Building A Network: From Studying at Loyola to Working for One of the Biggest Software Companies in the World

Loyola has been a part of Mae Quach’s life for as long as she can remember. When her family immigrated to Chicago in the 80’s, they lived just a few blocks away from Lake Shore Campus in the Andersonville neighborhood. Her mother was even a student here for a short time, so when it came time for Mae to apply for colleges, Loyola was always on her mind.

In Fall of 2012, Mae enrolled at Loyola and pursued a major in film and digital media.

LEARNING THROUGH EXPERIENCE: Internships as a Loyola Student

Mae started applying to internships in her junior year, which she says were some of her most memorable experiences as a student. “The School of Communication has a huge network, and Loyola in general is so integrated in the city of Chicago. Once I started doing my internships and getting a peek of what working in the city was like, I realized I was on the right track. This is what I wanted to do.”

Through SOC’s network, she landed her first internship with Story Club Magazine, which hosts live readings from writers and poets that it then publishes into a magazine. She later did another internship at FLIRT Communications, an event production company with offices right across the street from Millennium Park. Later, she would intern at the Art Institute of Chicago, doing photography and social media management work. “One of the best things about being a commuter and going to the downtown campus is feeling like you're a big city person going to work, taking the train, commuting with all the other people in suits, just being part of the whole ritual of moving with the masses from nine to five.”

Besides internships, Mae was also employed on campus. A Loyola faculty member, Kevin McGroarty, hired her as an Art Support student worker. Recognizing her talent in design and photography, he involved her in his own digital media projects outside of Loyola. “I feel like that was one of the best things about Loyola. The professors are very well connected and always brought in their students in every opportunity that they could.”

INTO THE REAL WORLD: Employment After Graduation

After graduation, she got her first full-time gig with Crate&Barrel and CB2’s in-house creative studio. She was as a production assistant who was later promoted as a studio coordinator. “That gig was amazing. You get to work with so many creatives and real media industry professionals, who get flown in from New York and LA to Chicago to work with us. If it weren’t for my previous experiences as a Loyola student, I feel like it would have been such a daunting experience, but Loyola really prepared me for it.”

Eventually, she landed her current role as a Creative Project Coordinator at Adobe. She coordinates between art directors, copywriters, and designers to produce marketing material for Adobe Express. As part of her role, she worked with musician Toro y Moi to create an immersive generative AI art exhibition at Adobe Max, one of the largest creative conferences in the U.S. “That was a monumental moment in my career. Artists I've looked up to are seeing my work on the floor. It was amazing.”