Kenzie Devine - Olive Branch Operations
This summer, I have really enjoyed my internship experience and everything it has taught me. Memphis is a very interesting place, which has its own culture that is much different than where I am from. While living here, I went to a lot of cool places; Overton Square, Beale Street, Memphis Zoo, FedEx St. Jude Classic, Graceland, Bass Pro, Central BBQ, etc. I love that even though Memphis isn’t necessarily a big city, there is still a lot of different things to do. While searching for an internship for this summer, I purposely applied for companies that were away from home and I plan to do the same when looking for a full time position to begin after this school year. Relocating for an internship has given me a completely different experience than I would have if living at home. I believe relocating for anything really helps a person to grow as an individual and learn how to take care of themselves. Because of this, the lifestyle and responsibly I have maintained while living here will be extremely similar to how my life will look after I finish school. Though there were many things I enjoyed about Memphis, the main one was how friendly the people are. Not that people in the Midwest are mean, but people around here seem to go out of their way to make other people feel at home. Another aspect I have enjoyed is how prominent the history and culture are around the city. Not only does Memphis have the Civil Rights museum and Graceland, but even places such as small restaurants are a big part of the local people’s pride. There are so many places to go that I would have never even known about without living here for a few months.
Working for Williams-Sonoma has definitely been a useful experience. Being an intern, we got a lot of exposure to upper level management that most companies would not have given us. The environment within the company is very unique because of how open communication is. I like that even though there are often different levels of people working together, there is never a disconnect. The people here are good at not looking for departments to put the blame on when there is an issue, but instead working together to fix it. Working for WSI has taught me many things about myself and about operations as a whole. From an operations standpoint, I came in with very little knowledge because I have yet to take a class in it. It was interesting to learn about how each individual department works, as well as how they all work together. This summer taught me how crucial communication is to help a business running smoothly. Since the company has several different segments that all link together, it is almost necessary to over communicate the plan and to ensure everyone stays on the same page. For my project specifically, I was lucky enough to also build relationships with vendors outside the company. Doing this taught me about yet another level of communication that will be a useful skill to have in the future. When I was growing up, dad always used to tell me that no matter how smart you are, you will have a hard time being successful if you aren’t good with people. This summer has shown me just how true that statement is.
After my experience here, I plan to continue working in supply chain. This school year will be my last, and I will be spending a lot of it deciding what my next career steps are. Supply Chain is unique in the fact that there are so many different directions a person can go, and so much room to grow from there. The reason I picked it as my major in the first place is because of how much people interaction there is and how much change is possible. This summer proved that I made the right choice. Lastly, I believe the meetings we had planned throughout the summer have been very useful. As I said before, being able to be exposed to upper management is a rare feature WSI offers their interns. It was interesting to hear about their different career paths and to have them provide us with advice on how to better ourselves professionally.
Working for Williams-Sonoma has definitely been a useful experience. Being an intern, we got a lot of exposure to upper level management that most companies would not have given us. The environment within the company is very unique because of how open communication is. I like that even though there are often different levels of people working together, there is never a disconnect. The people here are good at not looking for departments to put the blame on when there is an issue, but instead working together to fix it. Working for WSI has taught me many things about myself and about operations as a whole. From an operations standpoint, I came in with very little knowledge because I have yet to take a class in it. It was interesting to learn about how each individual department works, as well as how they all work together. This summer taught me how crucial communication is to help a business running smoothly. Since the company has several different segments that all link together, it is almost necessary to over communicate the plan and to ensure everyone stays on the same page. For my project specifically, I was lucky enough to also build relationships with vendors outside the company. Doing this taught me about yet another level of communication that will be a useful skill to have in the future. When I was growing up, dad always used to tell me that no matter how smart you are, you will have a hard time being successful if you aren’t good with people. This summer has shown me just how true that statement is.
After my experience here, I plan to continue working in supply chain. This school year will be my last, and I will be spending a lot of it deciding what my next career steps are. Supply Chain is unique in the fact that there are so many different directions a person can go, and so much room to grow from there. The reason I picked it as my major in the first place is because of how much people interaction there is and how much change is possible. This summer proved that I made the right choice. Lastly, I believe the meetings we had planned throughout the summer have been very useful. As I said before, being able to be exposed to upper management is a rare feature WSI offers their interns. It was interesting to hear about their different career paths and to have them provide us with advice on how to better ourselves professionally.