Behind the Reels: Meet The Cup’s Summer Social Media Video Intern
A Q&A with Adina Whaley
Sophomore year student at Union University. The Cup’s 2026 summer social media intern.
Tell us a little about yourself and what brought you to The Cup for your summer internship.
I am a college student born and raised in St. Louis. During high school I was introduced to videography and content creation in my broadcasting class. This is where I fell in love with cameras, business, and film. When I was in high school, I worked at The Cup’s sister company The Cakery, also in St. Louis. I loved the work environment and the people so much! So, when I was looking for a place to practice my digital media creation, The Cup was one of my first thoughts!
You have experience with long-form videography. What was the biggest challenge in learning how to create short-form video Reels?
The biggest challenge about learning how to create short-form content was figuring out how to tell an engaging and worthwhile story within a matter of seconds. Social media requires us to fit all of our important updates into a short video that people are actually going to enjoy! Combining time limitations, information, and entertainment required a lot of creativity and trial and error. Thankfully, I had a lot of room to try out different styles of video with The Cup.
Was there a Reel or video you created for The Cup that you’re especially proud of? Why?
Yes, I was most proud of my video promoting the Summer Crush. I felt that my final video really captured the vibe of the cheesy over-the-top perfume commercial that I was shooting for. Being able to replicate a well known joke ideally created a video everyone could enjoy. It helps that I also had the most fun shooting this one!
What advice would you give to other students interested in social media marketing, videography, or content creation?
Create, create, create. The most important thing is to just start and continue to practice your craft. It is easy to look back on your work and see the flaws, but each video also demonstrates growth. Because of the nature of most content creation, there will always be issues in the original footage or a piece of audio missing that you can’t always go back and reshoot. Don’t demand perfection, just start creating and you will find people who appreciate the unique aspects in your creations.
What were the three big things you learned this summer from your social media internship?
Firstly, while sitting in on marketing meetings, I learned that there are many small details that seem insignificant at first but that all contribute to how the customer interacts with and perceives the company. Details like uniformly naming products and order of products on a website can significantly help the customer experience. Secondly, I learned that social media videos including people, comedy, and that jump straight into the action perform the best. As I learned this through trial and error I was able to guide my videos accordingly. Lastly, I learned more general things when working with actors, around customers, and with time limitations. Working with products challenged me to think of how to market physical items, which was very different from my broadcast experience.
How does behind-the-scenes video help customers connect with a local business?
Behind-the-scenes videos help customers get to know the people creating their cupcakes even better. Seeing the real people working at The Cup all day creates transparency and confidence in company values.
After spending the summer at The Cup, what’s your favorite cupcake?!
My favorite cupcake has to be the Double Chocolate! I cannot get enough chocolate!
