Woo! The end of the summer is finally here! Who would have known it would go that quickly! I figure as my final entry to this blog, I should probably give an overview of the projects I completed and worked on this summer.
Press Project
· Task: Create press pages for 2000-2011 through the company's website editor
◦ Actually able to teach myself the editing software, gained sufficient knowledge of the editor by the end of the summer.
◦ Serious discipline and patience in uploading and converting press files.
◦ Knowledge about the type of advertisement that Alchimie has received over the years>> comprehensive view of how the brand has grown.
◦ Expanded my knowledge of blogging as a movement, I wasn't aware that blogs were so prevalent and so influential.
Beauty Research
◦ Task: Compile relevant beauty industry news in a document, sent them out to all company team members and keep tracking of pricing of our products sold on various retail websites.
▪ Continuously updated on industry news.
▪ Experience in reading through a plethora of information and compiling key information. Practice in deciding what stories are more interesting and hard-hitting, good for a future in PR.
▪ Reminded me of things I learned in my economics and business policy classes my freshman year and the power of pricing on a company's image and profits.
Showroom Appearance
· Task: short term project in reorganizing the appearance of the showroom shelves
◦ Adding more of an aesthetically simplistic feel to the showroom.
◦ I got a better understanding the power of merchandising and understanding that the way you display your product can have a powerful impact on profits and perception of that product.
Social Media
◦ Task: Update Alchimie foursquare account and implement trial specials to increase showroom walk-in traffic.
▪ Learned even more that social media is integral in any business' development in this day and age.
QR codes
◦ Task: research the use of QR codes and brainstorm ways to make them useful to Alchimie
▪ Created a free QR code that is now found in all Alchimie email signatures that links people to the facebook like page. The code will soon be turned into a window decal to be displayed in the showroom.
▪ QR codes are up and coming and are another form of quick relatively cheap advertising. I had never head of them before but I find them wildly interesting, especially the way various fashion brands are implementing them.
It was incredibly amazing to learn the ins and outs of a very small business, learning what type of team member dynamics, business principles, work ethic, and determination it takes to keep a business afloat in this economy. I found it refreshing to have appointed tasks every day rather than trying to create my own schedule as I had to in other internships. I found that professionalism is a character trait that I have been trying to build since I got to college and is definitely something I was able to expand upon while at Alchimie. I learned how to appropriately word emails , answer the phone properly, initiate ideas and get my messages across clearly.
At our initial meeting in the beginning of the summer, Ada's advice for me was to try and do before asking. Meaning that I would try and gather all the information I needed on a topic, mull it over, do until I couldn't anymore, and then, only at that point, ask for assistance. In essence, Ada was pushing me to be more self-reliant, which is a trait that will undoubtedly assist me in further internships, and even more generally, in life. I learned the value of minimizing the number of back and forth emails by including all the information necessary in one email with a suggestion on how to proceed so that the reader of the email knew all they needed in order to respond appropriately and quickly. All in efforts to increase productivity.
I learned a lot about showroom and business space etiquette, how to keep the workspace orderly and conducive to company success. I also learned a lot about the family aspect of Alchimie, the strong effort to “keep it in the family”, with monthly global conference calls, our meeting with Ada's mother, Barbara earlier in the summer, weekly highlights, US team conference calls; all in an effort to keep every member of the team well connected and well updated despite the vast distances between them.
Being a sophomore in college, I'm still trying to figure out what my career path will be and what industry it will be in, and this internship gave me a wealth of knowledge about the beauty/skincare industries, and I feel like they may be industries that I would like to be involved in in the future, or at least learn more about.
I so greatly appreciate all that Ada, Kate and the whole Alchimie team have done for me this summer. It has been an invaluable experience and I will certainly be keeping in touch for years to come!
-Nanette Nunu
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