The night before I started my internship I was incredibly nervous. I had no idea what I had signed up for, what I was going to be doing, or how under or over qualified I was for the tasks that I was going to be granted. After walking off the site, I believe that I am a much more educated, confident, and informed professional. I have learned what certain work environments are like, how to act, what to say, and how to get the most out of what you are doing. I think that now I feel better and less scared for potential internships that I am going to have in the future. I feel as though I am more proficient in using tools such as excel, Winmo, Salesforce, LinkedIn, and more. If I could go back to the night before my internship started, I would tell myself that I have nothing to be nervous about, because I am doing things that are at the literal bottom of the food chain, so no one is going to be wildly disappointed if I do not know how to do something, or if I don’t spend 5-6 hours a day at the office. Past Lily would be incredibly satisfied, and not entirely surprised at how comfortable I have become since I started working here, how I feel more confident, and happy to come here every day. I might not have something to do every single second, but it has been a really good balance of a little stressful, relaxed, and good solid work. I am really thankful for the experience that I have had here at Spartan, and I am really excited to see what the future has to come in terms of work, for the stuff that I did here was all very small. I am excited to take on some bigger projects as I become a part of the real world in the next four years. I am also excited to get rewarded for my work. I realized that money is the equivalent to grades in the real world, and that we work to get high grades in the same way we work hard to earn a healthy pay check. I am excited for the day when all of my hard work pays off, and I have something to show for it.
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I get to the office around 2ish every day and so everyone has mostly already eaten lunch, but from what I get, most people eat lunch at their desks and work through lunch. Some people I sit next to heat up food in the microwave upstairs and eat at their desks every day. They sometimes go out together and eat lunch but most of the time, it is just two or three people going out to buy a sandwich or something. If I ever eat while I am there, I usually just eat a snack at my desk. I do not tend to eat a full meal while i am there, but rather a yogurt or a snack. I am not sure if there is a designated place where the employees eat, but they can eat mostly wherever they’d like, like their desks or the conference room. The lunchtime routine that the Spartan employees have reflects the intense work ethic that the employees have.
My industry definitely takes the time to take care of the little things. The little things in my industry are very important because customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance. The racers are the most important people in the industry, along with the sponsors. Spartan has to do an excellent job of keeping the racers happy because they’re the people who are keeping the company afloat. I think that as a market research intern, my job to to take care of the little things in general. My jobs is to mainly do the work that no one else wants to do, aka looking up peoples names and doing little things that no one else wants to do.
There is definitely an endpoint to learning at my job. The first week was mostly figuring out how to navigate the different data bases. I was originally given three sources to use as a Market Researching Intern: LinkedIn, Winmo, and Salesforce. The majority of my job is my supervisors giving me different industries to investigate, and then researching people in different companies and importing their information into spreadsheets. I like being there because I like the people there, and I like the exposure that I am getting to the business world, but the work can definitely get a little tedious because I am the definition at the bottom of the totem pole.
There is definitely a fine line between work and play. All of the people that I work around at Spartan have a really good balance of work and play. They all get all of their work done, but also find time to socialize with each other, discuss their brackets for a couple of minutes, talk about upcoming weekend plans, and their real lives outside of work. They use socializing as a mini break from what they are actually working on, and it is much more social than just taking a break by going on your phone. This socialization that takes place also establishes a trust/friendship/bond to arise between co-workers which is very healthy in a work environment. Not all play has to be productive. Taking a break my socializing or checking your bracket will in turn make you more productive in the future because you will either feel as though you have some catching up to do, and make you more productive in the long run.
The general public general knows about the industry as a whole, but not necessarily this company specifically. Often when I tell people about my internship, I have to compare Spartan to competitors such as Iron Man, Warrior Dash, and Tough Mudder. People who learn about Spartan Race always ask me first if I have competed in one before (which I haven’t if you were curious), and then always are intrigued as to what I am actually doing for them. People definitely see the company in a positive light. They usually look it up on the internet and see what all of the hype is about and are interested in getting to know a bit about the company! People have even asked me to send them information about the upcoming races in Boston! Click the button to take the survey!
Being an employee at Spartan Race means more than just working for the company. The staff is an interconnected team that heavily relies on each other in order to be as successful as possible. I feel as though I have a part at this company that is important. As tedious as data entry can be from time to time, being a part of something small that will make the information easy and accessible for someone to turn into a sponsor is rewarding. Because I am so new and so young it is hard for me to truly feel like I’m doing something that will affect everyone here, but everything I do is a couple less hours each day for someone else to tackle so that they can actually be doing something productive. Some people definitely value my opinion on certain things more than others, but I feel really trusted when someone gives me a task because they are anticipating that with zero incentive, I will do an excellent job on any given task and make their day just a little bit easier.
