The Bamboo decks I am selling at skate shops and skate parks!
We are already into week 4 of the internship! I have to admit that I did not think this internship would be such a big commitment when I signed up for it. I am finding it is difficult to meet my 20 hour requirement while also working another job. It is definitely a sacrifice to do something like this without being paid. With that being said, I believe this internship will pay dividends down the road. The things I am learning about business will make me much more marketable when this internship is completed. Even more importantly, I am learning more about myself. Since I still do not know exactly what I want to do for a career, I like the fact that I am exposed to every area at BambooSk8 from marketing to sales to operations and inventory. I think working a little bit in each of these areas will help me identify what I do like and what I don’t like so I know what to focus on when I get out of here.
Even though we are only interns, we are definitely not treated like interns. We have access to all their information, facilities, etc. from Day 1. We are held accountable for meeting our goals. The office is super cool too. It is a laid back environment but everyone works really hard! Being connected to the warehouse and getting to see all their products helps even further to understand the Bamboo business model. And finally, a company wouldn’t be anything without good people. The mentors here are all dedicated to helping us succeed. On top of that, they are fun to hang out with. Since I work in the office on Fridays, I am around when they make their weekend plans so I got a chance to hang out with the crew for pizza and drinks Friday night, good times!
Yasha Meyer: 2nd place at 4th Southern Slaughter 2012
On January 29th, 2012 I attended the 4th annual Southern Slaughter 2012 skate competition at 3rd Lair Park in Golden Valley, MN. I went to support BambooSK8’s own ECO TRIBE- Level 3 rider, Yasha Meyer. After battling through day one and qualifying for the final on Sunday, I was there on Sunday to cheer Yasha on. He was riding the NEW 4th Generation Owl & Cat deck with all the swag in the world. After a long day on Sunday, Yasha was ready for the results. His BambooSK8 Owl & Cat deck served him well and he placed 2nd in the 13-15 year old finals!
The event brought out some awesome skaters with a lot of talent. I fell in love with all the kids in the 8 and under age group. The future of skating boarding will be in those kids! 3rd Lair did such an awesome job for this event. I cannot wait to go back for another event! Props go out to Mark Muller and all the guys down at 3rd Lair. BambooSK8 is super proud of Yasha and everything he is doing. Check out the video of highlights from the event.
Hello Hello!!
It is week 4 of this internship and it is flying by. There have been a lot of things to do but it’s totally worth it! I can’t get over how much I have learned so far! I’m still pretty stoked about being an intern! Over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of PR work for BambooSK8! We are given goals or commitments to reach per week and let me tell ya, it’s an eye opener! I’m learning to manage my time better and that “the devil is in the details.” Yet in still, it’s awesome! I love that I get to spread the word about these products to everyone I see, call and email. Lately, I’ve been contacting different festivals, eco events and magazines that BambooSK8 can be a part of. Time to represent!!
Oh! how could I forget the Greenwashed Music Ritual? Curious huh? Well…
The Green Washed Ritual II digital music compilation features 10 amazing artists from around the world who have kindly donated one song each to promote sustainability. For every purchase on the BambooSK8 website, you will receive via email an access code for all 10 songs upon completion of the shopping cart purchase. As a bonus, you will also get the 20 songs from the first GWR compilation. Pretty stellar, right?!?! I mean, who doesn’t like music?
Show some love for these awesome bands by letting your friends know who you are listening to and purchase the bands music!!
With everything going on, I did steal some time to skate a bit….
to do some luging?
and sing “With or Without You” by U2 to a lady at work….note the pen microphone! LOL
She was diggin it!!!
I think overall all of us interns are developing strategies to meet our goals and represent for BambooSK8 in the way should! And we will!! It’ll be really cool to see what the next couple of weeks will bring and what I will learn from this company, my mentors and from the other interns! I’m expecting the best in every situation.
By the way, you want to do your good deed for the day?
“Like” us on FB: www.facebook.com/BambooSk8
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/BambooSK8
Check out the Greenwashed music Ritual: www.bamboosk8.com/misc/music.php
And last but certainly not least, buy a bamboo board! Save a tree. Skate green!
