Marian Externship Week by Alyssa Bartlett
On a Mission to Supply.Happiness.
Last week Drexel welcomed two Marian students; Kyle Quintell and Alyssa Bartlett who chose to complete their Externships here. The goal of the externship is to give the students insight to how a business works and the different career opportunities available. Throughout the week these students were able to learn the ins and outs of Drexel culture through presentations, lunches, and job shadowing. Upon completion of the week, Alyssa wrote about her experience- check it out below!
Day 1
Day one at Drexel started off with introductions with Caitlin Stoll, Happy People Leader, and the New hires. Then Chelsea Watzig, HPD/CCRAB Coordinator, took us on a tour of the building. After the tour, Caitlin presented a PowerPoint about Drexel which included the Mission, Core Values, and their culture. Mission: Supply. Happiness. Core Values: Ethics, Respect, Balance, Winning Attitude, Development, Team Work, Change, Communication, Have Fun, and Accountability. We then had lunch with Joel Fleischman, President/Owner, which we learned more about the History of the Company. After lunch, we had the opportunity to shadow Danielle Thimmig, Flooring/Window Treatments Specialist. We received a tour of the show room and learned more about her job/ the process she uses for each for each job. We then ended our day by working on our blog.
Day 2
Day two at Drexel consisted of meeting the mentors for the new hires and listening to the presentations from many of the departments. Andy Rettler, Chief Operating Officer, started the morning off with his presentation. Then Doug Carlson; Vice President of Sales, Stacey Stoffel; Marketing Director, Nathan Grinwald; Chief Technology Officer, Kari Wik; Accounts Payable Leader, Julie Korth; Accounts Receivable Leader, Beth Pautsch; Vice President of Cabinetry Sales, Paul Reis; Purchasing, Eric Beck; Yard Leader who presented about safety in the yard and lastly, Caitlin Stoll who talked about what type of personality we have. Throughout the whole day we heard presentations from everyone listed above. After we heard about half of the presentations, we went out for lunch with Andy, the new hires, and their mentors. We then continued the presentations after lunch. We ended the day working on the blog.
Day 3
Day three at Drexel started off by shadowing Dan Hall, Pole Barn Specialist. I was able to learn about what his typical day is. At 9am we attended the Account Manager Roundtable/training at Camelot Golf Club. We spent the day learning about the sales from the previous year and their goals for this next quarter and year. Each Drexel team member that attended the roundtable had to come up with one word that they will work on for this next year. Each Drexel location also shared their sales and how they will improve within the next year. This roundtable training lasted all day, which was a great opportunity to attend and listen to each team member’s thoughts and input.