As the weeks progress, I continue to feel more and more a part of the team. I am slowly given more difficult tasks, and I hope I can continue to tackle bigger projects rather than smaller ones like entering data into the databases I was given at the beginning of my internship. The people here all have a very strong work ethic and the people in this industry are all very determined to succeed, which has definitely rubbed off on me. I do not want to let these people down because if I mess up, then I can mess them up in the future because they relied on me to enter the correct data and to find the appropriate people to contact. The world would be a different place is Spartan Race or any of its competitors were to disappear. These companies were derived by adrenalin junkies who are looking to push their bodies to the maximum. If they were to disappear, many people would feel as though the company would be going against every single one of its morals. The whole point of Spartan is that it is a group of motivated and dedicated individuals, and if the people on the inside who do all of the behind the scenes work were to just give up, it would not only make the company look bad, but it would also make the people that have put so much time and effort into this lifestyle feel empty. If the company were to go under, then the people that do these races would find new ways to push themselves and train. They have become to adapted to a specific lifestyle that encompasses simplicity, discipline, and motivation.
The individuals that spartan targets are very specific, in that they are people that want a challenge, want to get off the couch, or want to change their lifestyle. The people who engage in this activity/sport would find a new way to find the rush of success and completion. People do these races so that they can cross the finish line and look at all of the things that they have accomplished. If this all were to just disappear, people would need to find something else in their lives that are just as fulfilling as completing a race. People find this rush in every single sport, whether they are getting a kill in volleyball, scoring a goal in soccer, or making a basket in basketball. Everyone is able to accomplish that feeling of success and fulfillment. People that do these races know that the motto “You’ll know at the finish line” is so true because no one does these races because they are “fun and easy”. They do them because the final moments of fully exhausting your body and pushing it to the max is the best and most accomplishing feeling in the world. If this were to all disappear, they would find other ways to get this surge of adrenaline. The general employee attitude is vey positive. I am fairly certain that the sponsorship/ sales/ marketing/ licensing division gets paid per commission. This means that they only get paid when they make a sale, and they do not get a monthly salary. I find that although this might be a more at risk job because you are not always guaranteed a steady pay check, it motivates the workers to push to find new clients to sponsor the company. There is a good combination and work in play, in that the workers socialize but a good amount in that they do not seem distracted, they are connecting on a bigger level and building a team while working. They also get a variety of free products because of all the different sponsors that they bring in, so they have the opportunity to socialize by connecting over new juices that are put into the fridge or new protein bars that are up for grabs in the conference room. There is definitely an air for respect in the office. Everyone is very respectful of each other and of the divisions boss. I believe that you have to be a certain type of person if you want to work at this company because the whole purpose of Spartan is to get people off of the couch and moving, so they hire motivated people who lead a healthy lifestyle and want to succeed in life. I believe that the positivity and drive the employees have affect me and my work ethics, for I don't want to lag behind. I want to catch up and appreciate how hard every individual has worked. The employees are a team.
The CAPStone Internship program is more than just working the second semester of senior year. It is an investigation of an industry that I am interested in and could potentially pursue in the future. With just days before my internship starts, I am anxious and excited to learn what work awaits me. When I went in for my formal interview, I was told that I am going to be a "professional stalker" in that I will gather information on potential clients, prep my boss for meetings, and make presentations with the data that I collect with the potential of doing some public speaking. I know this industry is very competitive and fast paced, for there are many other companies that are doing something similar to Spartan like Iron Man and Tough Mudder. I believe this industry has great potential to become hugely successful, and is on the right path. I believe that the key to this industry is to be backed by big named sponsors, like Reebok, so that more people will become familiar with the brand and want to become a part of this growing phenomena. I believe that Spartan Race is different than any other company because of the family that built it up. The idea, the drive, and the motivation that the founder has is unparalleled to the work ethic of many. Because of this, I believe that the company will attain great success. Originally, I became interested in marketing because my mom worked for numerous magazines including New York Magazine, Marie Claire, Sportswear International/In Fashion, Electronic News, and Home Furnishings Daily working in advertising sales and selling ads to clients. She would travel internationally and connect with clients, and her work always sounded incredibly fulfilling and enticing, and I have always wanted to do something similar.
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