Yo Yo,
It is now week 4 and I have learned so much in this internship already it’s crazy! I am the in-office person for Hook-It, Twitter and YouTube and just keeping up with these 3 is a challenge. I am always looking for a challenge, but I was not expecting the amount of time this internship was going to require. It has taken me a while, but I am beginning to adapt to the chaos and starting to actually enjoy it. Moving forward, I have learned tons of information on the strategy taken by companies to improve their product. It is amazing how you can go about selling the same product in a different way and have it succeed rather than fail. Bamboo has a competitive niche in the market and that is that their boards are lighter; stronger; and most importantly eco-friendly. This gives them the competitive advantage over other board companies. I started riding my first deck last week and I can now tell people what I truly think of the product I am selling. I can only say one thing, they are AWSOME!!! I am never going to ride a maple deck again!
The bosses are really helping me this week when it comes to the different goals and commitments I am working on. I appreciate all of their help, because I know how much time it takes out of their day to help us as well as how much this information will help me in relation to my future jobs. I am also learning a lot about myself, how much I can accomplish and how long it is going to take me. I am excited to start editing old videos and brainstorming new ideas for projects. I am also excited for future contests and events that we are going to hold, because it is good to be involved in the community and give these kids something to get excited about!!! I leave you with a link to the video I made from my trip to Bali in August…
We’re now at the end of our first month with Bamboosk8 and lots it’s happening. When I start to think “OK, I’m getting the hang of it” something comes up in my email and a new exciting task is given to us. So far we’ve been put in charge of different sections of the brand with KPI’s that we have to reach weekly forcing us to work hard and come up with new ways to achieve our goals.
Also, this week I’m moving to a new place which makes everything even harder, however I’m very excited to make new friends and spread the word about Bamboosk8. I’ve got some decks coming Down Under soon, so I’ll start skating different spots and get people’s attention with my higher than usual ollies thanks to the greater pop that comes from the bamboo!
Have you ever had to move house? How was it? leave a comment if you want.
On top of that, this week I also lost a friend and it’s been hard to keep positive and keep going through such a hard time. Shaun was a good friend of mine and I’ll miss him, but what I’ll miss more is having a chat everyday about the surf or having a beer on the veranda, while another plane was passing by in order to land. You would have never thought he was ill, apart from rare occasions and he was always laughing. Anyway, that’s a picture of him and I will always remember him as a friend that never asked anything in return for his friendship.
Did you loose anyone in your life? how did you cope? leave a comment if you want.
In the end, it’s been a hectic month, but I’m leraning so much that it cannot be put in text here. I’m in a team working on Facebook (go and LIKE the page if you haven’t yet at http://www.facebook.com/BambooSk8), we’re working with athletes and followers on Hook it (http://www.hookit.com/brands/bamboosk8/) and we’ve been learning about how to work in a team, about cash flows, income statements and more.
This internship is a massive learning curve for me and everyone else, I hope you get inspired by our stories and you will apply as well for future internships in your way to get work experience in the action sport industry and to help people learn about the environment buying sustainable brands.
When I found this opportunity at BambooSk8, I had recently graduated from college in San Francisco. I took a couple months after college to relax, get my resume together, take a little trip to Florida, and a cruise to Alaska. Once I got some vaca out of the way, I started to get into the swing of things, sending out endless resumes for all kinds of jobs, getting a response very rarely of a phone interview and no return call. I started to think more and more about what kind of company I really wanted to work for and how I can make it happen.
My first thoughts were that I needed to gain valuable experience no matter what, so I focused a lot on internship opportunities. I realized I’d like to work for a company that is socially responsible, or who has a greater cause. Or I’d like to work with a company related to my interests in skateboarding or plants. BambooSk8 was everything I was looking for in one opportunity.
I really started skateboarding when I was about 11 years old, and like Pringles chips, once I popped I couldn’t stop, hehe. Ever since then I’ve been hooked and have continued to go out and have fun skateboarding, especially being in the bay area hitting up fresh spots I didn’t grow up skating.
My interest in plants came from a project I did for fun for my parents, completely redoing their landscape and irrigation. I turned planters of dirt and rot into tropical succulent lush beautiful planters of life. I planted fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, flowers, ferns, succulents, pretty much everything I could get my hands on. Definitely some bamboo, 4 different varieties!!
