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Professional Internship

Welcome to the Professional Internship at The Dancing Herbalist, LLC. This program is a separate one to our 3 level internship and is designed to support individuals currently enrolled in a separate herbal medicine program, including but not limited to the program at MUIH in Laurel, MD. This program is to be completed over the course of a year with 22.5 hours being devoted each trimester. All interns will be required to complete session 1 to hone marketing skills. This session may be completed in person or at distance. Two tracks follow session 1. The distance track continues to session 2, product marketing and manufacturing, and follows with session 3, product certification standards. The Maryland based track focuses on manufacturing in session 2 and sales/service in session 3. This internship is intended to begin to guide herbal students towards the career path of herbal product sales and manufacturing. If any of these internship will serve you, please read their descriptions below and apply today.

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As of January 1st, 2017 all interns are expected to put down a deposit of $200 at the start of each level. This will be returned to the intern upon completion of the requirements as agreed upon by the intern and supervisor. This is to insure commitment on the part of the intern and to cover The Dancing Herbalist in case of damages lost due to investment on the intern. If the intern does not complete the agreed upon work for the associated level the deposit is forfeit. Interns starting prior to January 1st, 2017 are exempt from this deposit. Professional Interns are expected to pay this deposit before reaching 6 hours of interaction. 

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As of January 1st, 2015, the work towards the  full 3 level internship program is required prior to employment with The Dancing Herbalist, LLC. This will ensure that all future employees of The Dancing Herbalist, LLC will have similar basic herbal knowledge required to make, produce, and sell the products and services of The Dancing Herbalist, LLC. If an individual, having completed the Professional Internship program is interested in further involvement in The Dancing Herbalist, LLC, they will be invited to participate in full internship program and may skip level 1, having completed the required 75 hours through the Professional Internship. These interns will be unable to work at the level 1 commission rate, having not completed level 1.

Session 1: Marketing

​The first trimester of the Professional Internship program focuses on marketing skills required to run a business. If desired, this session may be done as a stand-a-lone internship without the completion of sessions 2 and 3. Marketing skills are often passed over when learning about herbal medicine making this component of TDH's Professional Internship integral to the complete learning of any herbalist, including individuals looking to run a clinical practice. Finding and maintaining a connection to customers is a must in this day and age. Providing customers and clients with a positive and inexpensive way to learn more about your skills and abilities is a must to keep them engaged and wanting more interactions with you.

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Interns are expected to minimally complete the following projects as part of session 1 to meet 22.5 hours

  1. 2-500 word blog entries, posted to TDH wordpress blog platform.

  2. 1 Newsletter, encompasing one month of upcoming events for TDH including a focused blog entry.

  3. 1 full month of pre-posted social media posts. This will primarily be done through TDH Facebook page but may also include posting on twitter, instagram, pintrist, or other web platforms. 

  4. Development of a Product Fact Sheet for a minimum of one product of TDH to be included on TDH webpage and shared with customers.

  5. Development of 'Advertisement Standard Operating Procedures' for one area of the above components of TDH's marketing plan.

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Depending on the intern's skill set, this portion of the program also provides opportunities for advertisement design.

 

Interns in this session will be completing work at distance or in Frederick, MD in 2 hour blocks every other week at an agreed upon time between Jillian Carnrick and the intern, Monday through Friday. 

Marketing

Distance Track: Session 2: Marketing and Manufacturing

This session is an excellent opportunity to hone your herbal product manufacturing skills while also practicing your skills at teaching others through marketing devices. This session focuses on developing informative videos for use online on topics related to herbal products manufacturing. Interns are given the opportunity to research their product/herbs, develop a script with helpful information, manufacture the product while recording, and develop video editing skills. Guidance from TDH will be provided to support the intern in developing good manufacturing practices, herbal voice script for safe and legal recommendations, and video editing guidance. 

Interns are expected to minimally complete the following hours as part of session 2 to meet 22.5 hours

  1. Research an herb and herbal preparation technique.

  2. Develop a script and slide board to fill two 10-15 minute spots or one 20-30 minute spot, depending on content.

  3. Purchase ingredients and manufacture product minimally one time. Multiple may be necessary for video quality.

  4. Video tape manufacturing of product with voice over.

  5. Edit video into usable content for TDH's website, blog, or YouTube page.

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This session is done at distance through phone conversations with Jillian Carnrick. Video equipment, editing software, and basic PowerPoint skills are required. 1-2 hours of work per week is expected by the intern with a 15-30 minute phone conversation every other week with Jillian Carnrick. Assignments through this process will keep the intern on track as many re-edits of script and video are expected.

