Blog Question #1- What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you? Who did you meet and what do they do? Did you engage in any code switching?
Something that I learned from the internship this week is how to document inventory. I was introduced to applications such as ‘Square App’ which is a common application for small business’ to allow costumers to pay with credit cards. I also learned how to record purchases that day as well as how to price products appropriately.
What surprised me about the internship is how laid back the work atmosphere was. The boss, Desiree is very kind and warm to be around. It was suprising to be in a work place where people are excited and happy to work with you.
I met Desiree, the co-owner of the shop. She is in charge of inventory, communicating with suppliers and making sure the physical shop, as well as the truck is always in mint condition. I have not yet met Desiree’s husband, the other co-owner of Denver Fashion Truck. Desiree also employs her daughter, Alex who assists with the trucks. I have not yet met her as well.
I have not had to experience code switching yet. Desiree and I happened to have grown up in the same Highland area, born and raised. We both seem to have very similar aspects of our lives, and so we both seemed to be very comfortable around each other to talk about various subjects aside from work. Overall I have had the pleasure to be very comfortable at the Internship.
Weekly Blog Question #2 –What was the best thing that happened this week at your
internship? How did it make you feel? What else makes you excited
about your internship?
The best thing that happened this week at my internship is that I got to work the mobile truck with Desiree. Not only did I learn about the positives and negatives of a mobile shop, but I got to ring up orders for customers and learned how to be sufficient in my work.
It made me very happy knowing I was submerging myself with the work force. It was also very exciting to interact with new people in the Denver area.
Another part of the internship that makes me excited is learning from Desiree the ins-and-outs of the work world such as choosing wisely who you work with and never slack on payments.
Weekly Blog Question #3- How do your actions affect your workplace? Do you contribute positively? How do your co-workers actions affect your internship? Witch co-workers are you connecting with?
My actions affect my work place in a positive way with proper communication with customers and my co-workers. Also, by dusting weekly and ensuring the physical appearance of the shop by cleaning mirrors, pricing the new inventory, and sweeping, I am contributing to the team- and learning more about the work world.
I contribute positively by helping with the Fashion Show’s makeup for an event that was held at the Monkey Barrel recently. I also assist with stamping the bags for the brick and mortar as well as the trucks with cute little stamps of there logo. Each customer with a purchase receives the hand stamped bag, and some are sadly a little messed up by me. I am also working the truck when needed at various events. By working in the truck, I am learning how to communicate with customers in an appealing way. Desiree also showed me how to break down the truck when closing. My co-workers actions affect my internship by helping to improve the shop daily and the truck, as well as teaching me the pros and cons of working your own small business. I am connecting with Jade, Desiree’s older daughter who works part time at the shop the best. She is currently in college majoring in Multi-Media and has a very unique and interesting career path.
Weekly Blog Question #4- What are you responsible for at your work place? What do you think the main contribution to your work site is? What are your daily duties?
I am responsible for assisting the documentation of the store and trucks inventory at my work place. I also steam new clothing that comes into the shop, especially the vintage clothing, and place new tags on the items. Weekly light cleaning is a necessity, and cleaning all the glass surfaces. I think the main contribution to my work site is pricing every item and setting up the truck. I also evenly ration the quantity of the clothing for the shop, truck, and bus. Desiree is also teaching me how to efficiently close down the bus and shop, as well as how to better appeal to costumers with the appearance of the shop. My daily duties consist of cleaning and sweeping the counter tops and floors, as well as documenting inventory. It is also very common to tie small price tags onto the jewelry and re arrange the placement of new jewelry in the small tables. I also assist steaming clothing semi-weekly along with pleasant conversations with Desiree about random topics such as creepy movies, and Halloween costumes. Overall I love the work environment and the interesting new facts I get to learn constantly about the business.
Weekly Blog Question #5- How do you feel like your internship is going so far? What are the highlights and “lowlights”? Do you feel like you are making connections with your co-workers? What can you do to improve your experience?
I feel like my internship is going great so far: I am adapting to the environment quickly and enjoying the new small tasks I am assigned. I love the atmosphere and the hands on experience. A highlight with my internship is the positive relationship I have with my boss Desiree. We share the same interests and personality. Another highlight in the internship is getting to observe and learn about so many new and creative artists from Denver, Everyone’s style is completely different. A low light can be the constant jobs without a break, however I love quick work. Other than the minor elbow grease into working in the shop, there is not any down falls to the job. I feel like I am making subtle connections with co-workers. I normally am only in the shop with Desiree, however when her daughter Jade is in the shop she is very easy to communicate with. I can possibly ask more questions about the business and my quality of work to improve my assistance in the shop.
Weekly Blog Question #6- How do people at work treat you? How does it make you feel? If you have in intern for one day will you treat them the same? What have you learned so far from your co-workers and sponsor?