When I began the internship, I realized it wasn’t all running through fields of bamboo with wind in my face jumping on my board shredding bamboo half pipes. Although, I did also realize that this is going to be an intense program that has the potential to greatly enhance my professional development and help steer me in the right direction towards finding a career path I can walk down with a smile on my face. Also, that it’s up to me to make the most of this great opportunity.
So far, we have been getting used to some of the tools we are going to be using to promote BambooSk8 and to interact with skateboarders. We’ve also been learning all about BambooSk8 and what makes it a great company. We’ve been working a great deal on our own professional development: learning our weaknesses, our goals, and how we can improve our interviewing skills. We’ve done a lot of collaboration between interns and mentors, contributing ideas and sharing lessons, and started to become acquainted with one another.
M future goals are to take what I learn in this internship and to move on to gaining more experience relative to tasks I excelled in during the internship. I want to narrow down a more specific career path and have more specific goals. Once I have my focused path, I will bust my ass to become the best at what I do. I’m looking at the next 14 weeks with the highest hopes and a hungry, determined spirit. Much thanks to everyone at BambooSk8!!
The video links at the bottom of this post (Berkeley, Bobby longboarding) may be glitchy or take a while to load, especially the longboarding one because it’s longer, and don’t view it full screen, sorry bout that.
Makeshift spot right next to the ocean
The infamous hubba hideout on the verge of destruction
It’s been quite a ride for me to get to where I am with BambooSk8 today. So I guess I’ll begin with where it all started. I was born and raised in a suburb of Connecticut about an hour outside of New York City. I continued on to Penn State University where I had a great college experience. After college, I followed what I thought was the expected path and took the 1st high paying job I was offered without really giving much thought to what I really wanted to do with my life. After 18 months working back in Connecticut with a well known insurance company spending most of my days in a cubicle managing multiple Excel spreadsheets, I decided I had enough. So I quit my job and moved to South Lake Tahoe, CA in December of 2010. I spent the winter working for Heavenly Mountain Resort and snowboarding just about every day. Life was good, but as spring came and the snow melted I knew it wouldn’t last. But what I did realize was that I wanted to work around something that I was passionate about. For me, that was snowboarding, or really anything in the Action Sports Industry. So when I moved in with some old college buddies in San Diego this past July, I got an awesome internship with an upcoming snowboarding magazine called SBX Magazine. I learned a lot about marketing and worked with some really great people. However, I knew that working in the Action Sports Industry was difficult to break into. I just didn’t have enough connections or experience. So I got a job valet parking to pay the bills here in SD while I refocused on my search for a more traditional career. But I did still frequently peruse Malakye (the job listing site for action sports), which is where I found the opening with BambooSk8. So here I am today, trying to give another shot at following my passions by working with BambooSk8!
PS. Attached are a couple photos from my winter in Lake Tahoe, there is one that might give you an idea about how much it dumped last winter!
I am happy to say that I am part of the 12th class of interns and the first class with out-of-state interns! I am currently living in Menomonie, WI and going to school at the University of Wisconsin- Stout. I am majoring in Retail Merchandising and Management with a concentration in Buying and Product Development, a minor in Business Administration and an emphasis in Apparel Design.
I am going to be very busy these next couple months. Along with this wonderful internship, I have a job with the productions club at my school. I am the Special Events Coordinator. This means I am in charge of bringing a bigger name artist to the Stout campus. In the past we have brought Atmosphere, Ingrid Michaelson, and Motion City Soundtrack. I have a passion for music, art, fashion, and the action sport industry.
I am excited to see all the doors that BambooSK8 will open and all that I will achieve. I am so happy to be part of this BambooSK8 team. I have NEVER worked with such driven people and I am already learning so much. I have BambooSK8 on the brain all the time now and it’s great. Menomonie, WI is pretty far from Oceanside, CA (2021.76 miles), but it is amazing how close the Internet can bring us together. I will be taking Wisconsin by storm and looking to get BambooSK8 all over the state!
I’ve finally started the internship at Bamboosk8 and now I am part of the tribe as well. I gotta admit.. I thought it was going to be an easy start you know??!! Au contraire! We’ve been flooded wit lots of things to do and to set up, which I’m really happy about, because unlike other internships I’m not going around buying coffees for everyone else, but I’m actually working to improve the company results and the tight crew here at Bamboosk8 really welcomed us all with open arms.
