Hello everyone!

My internship has been going great over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten to be really involved in many of the marketing decisions being made as of lately. One area I helped the company with a week ago was promotional products. We wanted to give students a promotional product that they would keep, use, and make them think to renew or become a laundry/storage customer. Being a student myself, I thought the task would be a breeze. However when it came down to choosing a specific product, I found it was very hard to do with a minimal amount of market research and a budget constraint! One thing that it is impossible to learn from reading cases about business situations is how to make decisions when only certain information is available. In our classes we often have all the pieces to complete the puzzle, but I’ve found that in the ‘real world’ this is not always the case. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can with your resources, learn from your mistakes, and work things through. As I was researching the different products out there I found that often times the ones I liked where either too expensive or were very gender based.

By now I’m sure you’re all probably wondering why my blog is titled “Barbados”. The reason it is titled that is because that is where I was for the last week! (July 12th to the 19th). I went with USA Athletes International to compete against different Bajan club teams as well as their U21 National Team playing field hockey. I thought it was important to include this in my blog to express how good companies allow their employees (or interns =) ) to participate in programs that will better themselves. I told Lazybones on my first day that I had this trip planned, and they were excited for me and generously allowed me to go without having to do any work while I was there. The trip wasn’t just about playing field hockey, the name of the program is the Bajan Friendship series, and in these series the athletes are there to promote goodwill among different countries and learn about each others cultures. The week I was there I did just that, and made some great friends along the way. I love seeing how different people live, both what they do for fun and where their priorities in life lie. The Bajan people were honestly some of the friendliest yet sincere people I have ever met while travelling, and I will never forget my trip. Not to mention their beaches are absolutely breath taking and their field hockey skills are unmatched here in the U.S. I learned so much on my trip, and I am so thankful to have an internship with a company that allows me to participate in these types of activities.