When Karoline Brechter, a senior musical theater major, took a bold detour into a communications internship, she discovered a new passion for marketing – one that will complement her future on stage.
Q:
Let’s start at the beginning — how did you discover your passion for musical theater?
A:
My name is Karoline Brechter, and I’m from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, about 30 miles south of Boston. I grew up as a competitive dancer, which naturally led me into acting and music. Once I hit high school, I was pretty certain that there was nothing I wanted to do more in life than perform.
Currently, I’m a fourth-year musical theater major — music performance with a concentration in musical theater — at the School of Music. This past year, I completed a communications internship with Portland Buy Local.
Q:
For those who aren’t familiar, what is Portland Buy Local and what did you do there?
A:
Portland Buy Local is a nonprofit focused on encouraging the community to choose local first over typical big-box stores. They’re a small nonprofit — not many employees, no physical office — so it was a fully remote position.
But it was super valuable, especially to work for a nonprofit that aligns with my own values of sustainability and community. I was basically their social media manager, so I helped with their Instagram, blog posts, Facebook, email marketing — all of that.
I was pretty certain that there was nothing I wanted to do more in life than perform.
Karoline Brechter ’26
Q:
What made you pursue a communications internship even though your major is in music performance? Will you continue on this trajectory?
A:
It was really cool to do something totally different than my major. Creativity has always been one of my strongest qualities, and thinking about it now, it definitely translates from my major to my internship. Being so immersed in the arts through music, theater, and dance makes it difficult to not develop skills in visual art as well. Also, as an actor, I’m always collaborating and communicating — this definitely made it easier for me to enter a position in a nonprofit community organization.
I also knew I wanted to do a social media internship. Two years ago, my friends and I noticed our department’s lack of social media presence and took it upon ourselves to make an Instagram account for the theater major. On it, we promote shows, showcase student achievements and highlight alumni.
Having that experience definitely prepared me for my internship, as co-managing the account strengthened my graphic design, marketing and management skills.
I think it’s definitely something I want to pursue post-graduation. I will continue pursuing acting and musical theater full time — I mean, that’s my major — but I’m also planning a move to New York City after graduation, and the city can be pretty corporate focused.
So, my goal is to create my own freelance brand marketing agency for actors — helping actors brand themselves, make resumes, websites, YouTube content, Instagram presence, all of that. So getting hands-on experience with personal branding was really valuable.
Q:
How were you connected to this internship, or to any other internships/work experiences you’ve had?
A:
The first major work experience I had was during the summer of my sophomore year. I had the privilege of working at Maine State Music Theatre as one of the eight “MSMT Singers,” a competitive group of college actors scouted from across the country to perform in Maine State’s summer season of musicals.
This was undeniably the highlight of my college career so far — getting to work and make connections with so many other professionals from Broadway and beyond truly shaped my whole approach to musical theater. I couldn’t have done that without the help of my professors and colleagues here at USM.
My path to Portland Buy Local started with my brother. Three years older than me, he worked with the Career Hub when he attended USM. He recommended that I do an internship through the Career Exploration Internship Program to broaden my horizons and expand my knowledge in an area outside my major.
The people at the Career Hub were super welcoming and encouraging. I didn’t know how it would be doing an internship as somebody whose major isn’t business-focused, because most internships are in the corporate world, and musical theater is not the corporate world at all. But the Career Hub encouraged me to do something out of my comfort zone and out of my realm of expertise.
Q:
What were your biggest takeaways, and what advice would you give other students?
A:
This was a fully remote position, so I really had to work on accountability, productivity, and time management. Committing to 10 to 20 hours every week really forced me to grow and stay on a schedule.
I had never worked in a fully remote position before, and I discovered that I really enjoy working remotely. It’s not for everybody, but it’s definitely for me.
Juggling an internship with my coursework and shows was definitely a learning curve as well, but it really helped me develop my time management skills and my sense of motivation. Scheduling is so important. When things get really crazy, I map out my whole day by timestamp. It makes it a lot easier to fit everything into my busy schedule when I can visualize exactly when and where I’m going to complete a task.
For those who might be considering pursuing an internship in a “business” or “corporate” field – I would say definitely go for it. Do something that’s totally different than what you’re studying. You might find that you really enjoy doing something different.
The more you can expand your horizons, the better. Never stop learning – knowledge is power. Any education is good education, and learning a new skill or trade will always benefit you and your mind.
“The more you can expand your horizons, the better. Never stop learning.”
Karoline Brechter ’24
Musical Theatre Major
Bonus: What song have you had on repeat lately?
That’s Not My Name
The Ting Tings
Ready to turn your passion into experience?
USM’s Career Hub can help you explore new paths, find internships, and gain real-world experience — just like Karoline.