I’m working from Australia, which is cool since Bamboosk8 is not known here, so I’m really excited (and the guys in the office are as well) to hopefully expand in the land Down Under.
There’s interns from all over the US and from different walks of life, just stroll around the blog to read their posts as well and see how they’re going and what they think about the internship. It’s awesome to work all along towards achieving our goals in life and on the professional side.
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to go and watch an amateur contest search here on the Gold Coast (Australia), so I took the initiative of taking some footage with my Gopro for you all to see.
It was great to see so much talent and the vibe was really cool, no barriers or security, so I could actually go and mingle next to the competitors in the contest area and have a prime view of the shredding happening. You know, there might be future flow riders there that haven’t been discovered yet!
Anyway, these two weeks I’ve started learning a lot about myself as a person and how hard it is to actually manage my time between my other job as a lifeguard and the requirements of the internship. From next week things will change again and me and the other interns will start working really hard to get quantifiable results that we can use towards achieving our goals.
My goals for the internship is to learn as much as possible about marketing and the action sport industry, while making leifelong friends and connections along the way.
Keep following my posts every second week to find out what’s happening at Bamboosk8 and how the internship evolves.
Hello all! My name is Jessi, and I am very excited about being apart of BambooSk8′s 12th internship class. I grew up in beautiful Encinitas California. I am also fortunate to have spent most of my childhood and summers in Jackson Hole Wyoming. So I have had a lot of diversity when it comes to outdoor activities. I LOVE to fish, camp, snowboard, swim and travel. I actually just spend a week in Cabo San Lucas with some pretty awesome friends…
Anyway…The question of the year seems to be what do you do now that you are out of college? To which I answer, I supplement my surgical consulting job with an internship at Bamboosk8. Then I am usually hit with, “Why an internship?” Well….let me tell you. Having just graduated from Cal State San Marcos (WOOHOOO) I needed a job! However, if you aren’t aware by now, obtaining a super awesome 9-5 that can pay your bills has seemingly joined the ranks of mythical creatures by being IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND! Even though my resume is pretty solid from years of hard work to put myself through college, it is a bit scattered. This didn’t help my job-hunt. So, I thought that finding a credible internship where I can get actual experience and help fine-tune my resume is just what I needed.
ENTER BAMBOOSK8!!!
I found the internship opportunity online at Malakye. Before I applied I looked over their website and found what I was looking for. I wasn’t going to be filing documents and taking out the trash like normal internships can consist of. I was actually going to be apart of projects! Setting and reaching goals, and creating a track record! And lets face it…being able to track your progress and prove that you did something is just what is needed these days to get you ahead in this 2012 rat race.
So. Once I got the internship I started my orientation week. I felt that I was back in college! There are numerous deadlines that I will be accounted for. Documents due every week, and weekly meetings to make sure I can still keep my head above water. But let me tell you!!! I couldn’t be happier! I’m meeting awesome people, getting awesome life lessons, and living my life post college!
People always say that as you get older time seems to go by quicker and quicker as the years go on, I must be getting old then because I have no clue where the last 16 went! It is hard to even describe what has happened in these last 16 weeks but it seems that so much about myself has grown. When talking with all of my friends from college I said that I learned more in my time here than I did during 4 years of college. They would all laugh about this little “joke” they thought I was telling, but it was the complete truth. Leaving college I had a plethora of environmental knowledge and know how but I had minimal real world business knowledge. This internship has allowed me to learn some of the ins and outs of a small action sports company. This being said I am extremely proud of myself and to date I think this has been my biggest accomplishment in my “career” realm.
If you are interested in working within the action sports world this is the perfect stepping stone for you. This is an internship that will push your boundries and your knowledge, but in the end it is all worth it. You will spend hours setting up your excel sheet and studying for the midterm and final, but you will spend just as much time immersing yourself within the culture of the action sports world at events and outings.
There were moments when I thought I was never going to make it out alive but I stuck with it and pulled through in the end. I would like to thank all my fellow interns that made this an amazing experience and I’d like to congratulate Kyle and Tyler for finishing it off with style!
Thank you to everyone at BambooSK8 that made these last 16 weeks amazing!!
