Awesomely Authentic is excited to welcome aboard a new Summer DEI intern, Peyton Hall. Peyton will work closely with our Founder, Matthew French, on social media, content creation, working with LGBTQ+ talent partners, and more. We are ecstatic to help develop the next generation of movers and shakers in the DEI space. Meet Peyton and learn more about her below.
Hi y’all! My name is Peyton Hall, and I’m a rising senior at the University of Oregon. I am a media studies major with a concentration in media, culture, and power, and a minor in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. I grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and live in Eugene, Oregon now. I love all things music, film, and books. In my free time, you can find me going on hikes, journaling, watching movies with friends, playing piano, and thrifting. Some of my favorite artists include MUNA, Jon Batiste, Beyonce, CHARLI XCX, Noah Kahan, Brandi Carlile, and my favorite films include Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Everything, Everywhere All at Once, and Ratatouille.
This summer, I’m looking forward to expanding my professional experience in DEI and learning more about navigating identity and equity in the corporate world. I also hope to strengthen and expand my leadership skills while I am an intern at Awesomely Authentic that I can use in my future career.
Authenticity in the workplace is something that’s really important to me, and I’m looking forward to learning from others and sharing my own experiences. I’ve been in roles where I wasn’t afforded the opportunity – or didn’t believe – that I could fully and authentically be myself. I’ve noticed that my best work is done when I’m in a space that I can fully be myself, and striving to cultivate spaces where everyone is included and welcome to be themselves is a priority for me. This not only means protections on a legal level, but creating a workplace culture that allows for people to be themselves without fear of judgement, exclusion, or tokenization.
In the future, I hope to work in higher education and student affairs. Throughout my time in college, I’ve had many incredible leadership and mentorship experiences, from being on the leadership board for my university’s Taylor Swift Society to writing for various campus publications to attending the LeaderShape Institute with my peers last fall. I’ve also been able to work as a student communications associate with the alumni association, lead a trip with the student sustainability center, intern for student government, and work on student orientation staff this summer. In the future, I also aim to continue to compose and publish music — I write for string orchestra in my free time, and I’d like to expand on that work in the future!
This summer, I’m looking forward to attending a few concerts, exploring more hiking spots around Eugene, being a student orientation leader, and working with Awesomely Authentic!