Intern to Empire

Ava Swinton
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Business

Hosted by Ava Swinton and Inna Swinton - Intern to Empire features candid conversations with high performing students and young professionals and some more experienced guests reflecting on what worked (and what didn’t). We explore how they found mentors, built proof, and created momentum from high school to college to first key opportunities. We explore the mentors, decisions, and pivots behind each path, so that listeners can find their next step faster.

  1. Aug 31

    Intern to Empire S2 Ep. 1 w/ Will Mckelvey - Capitol Hill to Venture Capital: The Art of the Pivot

    Intern to Empire Season 2, Episode 1 is live! We are back for a new and incredible season!! This week we sat down with Will McKelvey, an investor at Lerer Hippeau in New York. Before Will moved to NYC, he got his MBA at UC Berkeley where he started his own small venture fund. And even before that he spent almost five years working in Congress on economic policy. Will argues that venture-backed companies are the most powerful economic engine in the US economy. Will did not have much of a network in the venture world when he decided to make the pivot. But everything he did, every extracurricular, every internship, was oriented around how to achieve the goal. Watch the episode to hear exactly what his mentor told him to do to land his job at Lerer Hippeau. We discuss why your hit rate on good decisions matters less than the volume of them, and why the best thing you can send a mentor is an update with no ask. Our favorite line: “All advice overtime nets to zero. Follow your gut. Intuition is the only thing we have that artificial intelligence does not.” Co-hosted with @innaswinton writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). Link in bio for the full episode! #VentureCapital #Investing #EarlyCareer #Internships #Podcast

  2. Aug 19

    Intern to Empire Ep. 25 w/ Alexander Bello - Broadway at 10, USC at 18, and Making Your Own Work

    Intern to Empire Ep. 25 is live! 🎉 Our Season 1 finale. This week we sat down with Alexander Bello to talk about what happens when the roles stop coming and you decide to write your own! Alex made his Broadway debut at 10 in All My Sons, then did Caroline, or Change and The Tap Dance Kid, booked his first feature in Theater Camp, won a Sundance award with the cast, and recurred on HBO's And Just Like That. Then he hit the age where Broadway mostly stops casting teenagers - so he picked up a camera. This spring, during his senior year of high school, he wrote and directed Hide, a horror-thriller about a mother and son at odds over a family heirloom. He raised $6,000 on Kickstarter, pulled together a 30-person crew ranging from 15 to 50 years old, and shot the whole thing in three days. It's about to start its festival run. In the fall he heads to USC film school. We also get into why he calls it redirection instead of rejection, the 156-page screenplay he wrote at 13 for himself and a friend, turning down a big Broadway role at 14 and booking Theater Camp four months later, staying humble about the work at school, and the mom who told him he could quit anytime - which is why he never did! One of our favorite lines from the episode: "No one can ever stop you from going out and getting a camera and making a film." Co-hosted with @innaswinton (writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). Link in bio for the full episode. #Filmmaking #Broadway #USCSCA #IndieFilm #YoungCreatives

  3. Aug 14

    Intern to Empire Ep. 24 w/ Aanchal Save - Georgia Tech to Germany: Finding Her Own Way to Publish

    Intern to Empire Ep. 24 is live! This week we sat down with Aanchal Save to talk about what happens when you stop waiting to be handed the interesting work. Aanchal is a rising junior at Georgia Tech studying aerospace engineering and computer science, and she has already interned at NASA, SpaceX, and Palantir. During her NASA internship, there was a robotic arm sitting in the lab that nobody had assigned her to. So she read a stack of books, built a presentation, and pitched her mentor on working on it in her spare time. She got the green light, wrote a paper, and filed it through NASA’s internal new technology process. When she learned there was no funding to publish independent work, she found a conference in a small town in Germany, went while she was studying abroad in France, and presented it herself. We also get into cold outreach and why forty emails for one reply is a fine trade, being the only girl in the lab and learning to own it instead of shrinking, what it actually means to be a good mentee and not just a good mentor, and how she chose the harder summer over the comfortable one. One of our favorite lines from the episode: “You don’t really need to know what you’re passionate about. It’s more of like, what are you curious about?” Great way to start. Co-hosted with @innaswinton (writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). Link in bio for the full episode. #WomenInSTEM #Robotics #Aerospace #GeorgiaTech #Internships

  4. Jul 27

    Intern to Empire Ep. 23 w/ Daniel Sung - Follow Your Gut. Build Your Own Path

    Intern to Empire Ep. 23 is live! This week we sat down with Daniel Sung to talk about what happens when you stop waiting for opportunities and start creating them! From growing up in his family's Mexican restaurant to becoming the youngest intern at the LA Clippers. Daniel launched a LinkedIn agency before turning 20. Daniel shares how following your instincts can completely change your career. We also get into building a personal brand and why LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for young professionals. We discuss the importance of surrounding yourself with ambitious people, and how small decisions can lead to opportunities you never expected. Whether you're looking for your first internship, thinking about starting something of your own, or trying to stand out in our incredibly competitive world, this episode is filled with advice you can start using right now! #InternToEmpire #Podcast #CareerAdvice #Networking #Mentorship #Community #Internships #YoungProfessionals #Leadership #PersonalGrowth