Yes it is almost thanksgiving, a time to stuff your face until you can no longer move, and may possibly have to be rolled around like a giant bouncy ball…. but thats not what I am talking about. I mean there are only four weeks left of this internship… I’m not quite sure where that time went, I feel like I was just sitting down to meet everyone, and now its almost over.
Its definitely been a bumpy road full of laughs, jokes, learning, trying over and over, and a bit stressful at times, whether it was stress over if you are going to make all your points, not being able to figure something out, or things just not going your way. All in all I’d say it was definitely a positive experience. I definitely have been learning what goes into running a company and how important key factors, such as communication and team work really are. I’m also happy to say I will walk away a more confident person with a few new friends.
The most stressful points in my intern experience would definitely have to be selling boards and managing my time efficiently. Sales is definitely not a strong point of mine, never was. I am not pushy enough when people show me they really are not interested in the product. I just think of when I am shopping and that one sales person comes up to me and constantly tries to keep selling me things, it makes me want to leave the store, and I just fear that someone will think that of me. BUT managing my time more efficiently was definitely something I was able to work on. In the beginning I just did things as they came to me, not stopping to think how much time would be needed or how it would effect other things I had to get done. Needless to say that got me in some trouble and actually caused me to fail the second month of the internship. That was a wake up call for me to start looking at my week before it happened. Looking at what NEEDS to be done and doing those things right away so I could make time for the smaller commitments I had, and the photography I had to do. Which I am also very happy about, that Geoff has decided to make me the Photographer for the skate team, so I get a chance to incorporate what I know and what I love to do into my work.
Well on the more personal side of things tomorrow I am leaving for TAHOE! Yay!! I get to go snowboard and see all of my friends for a week. I also get to spend thanksgiving with my aunt and grandma so I am pretty happy that I will get to see them as well.
So I am sure you’ll have a pretty exciting blog by the end of the week to read, full of pictures.. but until then…
Just thought I’d make a little blog for you all to share the events of Nates surprise party we held for him last night…..At Chuck E Cheese…. thats right… I said it. Nate didn’t even see it coming, I mean, who would? 9 grown ups at chuck E cheese? Anyways, after all the girls’s stealth moves to run through the place without being seen through the giant windows, Geoffs clever plan to get Nate into the door, and me Jackie and Victoria tackling him screaming happy birthday, all Nate could say was “Are you serious right now?” And we answered by crowing him King of Chuck E Cheese that night with a token filled blow up crown. After stuffing our faces with pizza, it was time to take it to the game room, where, as Nate would put it, we showed off our “Epic” skills, (even though me and Jackie spent half the time in a roller coaster simulator) and ended up winning Nate close to 800 tickets, where he then picked out his new office weapon, a nurf gun. GREAT.
But Hey! At least me and Jackie found our new rides!!
Jealous? Yeah, I know.
Anywhoooo… Here are some more awesome pictures from the night.
We’ve all had some interesting and exciting experiences during this internship, or at least I can say I definitely have! BUT there is a serious side to all our joking around. I’ve learned so much just in these first 10 weeks of being here.. In the beginning we were introduced to something called the MPS System, which is basically a chart system with 3 parts, our Philosophy, our Charter, and our Commitments. Our philosophy help us grade ourselves as a person and makes us realize our strengths and weaknesses, in which I have learned a lot about what I need to improve on such as asking more questions when I am confused about something, and realizing that not everything is going to go my way 100% of the time. Our commitments have also been a huge help in helping me to monitor my week and basically break it down in front of my eyes to help me to realize where I am slacking in my duties and where I am excelling, which is also where my Weekly Wrap up comes into place. The weekly wrap up helps me to write out a time sheet in the beginning of the week to help me to better manage my time and to see what needs to be done within that week. It also shows a breakdown of what I’ve learned that week, and the higher level discussions that took place that week. At the beginning of the internship I was very skeptical about using this system, I felt that it would hurt me with managing my time more than help me, but it has actually proven the opposite.
Another major happening in the intern life of BambooSK8 was the MIDTERM. Probably one of the most stressful things we have had to do yet. I was always good in the math field, but accounting threw me a curve ball in the beginning, but by the end I was completely confident in myself that this midterm would be a breeze. (a breeze found in a hurricane that is.) Unfortunately I messed up one number and it messed my ENTIRE midterm up, but Geoff was kind enough to let us fix our midterms and re-submit them for a higher score. This midterm actually taught me a lot about the importance of income statements for a business and how money management is key in running a business and keeping it running. Now we just need to prepare for the final.. aye-yi-yi.
