Mindful Solutions St. Augustine launches internship with Flagler College marketing students

Mindful Solutions St. Augustine has built a hands-on internship path with Flagler College that gives marketing students real client work in social media, digital ads and brand development. The program reflects a broader push to turn classroom learning into job-ready experience as internship-to-hire conversion rates rise nationally.

Why it matters: - The internship gives Flagler College marketing students direct experience in a local agency setting before they enter the job market. - Students work on real campaigns and build skills employers often expect on day one, including digital advertising, content creation and client management. - The program also strengthens ties between a St. Augustine business and the college's School of Business.

What happened: - Mindful Solutions St. Augustine, a full-service marketing agency in downtown St. Augustine, created an internship program with Flagler College's marketing program. - The internship offers hands-on experience in social media strategy, digital advertising and brand development. - Flagler marketing majors can earn internship credit through a semester-long, 3-credit course that counts as an elective toward major requirements. - Students must complete 120 total hours, based on 40 hours per academic credit. - Some students find internships through Handshake, LinkedIn, professors or direct outreach to local companies. - Flagler intern Mallory Robinson said she contacted St. Augustine agencies directly and Mindful Solutions responded by creating an internship program for her educational and professional development.

The details: - The Mindful Solutions internship exposes students to campaign development, target audience strategy, Meta advertising, social media content creation, email marketing, client relationship management, graphic design and public relations. - Interns are assigned real responsibilities and learn by doing actual agency work. - The structure is designed to complement classroom learning with experience tied to real clients, campaigns and business goals. - Internship coordinator Danielle Stanley said internships help students "test drive" a career and build transferable and professional skills. - Stanley said internships can lead to stronger résumés, broader professional networks, mentors and, in many cases, full-time job offers. - Sherri Cunningham, president and CEO of Mindful Solutions, said students do not fully learn marketing from textbooks and gain the most experience by managing real clients and real deadlines in an agency environment. - Mindful Solutions describes itself as a veteran women-owned agency that supports brand strategy, content development and internal marketing teams. - The agency's services include strategic and tactical planning, PR and media relations, offline and digital media, graphic design, website design and development, videography, social media and market research. - The company says it takes a holistic, vision-based approach aligned to client goals. - The company provides more information at its website. - The company also shares updates on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Between the lines: - The internship appears to have started from a single student outreach effort and expanded into a formal opportunity. - That suggests small agencies can quickly create practical training pipelines when talent access and local relationships align. - The National Association of Colleges and Employers' most recent Internship & Co-op Report says the average intern-to-full-time conversion rate reached 63.1% for 2024-25 interns, the highest level in five years. - That trend makes structured internships more valuable for students seeking a path to employment.

What's next: - Flagler marketing students will continue using internships as part of their degree path and career preparation. - Mindful Solutions' program could serve as a model for other local employers looking to develop early talent. - The agency and the college may deepen the pipeline between classroom learning and full-time work as more students seek hands-on experience.

The bottom line: - Mindful Solutions is turning a student internship into a workforce pipeline, giving Flagler College marketing majors practical training that could translate into jobs.