Academic Internship

Directed Work Experience

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My Academic Internship experience allowed me to continue working as a Sales Leader at Express in MacArthur Center because of it still allowed me to learn practical fashion, training, and marketing work competencies through a field experience. Through working at Express as able to learn how to work in a team toward common goals and metrics, learn to understand the importance of business metrics to decision making, and learn how to effectively manage and motivate a team. In my development, I was able to learn about visual merchandising under one of the top Brand Managers in the Hampton Roads and North Carolina market.

The above photos are pictures of myself and the other members of the management team at Express. I was able to learn different leadership traits from each manager I worked with. We would have sales leadership team meetings monthly to discuss the business metrics from the previous month and set goals for the next month. The longer that we worked together, we worked better together and were more likely to meet our goals.

Through this experience, I developed a multitude of skills that employers are seeking. All of my responsibilities at Express were team oriented, whether it was managing the team during my segments, Sunday store cleanings, and visual merchandising to name a few. Working in a team structure is a skill that is needed for almost all career areas and it is a skill that is critical to individual professional success. I also had to make in-the-moment, critical business decisions if the business metrics were not up to par. These decisions included re-zoning sales associates to better match their strengths and the needs of the company, making payroll cuts that would benefit the business, and solving problems as they arose. Lastly, I had to sell to strangers, some of whom became friends and mentors, on a daily basis, in doing so, I learned that I had to approach every customer differently and still find a way to uncover and meet their needs. I also had to influence my sales team to bring their best selves to work and encourage them to do their best at work not only for my sake, but for their sake as well.

Being a manager in a retail environment prepares you for so many careers beyond retail. My ability to code switch and adapt to a variety of environments came from working in retail where things may change each day or even every hour. I can also say that I learned how to best reach people without being mean or rude. My manager would always want me to put my foot down with our sales associates when the metrics were not meeting our set goals. As a result of this, I had to find a way to reach my team in a way where I did not have to change who I was. In all this experience taught me, that being honest goes a long way. Being honest with my customers kept them coming back and looking for me specifically. In being honest with the sales associate team, I was able to help improve the behaviors of our lower performing team members and build an open relationship with them. In my recent coursework, I learned that effective managers are those who build trust and open relationships with their team.