I’ve had a few road blocks during this internship that were slightly hard to get around, and about 90% of them were lack of communication and time management, but I’ve been working very closely with my mentors and I am on my way to the right route! One of the major things they’ve been teaching me is to ask questions. Just ask and ask and ask until you’re blue in the face. Communication is key if you are going to make it anywhere in life. My only trouble is in sales. I got a shop back home in NJ to buy 10 boards, but they are taking their sweet time with the process so it is effecting my points at the end of every week so hopefully someone will light a fire under their @$$ on that one!
Its been a hectic past couple of weeks, but it’s not over yet. With the midterm rapidly approaching it’s crunch time. I’ve been pre-occupied with the Bamboo Buddy side of things, taking thousands of pictures and going through them for the new Bamboo Buddy Catalog that is in process, but now its time to get back on the BambooSK8 grind. This week is definitely going to be a struggle to get every point I need to stay comfortable in this internship and to pass the midterm, but I know it’ll all be worth it in the end. On a lighter note BambooSK8 has agreed to make me their photographer which I am super excited about and will be working with their videographer, Nate, and can’t wait to start taking pictures of the new BambooSK8 team.
In other news, Chelsea and I just got back from one of the most interesting mornings ever. We made our way down to KUSI channel 9 news to do a segment for the Garden and Home fest at 7:00AM this morning to get there to meet one of the most interesting characters ever, Shamroc (see below), and if his name wasn’t awesome enough…you just need to meet him to understand. Anyway, he had given us directions to go back around to the front to get Chelseas car to unload the tiki bar, little did we know another obstacle would come our way.. We had gotten inside the gate by pushing a button and them buzzing us in, but on the way out no button was present, so me and chelsea were running and jumping around in front of the gate hoping to hit a sensor to open the gate for us, but when that didn’t work Chelsea decided to use her super human strength to open the gate, of course that failed too, so I resulted to asking the little landscaper guy to push the button on his side to let us out, for him to just let us know we are dumbasses and there was a button right in front of our faces. SO I really hope that everyone in the studio was watching us through a security camera laughing at us making fools of ourselves. Aaaaanyway just as I thought things couldn’t get any better in walks “Sally Smarty-Plants” and her goat “melancholy Child” or Melly for short. (See picture below.) Anyway, after finally setting up for the segment, and almost watching The Red Door Chef burn down our tiki bar, things were rolling. Watching Sally Smarty Plants and Melly in action was priceless, especially when Melly began to eat the news casters script… After the segment was over we packed up and set off on another journey to pick up some Bamboo Boards we had just gotten printed.. Seems simple, right? Well… Leave it to us to make it a fiasco. We stopped at the La Jolla mall first to see if we could get some food, but apparently no food court is open at 9:30, and malls get flooded with orange-skinned cougars wearing bright pink lipstick.. Once we finally found our way to the warehouse, following a very well thought out diagram drawn for us (see below), of course it was time to make an ass out of ourselves again by walking into the wrong warehouse and asking for “Frank.” The two guys that were in there decided that they were going to play Frank for the day and finally after 5 minutes decided to tell us they had no idea who Frank was and we were in the wrong place. So we walked out to see the real Frank pull up, and boy was he another character to add to our day, out walked a little chinese man in kaki parachute pants. Nice man, but we could not understand a word he was saying! So as me and Chelsea took a minute to compose ourselves and go outside and call someone, each hoping the other got some of what he had said, luckily Geoff C. knew what was up. So we took the boards and said farewell to Frank and moved on to go get some food, can’t go wrong with that. We had found a nice place that served Acai bowls which we were craving, but that turned into another expedition in itself. After driving in and out of warehouses we finally realized that Acai Roots was actually another warehouse we gave up and headed back to BambooSK8. On the way home I had my first experience at The Yellow Deli, I don’t really know what to say about that place other than I felt like I was in an Amish/medieval barn for lunch, but they had some pretty cool bathroom signs ( see below). After that we finally made it back to unload the car and get some work done.
