Marina Rotharmel, Trend Hunter (INTERVIEW)

Of all the viral cat videos out there, the fact that former editorial intern Marina Rotharmel's favorite is one called 'I Hate Kitties' may have you in a tizzy thinking that she detests all things cuddly and adorable. As she tries to explain, it is not the fact that the video, which is shot in a video game style, is about a girl kicking cats, but rather it's about the different art forms involved. Besides talking about cat-related videos, Rotharmel also opens up about her incredible experience working at Trend Hunter, as well as how surrounding herself with creative people allows her to continue being an innovative and creative person herself.

How do you define cool?

I define cool as anything that is out there and a little bit different that you don't see everybody wearing or using. But mostly it's about an attitude. If you exude confidence, you can pretty much define whatever you like as cool.

What is your favorite trend and why?

My favorite trend is crazy viral cat videos. This one is called 'I Hate kitties.' I don't actually hate kitties, I love kitties, but the overarching trend is gamification. We are seeing this a lot, companies using game-like qualities to make their products stand out. I really like the video because it uses so many different art forms. It uses animation, live action and it's got this cool quality of being a game. The girl goes around basically kicking cats or hitting cats to make it to the next level.

What is your favorite part about working at Trend Hunter?

My favorite thing about working at Trend Hunter really has to be the environment and the people. Everyone is so supportive and encouraging. We work hard but we also get to play hard, which is so much fun. Every Friday we get to have awesome beer parties and old members of Trend Hunter come back in so that's great! I always feel like i'll be welcomed back too.

What's your favorite accomplishment?

My favorite accomplishment so far in my life would have to be graduating university and getting this awesome internship pretty much right after I was done. I studied journalism so it's really up my alley and I've enjoyed every second of working here.

What inspires or excites you?

What inspires or excites me is really just hanging out with awesome people. I really like to surround myself with creative people. I really think that enhances my ability as both a writer and as a person.

What advice do you have for the business world?

I think really for the business world they just have to keep innovating. You can't really stick with one idea, you have to expand on it or just make it different in some sort of way from the rest of what's going in the world. I also think that social media is so important in this day and age. You really can't get anywhere now if you're not on social media.

Any last thoughts about Trend Hunter?

I definitely recommend this internship to anybody whose looking into journalism or social media, or even advertising. Just getting out there, it's a great place to learn and grow as a writer and a person and I would really recommend it to anybody whose looking for a fun internship to try out.