the learning opportunities linked to my degree were limited in my specific company, however I have had the opportunity to engage in product development practices and learning metrics covered in the Herizon Growth Hacking course.

Anna, thank you for participating in our Growth Hacking Internship Program and we wish you progress and success in your current and upcoming projects! 💜