UA Little Rock Student Gains Experience and Lifelong Memories During Dublin Internship
Olivia Osborn, a Donaghey Scholar and junior marketing major from Alexander, spent her summer abroad exploring Ireland and gaining hands-on experience in the field of social media marketing.
Osborn lived and interned in Dublin, Ireland, in May and June, where she worked at a small skincare company called Sea Moss Sublime, which makes beauty and healthcare products from Irish sea moss.
At Sea Moss Sublime, Osborn worked directly with the owners and took on responsibilities such as researching marketing trends, analyzing social media insights, and helping the company with their social media strategy. She also created content using photos and videos from work trips, including one memorable journey to a seaside village.
“We would travel two hours out of the city to a seaside city to watch the sea moss get pulled out and made into the gel and other products,” she said. “The highlight of the internship was getting the content.”
Osborn said the internship gave her a firsthand look at how a small business operates and adapts as it grows.
“They were a very small business, and they used to make products in their own houses,” she said. “They had to expand production to connect to a whole new supplier. They needed to get a marketer, accountant, and are in the process of rebranding. It was interesting to hear how they had to expand to all these avenues and the challenges a small business faces as they grow their business.”
Outside of work, Osborn shared a flat with her best friend, Allison Ross, a student at the University of Central Arkansas. The pair explored Ireland together on weekend day trips to destinations like the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, and historic castles.
“We wanted to travel together, so we got to live in the same place and share a flat,” Osborn said. “We went out to eat every night because we were a 20-minute walk from the city center. We would get ice cream and people watch, and it was so fun.”
She also enjoyed new cultural experiences, including attending a rugby match, cheering on her team with a flag and chant, and seeing one of her favorite bands, the Lumineers, perform live at St. Anne’s Park.
For two weeks of the trip, Osborn and Ross lived with a host family. “We stayed with a lovely woman named Patricia who would make us great food, and we celebrated her birthday with her family while we stayed there,” she said. “Then we stayed in a flat with other interns for four weeks.”
One of the biggest takeaways from the trip was how warm and helpful Irish people are, Osborn said.
“In Ireland, people are so friendly and want to know about you and your life,” she said. “On my first day, I had the wrong address for Sea Moss Sublime. I took three different buses, and when I got to the wrong place, the man there let me go into his office to make calls, gave me a coffee, and helped me figure out where I needed to go.”
Now back in Arkansas, Osborn is already thinking about the future. She plans to graduate in May 2027 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and hopes to pursue a career in social media marketing and graphic design. Osborn’s time in Ireland gave her both a professional foundation and unforgettable memories.
“The highlight of the trip was seeing a whole new country, being able to submerse myself in the culture, and doing that with my best friend,” she said.