Every week each intern sits down with their mentor to discuss different aspects of the company and of being a part of any company. Last week Geoff and I discussed leadership and management. From these discussions I learned there is a very big difference between a leader and manager. Management is the discipline of getting things done right, while leadership is doing what is right for the good of the organization. Anyone can be a manager, all they need to do is follow the simple steps that are laid out on paper. Not everyone can be a leader, or has it in themselves to be a leader, because it requires more than the ability to follow steps and rules, it requires a vision.
Leaders work to get people to believe in their ideas and what they will become. They do not sit out their high horse and dish out jobs to their employees. Instead they immerse themselves in the company and get to know the employees. They focus on communicating their vision with their employees, tying customer benefits to employee contributions, linking working to results and instilling passion in their employees.
Leadership is essential for all companies to grow into a successful business. Through this internship I am learning about how different leaders approach running a company and what is most effective.
Especially this past week! Started out with the Sacred Craft Consumer Surf Expo, which was awesome… it was filled with tons of surf and skate brands. I got a chance to walk around and take a few pictures (they’ll be included at the bottom) of the amazing artists and cool surf boards, I even caught a picture of one of the little kids that was stoked to be on his brand new BambooSK8 board, Oh! And I can’t forget the Primo Beer Truck tarp surfing! haha… Monday was a pretty successful day, Me and Woody finally figured out dates and times for our skate park tour, and I FINALLY finished my Hookit Call List. Tuesday through Friday I spent on the Bamboo Buddy side of things, taking pictures of all their products for their new upcoming catalog! So I’m super excited to see the end result since a lot of hard work was put into it by Jackie, Victoria, Penny, and myself. That pretty much sums up my week… So I’ll leave you with some pictures…
They weren’t lying when they said time flies when you’re having fun! These last few weeks have been a crazy experience, one I wouldn’t change for anything. These last few weeks have been a crash course in everything that I DIDN’T study in college. After spending four years immersed in environmental studies and sciences, the PR world feels like a completely different planet. I finally am starting to feel confident with everything that I am taking on and I hope that I will only be able to learn and experience more in my time here at BambooSK8.
Several weeks ago, at the Rerip Surf Contest in Cardiff by the Sea, my girlfriend Katie purchased a 42″ Double Kick Tsunami deck from our booth. She has grown up longboarding the hills of Oregon and was hesitant to give up her Sector 9 ways, but she loved what the boards stood for so she took a chance. Since then a day rarely passes that she doesn’t ride her bamboo board, whether its to lacrosse practice or just to class. She still attends the University of Redlands and has noticed that her board has been getting a lot of attention around campus these days. People have asked questions about it and she has stepped up as a spokesperson, of sorts, in Redlands.
Each new rider that chooses bamboo over maple is becoming an advocate for our decks, taking on the responsibility to share their knowledge, their expereinces and their love for bamboo!!
This past month has been a hectic month for all of the interns. Being introduced to the world of BambooSK8 has been a roller coaster ride. Learning the ways of every individual job that works BambooSK8 (Marketing, Social Media, PR) was a little rough to chew at first but with a little guidance I think we are all starting to finally get into the flow of things. Although I do get confused on some things, I am learning a lot, especially in social media, which I am in charge of, I’m learning what steps you have to take to really get your company out into the world and make your voice heard through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. My biggest road block in this internship is definitely Hookit. Although it is not a difficult system to understand, it is a major part of this internship, especially for the leaders, Kyle and I. A lot of time and devotion needs to go into Hookit to make sure kids we add to our eco tribes are really doing what they need to do in order to keep their sponsorships and move on to higher levels within them.
On a lighter note there were a lot of fun events this first month that we attended like the Cardiff surf event and the channel 6 news tarp surfing. (I will include some pictures at the end of those events.) Another highlight of the month was our intern bowling night, we all found out how horrible we are at bowling, or at least I did, but it was a really good time to get to know who we will be working with for the next four months, and maybe even longer.
I also have had the privilege to do my true passion within the company and photograph any events and products BambooSK8 attend/come out with, so I’ve had a lot of fun with that.
