The situation
I was 22 and had no corporate experience when I arrived in Madrid. I joined as a press and communications intern, working inside the club's media operation — one of the most scrutinised in world sport. My role was to shadow the First Team Press Officer, which meant watching up close how an institution at that level manages every piece of communication that goes in or out.
The work
Day-to-day was split between two kinds of work. The operational side: vetting news stories, tracking media mentions across global outlets, supporting internal and external communications in English. And the observational side: sitting with the press officer as he fielded journalist queries, interview requests, and press management decisions in real time.
What struck me most was not the scale of it, though that was striking. It was the deliberateness. Every question from a journalist was considered before it was answered, sometimes at length. Every statement was reviewed not just for accuracy but for what it communicated beyond the words. Nothing went out casually.
Real Madrid is probably the most successful club in European football history. The communications team operates with that weight behind every decision. I had never seen an organisation treat language as seriously as that team did.
For a 22-year-old, the hardest part was learning how to communicate my own value in that environment. Everyone around me was experienced, precise, and senior. Figuring out how to be useful and visible without overstepping took time.
The results
Spent a year embedded inside one of the highest-profile communications operations in world sport.
Developed a working understanding of how brand narrative is protected at institutional scale, across global media.
What I took from it
Brand narrative is not a document. It is a set of commitments that an entire communications function lives by, every day. That idea shaped every role I took after this one.