  5. Jul 15

    Intern to Empire Ep. 22 w/ Will & Sachin - Intern House That Turned Connections into Opportunities

    Intern to Empire Ep. 23 is live! This week we sat down with Will & Sachin to talk about how one idea, a house full of interns in New York City, turned into a community that opened doors, created lifelong friendships, and sparked unexpected opportunities! We dive into why the best networking doesn't feel like networking, how to build genuine mentor relationships, and the importance of showing up in person. A thought we kept going back to was why creating your own luck often starts with simply reaching out. We also discuss embracing discomfort, balancing AI with critical thinking, and why the people you surround yourself with can completely change the direction of your career. Whether you're looking for an internship, building your network, or just figuring out your next step, this conversation is full of practical advice on creating opportunities instead of waiting for them. Their intern house is called Chelsea Commons. Check them out! #InternToEmpire #Podcast #CareerAdvice #Networking #Mentorship #Community #Internships #YoungProfessionals #Leadership #PersonalGrowth

  6. Jul 12

    Intern to Empire Ep. 21 w/ Sarah Olson - Baseball to US Open: Relationships Matter More Than Resumes

    Intern to Empire Ep. 21 is live! This week we sat down with Sarah Olson to talk about building a career in sports through relationships, persistence, and staying open to opportunities. From interning with Tennessee Athletics to working in professional baseball and now helping tell the stories of the world’s best tennis players at the US Open, Sarah shares how curiosity and consistency shaped her journey. We also discuss networking, sports media, social media strategy, mentorship, life after graduation, and moving to a new city post grad. Sarah explains why the best networking happens long before there’s a job opening, how she built a community from scratch after college, and why your career doesn’t have to follow a perfectly planned path. One of my favorite lines from this AMAZING episode: “It was hard for me to be where my feet are when I didn’t feel like my shoes fit.” Co-hosted with @innaswinton (writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). Link in bio for the full episode. #SportsBusiness #USOpen #networking #sportsmarketing #mentorship

  7. Jul 12

    Intern to Empire Ep. 20 w/ Ashley Weil - Ask for Advice not a Job: Turn Conversations to Internships

    Intern to Empire Ep. 20 is live! This week we sat down with Ashley Weil to talk about how meaningful connections can open doors you never expected. From her time at Bergen County Academies and DECA to studying business at UNC Chapel Hill, Ashley shares how curiosity, relationship-building, and staying genuinely interested in other people helped shape her first year of college. We also get into networking, entrepreneurship, internships, sales, and what it’s like navigating a large university as an out-of-state student. Ashley explains why the best conversations aren’t transactional, how putting yourself out there can create unexpected opportunities, and what she’s learned from working with multiple startups after just her freshman year. One of my favorite lines from the episode:
“Focus on learning from people, and opportunities tend to follow.” Co-hosted with @innaswinton (writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). 🎧 Link in bio for the full episode #BusinessStudent #Entrepreneurship #Networking #CollegeSuccess #unc

  8. Jul 12

    Intern to Empire Ep. 19 w/ Julie Sharbutt - From Vandy to Hollywood

    Intern to Empire Ep. 19 is live! This week, as part of our Mentor Talks series, we sat down with Julie Sharbutt to talk about her journey from Vanderbilt University to Hollywood and what it really takes to build a career in the entertainment industry. From growing up in New York City to studying theater and English at Vanderbilt, acting in New York, and eventually becoming a writer, director, and producer in Los Angeles, Julie shares the experiences that shaped her career and creative voice! We also discuss breaking into film and television, navigating rejection, finding the right creative community, collaboration, AI’s impact on storytelling, and why there’s no such thing as a perfectly linear career path. Julie shares amazing insight on taking risks, staying authentic, and creating opportunities for yourself when the traditional path doesn’t exist! One of our favorite lines from the episode:
“Know what you want to do and just attack.” Co-hosted with @innaswinton (writer, actress, producer, and lawyer). 🎧 Link in bio for the full episode #Podcast #Hollywood #filmmaking #vanderbilt #entertainmentindustry

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About

Hosted by Ava Swinton and Inna Swinton - Intern to Empire features candid conversations with high performing students and young professionals and some more experienced guests reflecting on what worked (and what didn’t). We explore how they found mentors, built proof, and created momentum from high school to college to first key opportunities. We explore the mentors, decisions, and pivots behind each path, so that listeners can find their next step faster.

Information

  • Creator
    Ava Swinton
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Ava Swinton
  • Show Website
    Intern to Empire