People at work treat me like I am apart of the group. Desiree and I are mostly the only two at the shop, however typically at events with the Fashion Truck I also get the chance to work with Adrian. Desiree and Adrian are very kind and charismatic regarding if I am okay while working. Not only are they great co-workers, but awesome friends who are very nice to be around in general. It makes me feel amazing knowing that they care about how I am and being apart of the group. If I was to intern Desiree for a day, I definitely feel I would treat her the same way she treats me. I believe charisma is something everyone should try to adopt more into their lives. So far I have learned professionalism and maturity from my co-workers and sponsor. I have also learned many other amazing characteristics for the work world such as trying to have a better understanding and to listen to others, however professionalism I feel is a large factor to having a successful career.
Weekly Blog Question #7- What is the difference between working on personal art projects and working in a creative business? What have you learned about working in a creative business? 11/22/17
The difference between working on a personal art project and working in a creative business is when you are working on a personal project it is on your own terms, with 100% your own idea of how everything will look and what the final project will be. However, when working in a creative business it’s a collaboration with everyone involved: more help also means all of your personal ideas will not be involved, but that’s not necessarily an issue when working with others because you want everyone to be represented. When working in a creative business I learned to be more open minded with others ideas and solutions to a problem. I also learned to be patient when working with others and to always remain positive. Overall when working in a creative business I learned it’s truly a group effort to make any idea come to life. I was normally used to working alone. And so working with a group with different ideas was a little challenging but fun to hear other people’s ideas of a given topic.
Weekly Blog Question #8- October 30th How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project go with your sponsor? Did they have good insight on how to expand or improve the project? How does your project bridge what you do at your internship and what you like to create for yourself? Has your relationship with your sponsor evolved as you’ve engaged in a creative dialogue? Are there challenges in your project?
My Intern project is still in the planning portion of the process. I am thinking of many amazing ideas to really make the project unique and worth watching. Desiree and I have a lot of plans bouncing off of each other regarding the color scheme and who we will incorporate in the project. Desiree feels as though her daughter should be involved and it sparked the idea of utilizing other teens my age to show our amazing work as a whole. (By involving fellow interns such as Lachlan). Desiree had great insight for the project regarding the theme and color scheme. She also assisted me with easy but efficient ideas for the dress I wish to create. She has great insight on how to take on the challenge diligently. My project is a great way to incorporate my love for fashion into the working side of my internship because Desiree and I share very similar ideas. Desiree’s and I’s relationship has always been very fun and casual. (We always get work done, but our conversations range from home life to the work world.) However, as we have slowly incorporated new ideas for the project our conversations have taught me more about the pro’s and con’s of creating your own pieces of work. The challenges of my project idea is the issue of attempting to correlate timing for everyone involved to truly, and smoothly execute the project.
Weekly Blog Question #9: November 13th What have you seen or experienced in your internship that has inspired you the most on your own journey? Has this experience changed your artistic ambitions? how?
A couple things I have seen in my internship that inspired me on my own journey for Cosmetology is the vast variety of style from various workers and participants in various events. Everyone within Desiree’s community appear to have a unique vintage and edgy look. It is an intriguing and small personal gain to be inspired by others style, but very fun to adopt from other’s amazing looks. On the contrary, everyone coming in and out of the shop daily showed new amazing styles. Also, learning from Desiree the pro’s of purchasing vintage from antique shows and selling for a larger sum of money (though reasonable) for profit was an inspiring to possible pursue. My favorable experience with the Denver Fashion Truck most definitely was the fashion show. I truly want to pursue a career in the fashion world. Possibly in assisting behind the scenes with makeup and putting on new outfits. The experience of the show inspired me tremendously. Also, interacting with customers also showed me my enjoyment of talking and assisting with with others. I can now see myself majoring in college with communication classes to further getting to know other people. In the beginning of the internship, I did not realize my interest in media. After talking to many people in the industry, multimedia easily correlates with fashion and how to create and image for your brand. After reaching the end of my experience with Desiree, I definitely found my intentions for my future career broadening.
Weekly Blog Question #10- 11/12/17 Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or why not? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted your expectations? What is the most important learning you did in your internship?
Overall, my experience with the Denver Fashion Truck was extremely beneficial. There was so many positives in the work I was submerged in. Whether it was assisting in the truck itself, assisting at the brick and mortar, or in various events involving professional communication. Everything within my journey, Desiree was very considerate to ensure I got something out of it, and it was geared as much as it could with my love for cosmetology and fashion. I learned a lot about the value of friendship. Being kind to everyone can grant you a connection that you may need in the future. The reality of the internship definitely matched and exceeded my expectations. I was only expecting to work scheduled hours at the store, however I was able to do a lot more. From assisting Fashion Shows to Art Shows, to interacting with clients. The most important learning that occurred during my internship was probably learning verbal communication and strategy. It’s ideal to be strategic when working with clients and completing small tasks such as labeling and counting inventory. Also, i learned the importance of being keen on time in order to complete every duty necessary quickly and efficiently. Overall I truly appreciate the experience I was granted Junior year, when I was in my MultiMedia class and Nache came into my class. It seems like it was just yesterday when I started my first day at the shop. It’s a happy and sad time for the internship to come to an end. It’s positive to finally be done, and appreciate all the work I have completed, but always sad for it to actually end. I’m very lucky to have had such an amazing opportunity. 🙂