The First Four Months of my Lawton Internship
I have never had the role as an intern before, so I had no idea what to expect going into this marketing position. Although I had taken various classes at St. Norbert College, the real marketing world was intimidating. To start my experience, I had an awesome mentor, Andy Mastalir, who is head of the sales and marketing department. He assured me that I could introduce new ideas and be creative when it came to promoting the company on social media – which I happened to grow up using. He also mentioned that as an intern, he does not expect me to be perfect, but to always strive for improvement. During my first week, I had met with the CEO, Alex Lawton, and President Barry Adamski. I appreciated that Alex and Barry, both very busy people, took the time to formally welcome me to the company. They gave an insight into Lawton’s goals and their family oriented culture. It did not take long for my co-workers at Lawton to demonstrate that family culture to me. From retirement cakes, birthday celebrations, Christmas dinner, and even to a bag of cheese curds on the front desk, Lawton exemplifies what it means to care about their employees.
During my first week at Lawton, I was also introduced to Terra Fletcher of Fletcher Consulting. Terra has shared her knowledge of how to create content that captures and interests your audience. We collaborate monthly to discuss new content and plan our postings for the upcoming months. Lawton also has weekly one-on-one meetings. These meetings are meant to recap the work that has been done and talk about future projects. EBI Lites, also known as employee based ideas, are implemented to make one’s job safer, easier, or better. It needs to cost less than fifty dollars and take less than two hours to do. EBI Lites are a way to assure Lawton and its employees are continuously improving.
In one week, I went from not knowing anything about Lawton’s marketing program, to designing brochures and writing press releases. Although I have only been at Lawton for a few short months, it took no time to find my place and be welcomed by everyone. I look forward to expanding my knowledge and experiences as an intern here at Lawton.
Sarah Sprout
I am currently a junior at St. Norbert College majoring in Communication Arts with a minor in Business Administration. I am a hardworking student with a strong interest in technology, social media, and public relations.