The past two weeks have been amazing over here at BambooSK8. Here is what I have been up to. I have been contacting shops like crazy and some have responded positively. Edge Boardshop in Dana Point has sold one Octobomb Locker complete and wants 4 more. I am also leaving for NY today and I hope to make at least one sale while I am there. I know alot of shop owners and employees in my local area and so it shouldnt be too hard. Also I have sent out a mass email to all of the Strap’dUp.com members with my $5 off coupon and I hope that it generates some sales. Our Hookit team is now promoting our Facebook page as part of their duties. When I get back from NY I would like to plan a small skatepark tour to take place over a week.
Things are still going great here at the BambooSK8 intern cave. We have added a few top notch riders to our team over the last few months and so here is a little bit more info on them:
Hey loyal blog followers, hows it going? Things are going great here at BambooSK8. We have built a few new boxes in the back of the warehouse and I even have gotten backside tailslides and backside crooked grinds on lock down now. This week we have been focusing on the I Ride I Recycle program and spreading their cause. This morning alone I got 3 shops to sign up with the program. Xtreme Surf and Sport, The Sole Technology Company Store and Training Facility, and Sweet Impact Skate Shop. We are also waiting to hear back from some crazy NYC shops so that could be cool! The more people and shops we can get particiating in this the better so man up and recycle you deck or at least get your local shop to do it ASAP. http://www.irideirecycle.com/
Things are going great over here at BambooSK8. Some of our fellow interns have dropped out of the program but we are still doing amazing. We have filmed a bamboo forest with a remote control helicopter!!!! So, keep an eye out for our new videos being released all over the internet. On a lighter note I have been skating at the Sole Technology Training Facility and all I can say is wow!!! I have been telling everyone over there about the bamboo decks and to be honest most people notice that it is different before I even tell them. People are stoked on it and I hope I can sell them some decks soon.
Hey everybody,
My name is Brian Austin and I am originally from Long Island NY. I started college in New Hampshire and just hated it. So, I dropped out to pursue a career in snowboarding. At that point I moved to Stratton Mountain in Vermont to snowboard. That wasn’t that cool either. I was living in a small apartment with crappy heat, I hated that too. Then I found out about Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe. This is when I finally began my life again. I enrolled in the college and to my surprise I loved it, or at least liked it was more than New Hampshire. I graduated from there in just under 3 years by going to school year round, non-stop, I wanted to get out and start my life. After graduating I stuck around Lake Tahoe for like 6 months looking for work with no luck. I had to move! Although I didn’t want to I had to and it turned out for the best. I moved to Laguna Beach from Lake Tahoe knowing nothing about the area except all the companies I want to work for are near me now. I spent 3 months applying for every job that was posted on the internet with no luck and then came BambooSK8. Just from the ad for the job I could tell that this was going to be different. So, I applied and got an interview and now I am here writing to you. I couldn’t be happier now.
First step will be to set up an appointment with Mark Olson for an interview. molson@bamboosk8.com
Next, you will need to sign a NDA (non-disclosure). We simply don’t share anything on the internship until after a NDA is signed as we need to protect our valuable internship documents. At the interview is where we are able to show you the inner workings of the internship in full detail. For now, you can read more about the internship through the intern blogs to gauge what they are experiencing.
Some of the basics… The internship is based on 400 points. These 400 points are made up of a midterm, final, 3 part higher level MPS system, communication with the team, weekly skype calls, 1 on 1 with mentor, blogs, communication with me, as well as fulfilling the weekly duties we require such as contacting the skateboard kids through one of our social networks at www.hookit.com We provide a lot of structure in the beginning – there is a syllabus with details of what is due each week. Each of the interns has a folder on our server where you keep all your documents and each class has its own folder broken down weekly with 16 weeks of material. We also have an intern bible, which gives a lot of information on past things we’ve done, resources for finding things, etc. On the flipside of all of this structure, is a significant amount of autonomy – it’s up to you to drive the results and find solutions to the problems we face. 50 points of the 400 is based on your ability to get the results, which leads to sales.
We provide a few key content areas that we like to focus on: sales, marketing and PR but leadership is a major focus throughout each. It’s best to align your strengths first, but we always strive to cross-train with other content areas to broaden you. Also, each month we rotate who your mentor will be, so you get use to different leadership styles.
The last month is devoted to interviewing skills and resume building. The entire internship is focused on networking!
We start the 1st week of May, for internship class 10.
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