Distance Track

Distance Track: Session 3: Product Certification

For individuals looking to further their learning about herbal product sales and manufacturing, learning about certification standards and practices is important for long term success of any natural product. This session focuses on researching a product certification of choice, including but not limited to organic certification, gluten free, cruelty free, and B corporation compliance. If interested, the intern may also research local ingredient/herb suppliers under this session. Following the research of one of these certifications the intern will work along side Jillian Carnrick to develop a plan for change implementation as needed for TDH.

Interns are expected to minimally complete the following hours as part of session 3 to meet 22.5 hours

  1. Outline the current practices of TDH as it pertains to the certification of choice.

  2. Develop a research plan regarding the certification of choice

  3. Develop a plan for change implementation towards certification.

  4. Support TDH in implementing change as needed to reach 22.5 hours.

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This session is done at distance through phone conversations with Jillian Carnrick. 1-2 hours of work per week is expected by the intern with a 15-30 minute phone conversation every other week with Jillian Carnrick. Assignments through this process will keep the intern on track as many questions may come up that will need to be discussed between Jillian and the intern prior to moving forward.

Maryland Track: Session 2: Manufacturing

While many herbalists are interested in starting an herbal products manufacturing business there is much that goes into it other than manufacturing. This session focuses on the manufacturing components of making topical herbal products such as oils, salves, and creams. During this process, interns will be given the opportunity to hone their skills in topical product making, learning to make a variety of TDH's topical products. Interns will also be provided with some of the knowledge to research how to properly formulate topical products for ideal absorption and action through the skin.

Interns are expected to minimally complete the following hours as part of session 2 to meet 22.5 hours

  1. 10 hours devoted to making herbal creams.*

  2. 4 hours devoted to making oil infusions.

  3. 2 hours devoted to making herbal salves.

  4. 2 hours devoted to making liniments.

  5. 2 hours devoted to label design.

  6. Development of 'Manufacturing Standard Operating Procedures' for the manufacturing of two of TDH's products

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*While manufacturing creams there is about 2 hours of down time. This time will be used towards one of the other required activites.

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When this session is completed, the intern will receive two products that they manufactured to provide their institution with to verify completion of this session.

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Interns in this session will be completing work in Frederick, MD. The first two meetings of this session will be 5 hour blocks with 3 weeks between them. These two blocks will be for making herbal creams and require a larger time committment to complete. After this, interns will meet in 2 hour blocks every other week at an agreed upon time between Jillian Carnrick and the intern, Monday through Friday to complete the session requirements.

Maryland Track

Maryland Track: Session 3: Sales

The most challenging and the most rewarding part of running an herbal products company is sales. You can make all the products you want but unless you can sell it to a person and quickly convince them it is going to work for their challenge you will never be able to keep your business in the green. The Dancing Herbalist has been selling products at markets and expos for four years now and has developed key phrases and stories about each product to highlight key points and benefits that a customer needs to know. In this session interns learn these key points and benefits to share with customers and have the opportunity to do so. Interns will also be able to track their own sales through developing revenue and expense sheets, learning the financial challenges of product sales.

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Interns are expected to minimally complete the following hours as part of session 3 to meet 22.5 hours

  1. 4+ hours of product training.

  2. 8 Quizes to ensure product knowledge prior to sales.

  3. 12+ hours of sales work.

  4. 4+ hours of post-vending secretarial work.

  5. Development of 2 expense/revenue sheets covering a single vending event.

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Interns in this session will be completing work in various locations on the East Coast. Vending often requires a drive of a minimum of one hour from Frederick, MD to a maximum of 6 hours. An intern can choose to do all vending hours in one weekend, recommended by TDH, or may spread them out, requested by MUIH. Product training will be done in Frederick, MD, Monday through Friday at an agreed upon time between the intern and Jillian Carnrick in 2 hour blocks ever two weeks. Post-vending work is done on Monday mornings and this work will be done on selected Mondays directly after vending which the intern is not expected to be at to complete the associated Monday activities on a minimum of two separate occasions.

Professional Application

Aplication Process

Click the link to the left to fill out the application form. This is more an informative process rather than an interview process. We are always looking for new interns so do not hesitate to apply. Please also e-mail a resume to info@thedancingherbalist.com. We will not consider applications without both of these pieces.

Important Documents for Current Interns

Intern Hour Log
Goal Tracking
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