The REFUGE Group is proud to introduce our fantastic Digital Marketing Interns: Molly Redus, Mirsa Sanxkaku, and Katelyn Whittaker! The summer internship team, affectionately known as the Terrific Trio, or the Three Stooges, or even the Terrible Trio, has focused on various marketing specialties including social media, advertising, analytics/SEO, blogs, and other aspects of digital/online marketing. To mix in some fun, the group has also participated in training sessions/webinars on hot-topics issues in marketing, luncheons, client visits/meetings, and AMA luncheons/networking events. REFUGE’s Social Media Manager, Vlad Vidaeff, stated: “interacting and working closely with our summer internship team has been such a rewarding experience for me. I’ve had so much fun getting to know each of the interns and their overall performance has vastly exceeded the expectations I had coming in.”
Molly Redus:
The Refuge Group would like to welcome Molly Redus to the family! Molly was born and raised in Houston. In kindergarten, her teacher awarded her “most likely to become a CEO of a large corporation” because of her passion for leadership and people. While Molly does not intend to become a CEO of a large corporation, she still values leadership in whatever she is doing.
Sports became a huge part of Molly’s life from a young age- her father brainwashed her, making ESPN her favorite channel to watch. The suspense, thrill and unity seen in sports is what caught her attention. Molly’s favorite to support are all from Houston: Houston Texans, Houston Rockets and Houston Astros, but she does have a huge love for the Oklahoma Sooners as well. Molly was a competitive cheerleader for ten years winning various national titles. She also cheered for her high school, Klein High School, where she was named a four-time All-American. Cheering for Klein’s varsity teams reinforced Molly’s passion for sports.
Molly is currently attending University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!!). At OU, Molly stumbled upon the field of public relations and fell in love with it. She is studying public relations with a minor in business. Molly enjoys public relations because she is very optimistic and is able to bring that into her work. “Public relations allows you to highlight the ‘hidden gems’ of your client or brand to the public,” said Molly. Upon graduation next May, Molly plans to return to her favorite city, Houston, to be with her family and lifelong friends. She plans to pursue a career in public relations with a sports organization, university, or nonprofit.
In her spare time, Molly loves to scope out the newest coffee shop, binge watch Netflix series, indulge in frozen yogurt, or adventure off to the nearest lake or small town with friends and family.
Mirsa Sanxhaku:
Mirsa Sanxhaku was born in beautiful Albania (north of Greece, east of Italy) and moved to the US with her family in 1997. She graduated from Clear Brook High school with honors in 2005 and attended University of Houston Honors College. Mirsa received her Bachelors in Philosophy with a minor in Business, in December of 2009. She had planned to go teach English in South Korea after graduating, but due to difficulties in obtaining a working visa, she started her Masters in Philosophy at the University of Houston in Spring of 2010, instead.
After receiving her second degree, Mirsa moved to Austin, Texas where she lived for nine months. There, she focused on furniture restoration, which had been a long time passion. In December of 2013, Mirsa moved to Fort Worth, Texas and worked for All Saints’ Episcopal Church. After a year of living in Fort Worth, she decided to return to Houston and pursue a Masters in Business. Mirsa will graduate in December of 2015 and plans to pursue a doctorate degree in Economics in the future. In her free time, she likes to go on bike rides, read, cook healthy dishes, and play with her sweet cat, Leela.
Katelyn Whittaker:
Katelyn Whittaker is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but moved to Houston, Texas nine years ago. Before starting high school, Katelyn knew she wanted to be on the yearbook staff and did so for three years. In those three years Katelyn was Clubs & Classes section editor and Sports section editor. Through creating page designs, writing stories and editing, she found her passion for design and writing. This showed her that she wanted to work in a creative field such as Mass Communications.
Her freshman year of college Katelyn went to the University of Texas San Antonio, but because the university did not offer her choice of study, she transferred to Loyola University in New Orleans. Here Katelyn majors in Mass Communication with a track in Advertising and a minor in Marketing. Katelyn fell in love with New Orleans and enjoys discovering new parts of the city and its culture. The cajun food and multicultural experience allows for new experiences everyday. Although she loves NOLA, Katelyn intends to move back to Houston after graduating in May 2016. In Katelyn’s spare time she is a Netflix enthusiast, reads, spends time with friends, family and her two dogs Mady and Chloe.
